Get to Know Your 2023 Chapter and Group Executive Committee Candidates!
Toiyabe Chapter candidates
Great Basin Group candidates
Tahoe Area Group candidates
Southern Nevada Group candidates
Range of Light Group candidates
Toiyabe Chapter
Executive Committee Candidates
Christopher Bell
At 56, and moving to Reno from the San Francisco Bay Area, I am recalibrating my passion for environmental activism. I moved here last year with my wife (who landed a terrific job), and dog. I’m an artist (specializing in sculpture and installation art) and came to the U.S. from Australia to do my MFA at Stanford in 2005. Since then I have worked in the art world of museums and collectors in the Bay Area. I have taught as an adjunct professor regularly at San Francisco Art Institute, and Stanford. Most recently I was project manager for a company installing high-end and complicated outdoor sculptures for the rich and famous.
Growing up amid ‘big nature’ in Australia ingrained in me a fascination and love for the environment from an early age. Then upon listening to Dr. David Suzuki, the Canadian environmentalist, who toured Australia in 1988, I became interested and aware of humanity’s pressures upon a finite planet. Since then I have been conscious of living a life of reduced impact upon its precious resources. Only recently, amid what I see as an existential crisis due to resource over-consumption, am I interested in activism to mitigate the damages of climate change, pollution, environmental injustice, biodiversity loss, etc.
I am a nerd for environmental news and issues. Through decades of consuming environmental podcasts, movies, and articles I have become an autodidact with a broad scope. I feel my knowledge of the complexities embedded in many environmental problems allows me to see strategies and tactics that could affect positive change.
Being an ExCom member will be a privilege. I enjoy working as a team member and imagine it will be satisfying to be fighting the good fight with like-minded fellows. I firmly believe the changes necessary require a grass-roots mobilization, as the ‘powers that be’ are usually disinterested in changing the status quo that has served them too well for too long.
Rory Lamp
I worked for the Nevada Department of Wildlife for 37 years after I graduated from UNLV. My first field job was studying the impacts of military overflights on native wildlife near Fallon, Nevada for four years. Following that, for the next 18 years, I was a Habitat Biologist in eastern Nevada. In that position I was tasked with being the advocate for Nevada’s wildlife resources in development activities on public lands in Nevada including mining, oil and gas development, and wind and geothermal energy. I worked closely with Federal and State regulatory agencies and proponents to protect and preserve wildlife and wildlife habitat as much as possible from development activities. This involved extensive review and comments on numerous environmental documents relating to mining, energy development, and transportation. The last eight years of my career were spent in the Wildlife Diversity Division where I was the Supervising Wildlife Biologist for the Eastern Region. There I worked to increase the information relating to all the wildlife in Nevada that are not hunted. I worked with some of the most amazing people trying to improve our knowledge of wildlife such as golden eagles, goshawks, Preble’s shrew, spotted bats, pygmy rabbits, American pika, and my favorite, hoary bats. After 37 years working as a biologist for NDOW, I retired and began working with the Nevada Land Trust because I wanted to continue to try and preserve wildlife and wildlife habitat in Nevada.
This would be my third term on the ExCom of the Toiyabe Chapter. For the last four years I have worked to protect Nevada's wild places from energy development, mining, and urban sprawl. I wish to continue this effort and by being on the ExCom I feel I can provide my experience to continue to protect and preserve Nevada.
Ramona Lestak
Since January 2020 I have been a Toiyabe Chapter and Tahoe Area Group Executive Committee member. In that time, I have participated in hosting a Climate Change Activist / International Student outing, became a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Training/task force member, participated in Volunteer Outreach, attended conservancy board and development meetings transferring knowledge back to the group, registered for Earth Day, participated on two Hiring Committees, co-managed staff, and attended numerous Sierra Club meetings, educating myself on current and future environmental matters and voted on numerous issues with preservation always at the forefront. I am in the process of Leader Training certification for Inspiring Connections Outdoors.
I have been a Sierra Club member for nearly 30 years. When growing up my family camped and backpacked in the Sierras as well as many other locales across the country. As an adult, prior to residing in Lake Tahoe, I have hiked trails, cross country and down-hill skied, throughout the states of California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. Since 2015, I have had the privilege of calling North Lake Tahoe home. Given that the Sierra Nevada are now my backyard, I am compelled to continue to preserve and protect this pristine place. Thank you for trusting me to continue to serve in this capacity.
Bari Levinson
I am a retired physician (Internist) from the Bay Area in California. Prior to becoming a physician, I worked as a chemical engineer in the field of medical device development for 11 years. My partner Jon and I moved to Reno in November 2020, primarily to get away from wildfires. Sadly, and ironically, I had to evacuate my home due to the Pinehaven fire one week after getting here! So clearly there is no escape from the risks and scary future of climate change.
I joined Sierra Club after hearing a presentation from Brian Beffort and Ashley Forman on a Washoe DEMS zoom meeting. They presented their work in the Legislative Session of 2021. They were so impressive that I decided to volunteer for Sierra Club. My primary interest has always been finding ways to mitigate climate change. My main interest has been on increasing distributed solar in Reno and Nevada. (Where are all the rooftop solar panels?)
I have served on the Legislative Committee as Co-Chair with Ashley for the past eight months, where we have brainstormed many ideas for increasing distributed solar. We have also taken on Zero Waste issues, and a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides (to Save the Bees!). We have made many contacts in the legislature and with other environmental groups. It has been quite the enjoyable learning experience and I am looking forward to the 2023 legislative session.
I have also served on the Political Committee, where we endorsed many candidates and worked on getting out the vote. Another great learning experience!
In 2021, I was on the Nominations and Elections committee. One of my accomplishments there was talking to Ashley Forman about running for ExCom, which she gladly did.
Currently, I am helping to spearhead our efforts to right the wrongs that lead to the firing of our chapter director, Brian, and hopefully to get him rehired. If this outcome is not reached, at least National Sierra Club will have heard loud and clear from our chapter that their investigatory process needs to be rethought or amended.
I would like to serve on ExCom to help direct chapter priorities going forward. Although still quite new to Sierra Club, I feel that I could have some valuable input.
Thank you for your consideration.
Noah Rotroff
I've been serving on the Toiyabe Chapter's Executive Committee for the past year. Through a tumultuous year of politics within and without the chapter, I have had a direct hand in the technology, messaging, and processes that help our ship continue sailing. The chance to continue offering guidance in these areas for the next term would be greatly appreciated.
Tobi Tyler
I have been an Executive Committee member of the Toiyabe Chapter since early 2019 where I've served as the Chair of the Political Committee for the past three election cycles. I have also been an Executive Committee member and Vice Chair of the Tahoe Area Group since June 2020 where I've been the lead person on fighting to keep aquatic herbicides out of Lake Tahoe. I appreciate the grassroots, volunteer-based nature of the Sierra Club and hope to continue to use my expertise in water quality and environmental regulatory requirements to hold government agencies accountable.
Great Basin Group
Executive Committee Candidates
Robert Jarrett
Robert Jarrett was born in 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island and grew up in southeastern Missouri and southwestern Oklahoma. He received his M.A. in English in 1982 and Ph.D. in American Literature and the 19th Century novel in 1987 from the University of California, Riverside. From 1990 to 2015, he was a Professor of English, then Chair of English, and finally Dean of Advising at the University of Houston—Downtown. He authored a series of articles on Cormac McCarthy and southwestern literature and authored the book Cormac McCarthy for Twayne’s American Authors series.
After retiring to Reno in 2015 with his wife Rhonda, he became an Outings Leader with the Great Basin Group and then Outings Chair in 2018. In the future he hopes to continue to help the Great Basin Group's outings further recover from their suspension during COVID. Furthermore, he strongly supports the Club’s efforts first to decarbonize Nevada and the U.S. and secondly to protect Nevada’s open spaces, as well as our free access to those spaces.
Paul Yohey
I am a Native Nevadan and was raised in Reno and am familiar with an extended history of our area. I joined the Sierra Club in early 2018 and became a member of the Executive Committee of the Great Basin Group shortly thereafter. It was a good fit for me because of my love for this area, concern over its environment, and effects of past degradation to it, for example the history of clear cutting around Reno and Tahoe, some of which has not recovered in the last 100 years. This area and its wild beauty is in a very real respect my home.
I am still learning from individuals who have been members serving the goals of the Sierra Club for years, so my experience is limited in effecting the goals of the Club in this role. None the less, I believe I understand the direction of what needs to be done.
The Sierra Club represents a wide diversity of concerned people, experience, and knowledge around a common concern and love for our area. A goal of ExCom members of the Great Basin Group after the health crisis of the past few years is to bring back together the pre-pandemic community of this area’s Sierra Club members. This also is my personal goal. The Sierra Club is a tour de force for our environment and the quality of our lives. Thus, this is important.
So given this, I also make a blatent pitch for you to become a member of the Great Basin Group Executive Committee. There are vacancies on the ExCom that need to be filled. Please inquire.
Tahoe Area Group
Executive Committee Candidates
Laurel Ames
I have dedicated most of my adult life to protecting Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada. I served as executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe and was one of the founders of the Sierra Nevada Alliance.
Lake Tahoe is a National Treasure and as such the Sierra Club has an obligation to protect the waters of the Lake, shoreline, and the scenic views of the surrounding mountains. We all want to protect the charm and beauty of the natural resources that make Lake Tahoe a national treasure. The Sierra Club is deeply concerned, due in part to the fact that the clarity of the waters of the Lake are deteriorating rapidly. We must focus on restoring the lake’s clarity to its historic level, where 102 ft into the lake could be seen in the mid-60s. The increasing pressure on government agencies to use poisons, however, may well result in significant failures to actually achieve cleaning up the water. Local interests in using poison to clean the plants out of the Lake are likely to win out over the scientists who are not lobbying for the poisons. Meanwhile time is running out and the costs to restore the historic clarity are increasing beyond recent estimates.
Thank you for your support of the Sierra Club. I look forward to continuing to work with you and the Club to successfully highlight the importance of the natural areas of our Tahoe Basin.
Ramona Lestak
Since January 2020 I have been a Toiyabe Chapter and Tahoe Area Group Executive Committee member. In that time, I have participated in hosting a Climate Change Activist / International Student outing, became a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Training/task force member, participated in Volunteer Outreach, attended conservancy board and development meetings transferring knowledge back to the group, registered for Earth Day, participated on two Hiring Committees, co-managed staff, and attended numerous Sierra Club meetings, educating myself on current and future environmental matters and voted on numerous issues with preservation always at the forefront. I am in the process of Leader Training certification for Inspiring Connections Outdoors.
I have been a Sierra Club member for nearly 30 years. When growing up my family camped and backpacked in the Sierras as well as many other locales across the country. As an adult, prior to residing in Lake Tahoe, I have hiked trails, cross country and down-hill skied, throughout the states of California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. Since 2015, I have had the privilege of calling North Lake Tahoe home. Given that the Sierra Nevada are now my backyard, I am compelled to continue to preserve and protect this pristine place. Thank you for trusting me to continue to serve in this capacity.
Cindy Ochoa
My love of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains began many years ago while on family vacations back in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. I was captivated with the area and moved up to South Lake Tahoe soon after college. I love being outside, whether hiking, cross-country skiing or walking the dog along the beach. I’ve seen many changes in the Tahoe area over the years, and have found the only constant is that the Lake continually needs to be protected from new dangers, whether it be wildfire, invasive species, or over-tourism.
I currently live in South Lake Tahoe, but spent 15 years in Truckee, so am aware of the issues facing both the North and South Shore areas. I am a past Chair of the Executive Committee and look forward to being an advocate for the Lake Tahoe Area again.
Tobi Tyler
I have been an Executive Committee member of the Toiyabe Chapter since early 2019 where I've served as the Chair of the Political Committee for the past three election cycles. I have also been an Executive Committee member and Vice Chair of the Tahoe Area Group since June 2020 where I've been the lead person on fighting to keep aquatic herbicides out of Lake Tahoe. I appreciate the grassroots, volunteer-based nature of the Sierra Club and hope to continue to use my expertise in water quality and environmental regulatory requirements to hold government agencies accountable.
Carolyn Willette
I have been a Tahoe City resident for over 40 years. I am a Registered Nurse and was employed at our local hospital for 40 years. I am passionate about protecting our natural environment. I have served on the Executive Committee for the Tahoe Area Group of the Sierra Club for six years. I am concerned about the direction the local agencies are taking in development around the lake. With multiple major construction projects being planned and approved, I think it is incumbent on the Sierra Club to represent the interests of its membership and be a voice in the greater vision. I believe each proposal must be viewed as a part of the whole region, as opposed to, individual projects. The difficulty of dealing with different governments around the lake contributes to this issue.
As a member, I feel that we all should assist our local organization to meet its goals. I am interested in doing my part.
Southern Nevada Group
Executive Committee Candidates
Nick Christenson
Nick Christenson is currently a consultant and author working in the Information Technology industry. As a technolgy generalist, Nick has done everything from building computers to designing networks to building and managing distributed engineering teams to writing articles, research papers, and books.
He has already served one term on the Southern Nevada Group ExCom where he has, among other things, contributed to the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (SNEDCA) working group and reinstated the Speaker Series. He has served the Chapter as a volunteer lobbyist for the Sierra Club on the Legislative Committee and on the Political Committee where he was co-chair for a time.
He is also politically active in the state of Nevada, having run (unsuccessfully) for office as a candidate for the State Assembly in the 2nd district with sustainability as a key part of his platform.
Misty Haji-Sheikh
I have been a member of Southern Nevada Group (SNG) since 2019 and on the SNG ExCom for two years. I feel that my background in management, water, and politics is an asset to the both the Group and Chapter. I have been the Vice Chair of SNG and have been the main person behind our social media presence for both the Chapter and SNG. I have been a key strategist behind our push for getting rid of Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (SNEDCA) - a bill that would increase sprawl in southern Nevada . I am the Chapter representative to the Colorado River Task Force (10 chapters strong). I want to continue to help both the Chapter and SNG.
Guadalupe Lyn
My name is Guadalupe De Los Angeles Lyn, born and raised part of my life in Nicaragua. I am a senior loan officer and branch manager at Americana Home Loan, also I am a climate activist and community leader. I am currently processing and reviewing loan applications from start to finish including purchase and refinancing and educating clients about their different refinancing options. My passion is to help and serve others accomplish their American dream of homeownership. I am always working hard with passion to help every single generation have privacy, joy, happiness, and love.
I went to Law School and specialized in criminal law, also I earned a few Associates degrees in computer sciences, and accounting in my native country Nicaragua, I moved to the United States of America to pursue the possibility to have a better life for my parents, sisters, and brother. I studied for a bachelor’s degree of Art in Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I graduated in May 2016. My current areas of interest are my Spain, French, Puerto Rican, Jewish, African, and Brazilian culture. I began a project by thoroughly researching and developing my ideas to create a financial plan to learn about and visit these beautiful countries and enjoy my ancestor’s native lands.
When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to spend time and exercise in nature, in the middle of Managua, Nicaragua. After a few years, I witnessed trash around my city. I feel very angry and sad about this situation, and I'm committed to helping the global environment. I moved to the United States of America a little over 22 years ago and I started experiencing asthma attacks over and over due the air pollution. After my son was born, he started getting continually sick with asthma due of the impact of climate change, and it made my heart broken to see my child ill. I became determined to do something to stop this pollution in the air. I want everyone who suffers from this type of health condition due to pollution of our planet to know they are not alone. I continue fighting for climate justice and caring for this planet Earth we all call home.
Marija Minic
I have had a huge interest in the Sierra Club ever since I was an undergraduate student of biology in my early 20s in my hometown of Toronto, Canada. Reading about them showed me just how effective they are at mobilizing people and decision-makers around so many different environmental issues, on a local level as well as on a national level. I became part of various other environmental organizations, and this continued on to graduate school in the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, where I graduated from in 2002.
Years later, when I got work to study desert tortoises using the line distance sampling method in Las Vegas in 2008, I finally had a chance to actually become involved in the Sierra Club, because I was now living in the United States. The issues that the Southern Nevada Group were interested in and dealing with very much interested me as well. I am a big fan of just how effective the Sierra Club is, having chapters in all the States, including the territory of Puerto Rico, along with its long, extensive history dating back to its founder, John Muir, in 1892.
I feel that as a biologist, I can offer my knowledge and experience as a volunteer in the Sierra Club. Hence I am honored and happy to be a part of the conservation team. Looking forward to serving and working with you all, as well as get some things accomplished as important environmental issues are concerned, especially in this day and age where there is absolutely no time left to waste. Thank you!
Shaun Navarro
My Name is Shaun Navarro (He/Him) I am an activist and organizer who has organized here in Las Vegas for the past six years with a few different groups. Over the past six years, I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know several Sierra Club members, and I have found them to be knowledgeable, passionate, and dedicated to their work. I would love to be a part of your organization. As a Mexican American, I feel very passionately that we need to help bring this work to diverse communities and as someone who moved to Nevada and was surprised by all its natural beauty, I would like to bring the already great work that Sierra Club is doing to new people. Thank you so much for your time and consideration!
Range of Light Group
Executive Committee Candidates
Lynn Boulton
I’ve been an environmentalist since high school, I love the outdoors and nature. I have a degree in Geology from UCSB and years of experience working in the corporate world of Information Technology.
I’ve been the chair of the Range of Light Group for the past six years. In that time, I’ve learned about forestry, mining, grazing, groundwater pumping, Bi-state Sage Grouse, and more as well as the inner workings of the Sierra Club. To improve our outreach to members and to the public, we switched over to the Sierra Club digital platforms, updated our website, produced newsletters in a new format that allows us to include photos, and created social media accounts. We’ve also built relationships with members of the Toiyabe Chapter and Sierra Club staff.
The Range of Light Group has commented on numerous BLM and USFS projects. We’ve tracked and responded to many environmental threats, issues, and concerns in the Eastern Sierra (i.e., LADWP projects, gold exploration, new grazing proposals, expansion of the Adventure Trails, inappropriate pumped storage and transmission line sitings, etc.). We’ve even had to take legal action, when necessary (i.e., related to Keep Long Valley Green and the Long Valley/Hot Creek gold exploratory drilling project).
The Range of Light Group also participates in and supports the coalitions to permanently protect Conglomerate Mesa and the Bodie Hills. The executive committee members have been very active in helping the Sierra Club move the state’s 30 by 30 campaign forward. We’ve been busy and need your help. Now that Covid is more manageable, we’d like to get back to leading hikes and offering programs.
Thank you for allowing me to serve in the Sierra Club in this capacity. If elected, this will be my last term. We need new people to step forward and serve. Please let us know if you are interested.
Malcolm Clark
I have been an active member of the Range of Light Group (ROLG) since retiring to California in 2004. At various times I have served on the Executive Committee (ExCom) as secretary, chair, conservation chair, and vice-chair. I have represented ROLG at meetings of the Inyo-Mono Integrated Regional Water Management Group (IRWMG) for twelve years. I currently serve on the IRWMG’s Admin Committee and on the board of the Eastern California Water Association which acts as a financial agent for the IRWMG. I support working on conservation issues in cooperation with the other environmental groups. It is important that ROLG be sensitive to the perspectives and concerns of local Indigenous peoples. We should work cooperatively with governmental agencies but be willing to oppose them when necessary to achieve our conservation goals. A difficult issue is balancing our support for renewable energy and for minerals such as lithium crucial for moving to electric vehicles while minimizing environmental degradation from such projects.
While ROLG membership has remained stable over recent years, recruitment of younger members including finding young members to take leadership roles is a challenge ROLG continues to face. If elected, I will continue to serve ROLG to the best of my ability.