Tuleyome was founded in 2002 as a volunteer advocacy-oriented nonprofit conservation organization. Our mission is: "Tuleyome engages in advocacy and active stewardship with diverse communities to conserve, enhance, restore, and enjoy the lands in the region."
At Tuleyome we “live” our mission every day: we preserve and restore wild habitat, we build and repair trails, we educate the public about local conservation and environmental issues, we engage young people through our youth program, we demonstrate a good “land stewardship” ethic by maintaining the easements and properties we own under the scope of our land trust component, and we run campaigns that have a long lasting positive effect on the region.
It is our hope that our work will inspire members of the public to protect, restore, and enjoy the natural landscape in the Northern Inner Coast Range.
our board members
Victoria Brandon, President
Victoria Brandon has lived in Lake County, exploring the local scene and hiking the local trails, since 1981. Her activist career began shortly after the 2000 election when she began writing letters to politicians and others on behalf of various environmental causes, primarily at the behest of the Sierra Club. She was elected to the Club's Redwood Chapter Lake Group executive committee in 2004, and was Group Chair for five years, mobilizing support for the Wilderness Bill, the Cache Creek Wild & Scenic campaign, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument campaign, and numerous other local and regional conservation issues. A member of the Redwood Chapter executive committee and Chapter political chair since 2006, she has been Chapter Chair since 2013 and is now co-chair of the Sierra California political committee and chair of the Club's national political team. As well as the Tuleyome Board, she also serves on the Board of the Lake County Resource Conservation District and Lake County LAFCo. State Senator Pat Wiggins named her Senate District 2 Woman of the Year in 2008.
Stephen McCord, Vice-President
Stephen grew up running around forests and soccer fields in South Carolina’s foothills to the Appalachian Mountains. After receiving his BS in Civil Engineering from Clemson University he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali (West Africa). Stephen received his MS and PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UC Davis in the 1990s, and has worked as a water quality consultant based in Davis since 2000. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in California and a Certified Lake Manager. Because of his extensive involvement with UC Davis, he received a 2021 Distinguished Engineering Alumni award. Although he has visited over 50 countries, he loves to explore Northern California on his four bicycles (and a motorcycle), four boats, and in his many pairs of hiking shoes. He recently stepped down after over a decade of service on the board of directors for another local nonprofit, Putah Creek Council. His involvement with Tuleyome over the past two decades has been as a donor, volunteer, California Naturalist guest speaker, tour guide and contracted project manager. He has gained expertise dealing with mercury as an environmental pollutant through various projects assessing and remediating mercury mine sites.
Lyndsay Dawkins, Treasurer
Lyndsay is one of the founders of Nature’s Theater, a program which provides nature-based programming and opportunities for school-aged children. Lyndsay’s passion for the outdoors developed from a childhood of camping trips and world travel. She earned a BFA from U.C. Santa Barbara in Theater Arts with an acting emphasis. Lyndsay spends most of her time writing, expanding the scope of Nature’s Theater, playing with kids and enacting characters like Mother Nature, Star Walker or the Jester. Nature’s Theater will help shape the junior guide program for the new Woodland Regional Park with walking stories featuring teens as costumed characters guiding young kids through nature themes with story driven adventures that teach appreciation of nature.
Martha Cerda, Secretary
Martha currently works as a Naturalist and Recreation Coordinator at the Alviso Adobe Community Park in Pleasanton, CA connecting the community with local and natural history. Growing up in southern California she was fortunate to explore beautiful beaches and luscious neighborhood community parks. Her passion for stewardship, the outdoors, and science led her to the Bay Area where she earned a Biology and an Anthropology bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. She is a certified California Naturalist, Professional Environmental Educator (AEOE), and Interpretive Guide (NIA). She uses her knowledge and skills to create safe spaces to help people build their own unique connection with the natural world. In her free time she enjoys bird watching, nature journaling and exploring trails. Martha es originaria de San Diego y ¡habla español!
Glen Holstein, Board Member
Dr. Holstein received his PhD in Botany from U.C. Davis and is retired from his position as Senior Scientist with Zentner and Zentner, a local biological consulting company. He has published peer reviewed research on California Prairie in Madroño, the journal of the California Botanical Society. Glen is Chapter Botanist for the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society , represents that Chapter at Habitat 2020 and was the California Prairie spokesman at its Wildflower Weekend in April , 2005 . He is also on the Board of Tuleyome, a non-profit organization working to protect the Cache Creek watershed and other areas in Yolo County, and on the steering committee of Yolo County’s Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP). The NCCP program is an unprecedented effort by the State of California, and numerous private and public partners, that takes a broad-based ecosystem approach to planning for the protection and perpetuation of biological diversity. An NCCP identifies and provides for the regional or areawide protection of plants, animals, and their habitats, while allowing compatible and appropriate economic activity.
Steve Drown, Board Member
Steve has been involved with environmental issues since his youth in Boy Scouts. He pursued his interest in college (degree in Environmental Geography), law school (environmental law at University of Oregon), and professionally, when he served as an environmental attorney for 13 years. Although his professional focus broadened in the past 20 years, when he served as UC Davis Chief Campus Counsel and Senior Counsel for the University of California, his service to Tuleyome has offered him the opportunity to return to his initial interest in youth engagement in the natural environment. Steve, on behalf of Tuleyome, has developed the “Boot Bank,” which offers free high quality hiking boots to area youth throughout their growing years (up to 18) to encourage them to engage in, and value, their surrounding natural environment. Hopefully, these youth will become the next generation of conservationists.
Bill Grabert, Board Member
Bill became a Tuleyome staff member in 2016, retired in 2021, and has continued his involvement with the organization as a volunteer. His staff roles included activities/education coordinator, lecture series host and California Certified Naturalist instructor. Bill fell in love with the natural beauty of the Berryessa-Snow Mountain area while working as a geologist in the geothermal fields of Lake County in the late 1970’s. He earned a double major BA in Environmental Biology and Geology from UC Santa Barbara. After a decade or so exploring for geothermal energy, Bill earned an MBA from San Francisco State University and started a second career in Information Technology designing and managing Health Care and Financial Information systems. Bill’s next, roughly decade-long, career was as a stay-home dad, scout leader, parent volunteer and home manager. In 2016, finding and joining Tuleyome was the perfect place to consolidate such a wide range of life experience into a final career. Bill is honored to continue his contribution to Tuleyome and the people of Tuleyome’s focus area as a board member.
Jake Glassman, Board Member
Jake is an environmental professional with experience in both the clean energy and conservation fields. He currently works on the state policy team of the US Program at RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute), engaging with leading states to increase the speed and scale of their climate policy. Prior to working at RMI, Jake was a consultant at Campaign for Nature, focusing on establishing stronger global conservation targets and funding to achieve them. His other professional experiences include ecology research, public lands conservation, and government relations work with an energy and environment focus. Jake has an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Atmosphere/Energy program) and B.S. in Environmental Systems Engineering from Stanford University.
Tuleyome Advisory Council
Andrew Fulks
Andrew, a licensed landscape architect, is presently the assistant director of UC Davis arboretum and public garden, and is a former president of Tuleyome’s Board of Directors. He has been a constant advocate for appreciation of the Putah and Cache Creek watersheds in the central valley of California. To draw attention to the region, he founded Yolohiker.org, a local trails advocacy, hiking, and outings webpage and co-founded the Capay Valley Hiking Club, an ad-hoc group of hikers that meet twice a month to hike in the watershed. In 2002 Andrew co-founded Tuleyome. In 2015, Andrew was honored with a national “Trails Worker Award” at the 2015 American Trails Association’s award symposium in Portland, Oregon for his work on trails in the Central Valley, especially the marathon-level Berryessa Peak Trail.
Jeff Mischkinsky
Bob Schneider
Bob is a co-founder of Tuleyome and was a key strategist for many or our campaigns including the Cache Creek State Wild and Scenic River, establishment of the Cedar Roughs and Cache Creek Wilderness and dedication of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. He has worked on mercury mine remediation and key Tuleyome land acquisitions including the Ireland Ranch, Cold Canyon Headwaters and Goat Mountain parcels. Bob began his conservation career as a volunteer working on the establishment of the Redwood National Park in 1968 and helping to stop Forest Highway 100 that would have bisected Sierra wilderness with a road from Fresno to Mammoth. He co-founded the California Wilderness Coalition in 1976 and served as the California Wild Heritage Director. Bob is married to Liz and has two sons Charlie and Logan. He enjoys climbing, ski mountaineering, river boating, sailing, and bike riding.
Our Staff Members
Sandra Schubert, Executive Director
Sandra brings decades of experience as a strategist, counsel, and governmental affairs and program director at the state, local and federal government levels on a variety of environmental, natural resource and agricultural issues. She began her work in Washington, DC after receiving her Masters in Philosophy and Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado Boulder and moved on to work for nonprofits and government. Ms. Schubert was Counsel for Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the United States Senate, advisor to United States Senator Barbara Boxer, Environmental and Public Works Committee member, Director of Government Affairs for Environmental Working Group, taught at Georgetown University Law School, and returned to California to become Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, open her firm Schubert Legal Strategies and teach at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo. After serving on Tuleyome’s volunteer Board of Directors for two years, Ms. Schubert has joined staff as our Executive Director. Email: sschubert@tuleyome.org.
Nate Lillge, Adventures and Engagement Director, Certified California Naturalist
Nate grew up outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spent 12 summers as a camper and counselor at a summer camp surrounded by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. He received his Bachelors of Science in natural science from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, where he studied everything from the Point Reyes conglomerate to chemistry to glacial geomorphology. Nate’s entire professional career has been spent working with kids and young adults in various aspects of outdoor education and conservation. In addition to his work as a camp counselor and outdoor educator, he was the recycling program manager for the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps. At the Corps, he worked with young adults on conservation efforts throughout the region. Email: nlillge@tuleyome.org
Kristie Ehrhardt, Land Conservation and Stewardship Program Director
Kristie grew up on the prairies of North Dakota and prefers to stay as far away from snow as possible. She received her BS in Biology from California State University, Bakersfield. Shortly after graduating Kristie began her biology career in the oil fields of Kern County. After relocating to Sacramento, Kristie continued working up and down the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys for consulting firms and later in the land conservation and mitigation banking industry. The majority of her career has been spent outdoors conducting surveys for special-status species, habitat assessments, or collecting data for naturally existing and constructed habitats. Kristie and her husband spend the majority of their spare time outdoors as well, watching their daughter play competitive soccer. Email: kehrhardt@tuleyome.org
Chelsea Ferguson, Administrative Assistant
Chelsea's love for the great outdoors was instilled in her from an early age, growing up in the stunning mountains of Northern California near Yosemite. She spent much of her childhood exploring the surrounding forest, hiking and climbing among the trees, and marveling at the natural beauty around her.
As she grew older, Chelsea continued to find ways to immerse herself in nature, taking advantage of the area's plentiful natural resources. In the summer, she could be found wakeboarding and skating on the nearby lakes, while winter brought the opportunity for snowboarding and other winter sports.
Despite her connection to the outdoors, Chelsea initially pursued a career in hospitality, which brought her to Sacramento in 2018. Over time, however, she began to feel a strong pull back to her roots and her love for nature. Determined to find a way to merge her passion for the environment with her professional life, Chelsea began exploring opportunities to work in the environmental sector.
She is now proud to be a part of the team at Tuleyome, where she can combine her passion for the environment with her professional skills. Whether she's in the office or out in the field, Chelsea brings a tireless work ethic and a deep sense of purpose to everything she does. She is dedicated to making a positive impact on the planet and helping to preserve the natural beauty that has always been so close to her heart.
In her free time, she can still be found exploring the great outdoors, hiking and camping with her partner in the mountains she has always called home.
Email: cferguson@tuleyome.org
Geoff Benn, Education Associate
Geoff grew up in upstate New York, where he spent much of his childhood reading, hiking, and camping with his family. He received his BS in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in Plant Biology from UC Davis, where he studied the molecular biology of plant stress responses. After completing graduate school, Geoff worked as an Academic Coordinator at UC Davis, where he oversaw teaching laboratory operations for a large introductory biology course (Biodiversity and the Tree of Life). While working at UC Davis, Geoff began hiking and botanizing extensively in and around what would become the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which led to volunteer work with Tuleyome and Solano Land Trust, and eventually to the Education Associate position at Tuleyome. In his free time, Geoff enjoys hiking, hunting for wildflowers, cycling, and playing guitar. Email: gbenn@tuleyome.org
Become A Board Member
We are always looking for potential board members who share Tuleyome’s vision!
Joining our board brings you a unique opportunity to help shape our policies and programs, and make them more successful, inspiring and dynamic.
As a board member you will make an annual contribution to Tuleyome (preferably on the Big Day Of Giving each May), attend board meetings, assist in different ways with fundraising, volunteer at events or outings, and work together with us to build a strong, resilient, and sustainable organization that will last well into the future.
Inquiries can be directed Executive Director Sandra Schubert (sschubert@tuleyome.org.)
