David Magney, Chapter Council Chair
has been an active member of the Channel Islands Chapter since he first joined CNPS back in the late 1970s, and has served in a variety of leadership and conservation roles since 1986. David was elected Chairman of the CNPS Chapter Council following nearly 15 years of involvement in statewide leadership roles, including service on the CNPS Board of Directors from 2001-2007 (as Board President from 1991-1994). With over 20 years of field experience in biological studies as a biologist/botanist and physical geographer, David has acquired a thorough knowledge of California’s native flora and a substantial repertoire of knowledge and skills. He has worked on or managed environmental issues surrounding all sorts of development projects throughout the Pacific Southwest and has consulted on or performed biological resource inventories, vegetation mapping and classification projects, wetland delineations and restoration projects, and rare plant surveys. He has also performed biological impact analysis and mitigation assessments as well as construction and mitigation monitoring. David earned a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies (emphasis in botany) in 1985 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds an A.S. degree in Landscape Horticulture and a Certificate of Completion in Natural Resources (1975) from Ventura College, Ventura, California, and is a Certified Arborist by the International Society for Arboriculture. He formed his own consulting firm, David Magney Environmental Consulting (DMEC), in 1997. David was born in British Columbia, Canada, and grew up in Ventura County, settling in Ojai in the 1970’s. He has taught classes on a variety of subjects including CEQA, Clean Water Act permitting, and wetlands delineation and monitoring. David has authored two floras in California and is currently working on the manuscript for the Flora of Ventura County, a project he has been researching since the late 1970's.
Larry Levine, Vice Chair, has been a CNPS member since the 1980’s. He studied botany and subjects related to plant ecology at Humboldt State University. Larry worked on the habitat requirements of two rare plants, then shifted focus to web-related services, and developed an online, easy to update version of the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. Larry enjoys facilitating communication between people with opposing views so they find common ground. He wants to promote more dialogue among Chapter Council Delegates between Chapter Council meetings and intends to lead public plant walks again. When not involved with CNPS, Larry can often be found at Balkan music and dance events.
Marty Foltyn, Secretary, grew up in Washington DC, and did not think about native plants until she moved to California. She went to a CNPS meeting in the early 1990s with her husband Jim to figure out which natives would look good in a coastal garden, was asked to fill in for the refreshment chair, and never looked back. For a number of years she served as San Diego chapter treasurer, where she could best support those amazing individuals dedicated to education and conservation of the breathtaking San Diego native plant species, especially the Dudleya, her favorite native. Marty became a Chapter Council representative in 2008, and is now Chapter Council secretary due largely to the fact that she could type very fast in breakout sessions. In her other life, Marty is president of a consulting company that helps technology companies market their products, serves on several community boards, and is the parent of a busy teen who she hopes will continue their family’s love of native plants.
Board of Directors
Brett Hall, President, is a member of the Santa Cruz Chapter and Director of UC Santa Cruz Arboretum working with living collections and native plant programs. His favorite project in the Arboretum is the development of the California Native gardens that will feature central coastal California and selected regions of northern California. He is working with CNPS Vegetation Program staff on the Rare Communities project. Brett is also actively involved in the upcoming CNPS 2012 Conservation Conference.
David Bigham, Vice President, is a licensed Landscape Architect working in a largely residential practice for over forty years, with an especial focus in historic and natural habitat restoration work. The High Sierran granite landscape is his favorite place to be; seeing that this and other California landscapes endure guides his conservation work. David joined CNPS in 1968, and is a member of several other conservation organizations. He lives with his husband and another family member in the Berkeley Hills, where he plays in his garden of weeds from California and the world.
Laura Camp, Secretary, grew up and attended college in Pennsylvania and became a California resident in 1980. She is CFO at Tree of Life Nursery, the renowned native plant nursery in San Juan Capistrano, and also works independently as an accountant for several clients. Laura is active in CNPS at the local level with the Orange County Chapter, including a stint as President from 2007 to 2010, and at the state level in Chapter Council from 2007-09, a board member since 2010, and the volunteer director of the Horticulture Program in 2011-12. Laura is an active hiker and photographer of native landscapes, gardens and native plants, and travels the state pursuing these interests (and also kayaking!) with her husband Bob.
Nancy Morin, Treasurer, is president of the Dorothy King Young Chapter of CNPS. She
grew up in Pacific Grove and Santa Barbara, did her undergraduate courses at
Santa Barbara City College, City College of San Francisco, and University of
California, Berkeley, and earned her Ph.D. in Botany under Robert Ornduff at
U.C. Berkeley in 1980. She was on staff for 15 years at Missouri Botanical
Garden, first as editor and herbarium curator, and finally assistant
director. Then she was executive director of the American Association of
Botanical Gardens and Arboreta and then Executive Director of The Arboretum
at Flagstaff-a garden devoted to native plants of the Colorado Plateau.
While in Flagstaff she was state president of the Arizona Native Plant
Society. Since 1982 she has been part of the Flora of North America project
and in 2005 she settled full-time in Point Arena so she could devote her
time to editing, authoring, and fund-raising for it. She also studies
Campanulaceae and is working on a monograph of Nemacladus. She loves
learning about California's native plants.
Bill Hunt, Director, grew up on a farm, got an education in chemistry (B.S. Chemistry from U. of Mississippi, Ph.D. Chemistry from California Institute of Technology, Miller Fellow at U.C. Berkeley) and earned a living
writing computer software. Bill has always been interested in nature — places, plants and animals.
Along with his wife, Lesley, he belongs to CNPS, the Nature Conservancy, Save Mount Diablo and other conservation organizations. Bill is a regular visitor to many of
the units of the East Bay Regional Park system, and has taken spring wildflower trips to southern and central California in recent years. Bill
records what he sees as a casual photographer. His website contains a small amount of that record. Since 1991 Bill has volunteered in and led habitat restoration projects with the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation (WCOSF) and been on its
board for 12 years. He created the WCOSF website in 2003 and maintained it until recently. He served on the Walnut Creek Park, Recreation and Open Space
Commission, the Steering Committee for the city’s General Plan and the Community Blue Ribbon Task Force on Fiscal Health. Bill has served as Vice President of the East Bay Chapter of CNPS and delegate to the Chapter Council for 3 years. He has served on the
Logistics Committee, Planning and Evaluation (Strategic Plan) and Brand Development (Logo) Committees at the state level of CNPS.
Brian LeNeve, Director, is the owner of LeNeve Painting Company, Inc. and a lifelong resident of Carmel. He fell in love with California native plants after discovering the genus Clarkia, which he has continued to study throughout California. His interest in plants and habitats has grown as has his commitment to protecting California’s wild places. Brian has been a CNPS member since the mid-90s and is past President and current Vice President of the Monterey Bay Chapter. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Carmel River Steelhead Association and the California Salmon and Steelhead Association.
Vince Scheidt, Director, has been an active member of the CNPS since 1980. He has assisted with listing petitions, litigation, rare plant studies, and the annual San Diego Chapter fall plant sale for many years. Vince graduated from SDSU and UCLA where he received an MA in Biology. He lives in San Diego, where he owns a small private environmental consulting firm specializing in biological studies and endangered species surveys. He enjoys propagating native plants, specializing in rare Dudleyas, and maintains a diverse native plant garden filled with dozens of uncommon species. He is passionate about endangered plants and unusual plant communities, and loves the outdoors.
Alison Shilling, Director and Legislation Committee Chair, is a retired teacher and college instructor. Alison holds an M.A. in Education and a Ph.D. in Linguistics. She has been a CNPS member since 1988 and served for 10 years as Conservation Chair for the Riverside/San Bernardino Chapter. As a member of CNPS, Alison has focused her efforts on Conservation, Horticulture, and Litigation. She is a life member of Master Gardener and is a volunteer with Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic.
David Varner, Director, originally joined CNPS in 1999. After working in the environmental consulting industry in Idaho for eight years, David jumped at the chance to return to southern California and reorient his career toward land preservation and natural resource conservation. David now runs the Habitat Management Program at San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, designing and implementing habitat restoration projects in northern San Diego County. He holds CNPS fieldtrips at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve where he also maintains an official plant list. He is certified by California Invasive Plant Council as a Cal-IPC Trained Wildland Manager, and he instructs its invasive vegetation mapping classes. David loves California and San Diego County for its coast, mountains, valleys, deserts, and proximity to the Baja Peninsula! He practices Ashtanga Yoga, and he loves to experience the outdoors hiking, biking, surfing, kayaking, birding, and, of course, botanizing.
Steve Windhager, Director, joined CNPS shortly after moving to California in December 2010, and has been working with his local CNPS chapter since January 2012. He has served on other environmental non-profit boards and helped to organize several national and international conferences. Steve is currently the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and is a member of Cal-IPC and Channel Islands Restoration, the Society for Ecological Restoration International, and the American Public Gardens Association.
Steve Hartman, Chapter Council Representative, has been producing computer-based botanic keys and field guides since 1990, leading to his current series of Wildflower Field Guide iPhone/iPad applications. He has been member of the California Native Plant Society since 1974, has served on the CNPS State Board of Directors as Treasurer for over a decade, and was honored as a CNPS Fellow. Steve is a long-time activist of the Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains chapter having served as chapter president, and currently serving as treasurer, newsletter editor, webmaster, plant sale and native plant week event co-chair. His local project is the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area, in the San Fernando Valley, where he has guided revegetation projects and has encouraged the City of Los Angeles to develop large-scale native landscaping projects. He served on the Bureau of Land Management's California Desert District Advisory Council for five years representing CNPS.
Steve is currently the treasurer of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Inc. in Sun Valley, California (Los Angeles area).
Orchid Black, Chapter Council Representative roamed barefoot through coastal sage scrub as a child. She became interested in California native horticulture through The Theodore Payne Foundation and later became a member of CNPS San Gabriel Mountains Chapter. She leads plant walks for the chapter and advises on native plants at the chapter plant sale. She became Program Chair for the chapter in 2003 and Chapter Council delegate in 2008. She is a member of the Strategic Alliance which has written the proposed Oak Woodland Management Plan for Los Angeles County. Orchid is a garden designer whose practice focuses on California native plants. Several of her gardens have been featured on the Theodore Payne Garden Tour. With the Friends of Washington Park, she has been active in the design and restoration of Washington Park in Pasadena, originally designed by Theodore Payne. She teaches Sustainable Garden Practice for UCLA Extension, and gives lectures and workshops on native horticulture throughout Southern California.
cnps.org
Larry Levine, Vice Chair
David Bigham, Vice President
Laura Camp, Secretary,
Bill Hunt, Director
Dedicated to the Preservation of California Native Flora