Our Leaders

Bio coming soon...

Catherine Capone is a lifelong gardener.  She is a primarily self-taught in the areas of plant propagation, garden design, and California native plants.  Ms. Capone earned a bachelors degree from San Francisco State University with a major in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences with an emphasis in Ecology and went on to complete 100 plus additional units in the area of Special Education.  She retired from teaching in 2013 after 39 years as a special education teacher in grades K-8.  While working full time, Catherine was also the sole owner of Cal Natives Nursery, a propagation and retail nursery in Porterville California specializing in local California native plants.  She is currently working part time as a Practicum supervisor for Tulare County Office of Education. The Tule River and its vegetation have been the focus of her interest since moving to Porterville in 1990.  She also coordinated a survey of Valley Oaks in the Porterville Area with updates from 1996 until 2005.  Catherine has served on the board of the Alta Peak chapter of the California Native Plant Society and has held many offices in the chapter.  She is currently the president of the Tule River Parkway Association and the project manager for a native plant demonstration garden project and restoration in a thirteen acre site along the Tule River.

Christina is an ecological engineer and senior scientist with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she specializes in the protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, especially estuarine wetlands. Her interest in native plants was fostered during long childhood bike rides exploring the unique botanical riches of her native New Jersey Pine Barrens. After earning a BS in Biological Resources Engineering from the University of Maryland, she moved cross-country to earn an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley, and fell in love with California’s diverse landscapes. Christina is also a director of the NorCal High School Cycling League, and provides volunteer science and engineering support to a range of North Bay cycling and environmental non-profits. She lives with her husband Brian, daughter Sierra Grace, a menagerie of pets, and a small native plant garden in Santa Rosa, CA.

Hannah received her B.S. in Plant Biology from UC Davis and her research interests revolve around plant systematics and taxonomy. Hannah found her passion for California native plants during her sophomore year in college where she took plant biology as a prerequisite which changed her career trajectory from pre-medicine to plant biology. Hannah currently works as a botanist at ECORP Consulting Inc. where she conducts on special-status plant surveys, focused floristic and vegetation surveys, and wetland delineations. She previously worked at the UC Davis herbarium and loves everything herbaria. Hannah is also an active member of the CNPS Redbud Chapter where she currently serves as the Education Committee Chair. When Hannah is not in the field botanizing you can find her cooking a new recipe or cuddling her cat while reading.

John became entangled with native plants while working as a park docent and landscaper in the 1980s. He has degrees from University of California Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, and University of California Davis, where he received a doctorate in plant biology. After teaching at the State University of New York Brockport for several years, John returned to California and since then has been working as an ecologist for environmental consulting and engineering firms. For nearly 30 years, John has been active in California’s botanical community. His activities have included  serving on CNPS’ original vegetation committee (then the “Rare Plant Communities” committee), editing the California Botanical Society’s journal Madroño, and serving as president of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of CNPS.

Kristen fell in love with native plants while working and recreating in the vast and diverse landscapes of the central coast region. She has two degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. After working as a consulting biologist and restoration ecologist for more than a decade, she did a short stint in government, working for the County of San Luis Obispo, and recently landed in a non-profit role focused on pollinator and habitat conservation with the Monarch Joint Venture. Kristen has been an active member of California’s botanical community for more than a decade. She currently serves as Vice President of the San Luis Obispo chapter of CNPS, and is collaborating on various rare plant and vegetation community mapping projects.

Lucy grew up exploring the mountains and lakes around Truckee with her cross country ski team. She has lived in Santa Cruz since 2008 where she completed her degree from the UCSC environmental studies department and started a small gardening business focused on locally native and regionally appropriate plants. Lucy has done ecological garden design, perennial landscape management, and cared for orchards and vegetable gardens. After completing the UC Naturalist Program she went on to work with Brett Hall as a volunteer on vegetation mapping, seed collection and propagation, and rare species monitoring. She has served the California Native Plant Society as a board member since 2019 and as vice president of the local chapter since 2018. Lucy currently works at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanic Garden. In her role as Native Plant Program Project Manager, she focuses on plant conservation and seed banking, vegetation ecology and mapping, native plant horticulture and working with students. When she’s not obsessing over plants, Lucy spends her time drawing, painting, weaving, knitting, cooking, baking, reading and hanging out with family.

Dr. Matt Ritter grew up in rural Mendocino County, California. After earning a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from U.C. Santa Barbara, he attended U.C. San Diego for a Ph.D. in plant biology. He’s a botany professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, where he lives with his wife and two children. He’s the author of several books, including a new guide to California’s flora, California Plants: A guide to our Iconic Flora.  He also wrote the funniest and best-selling guide to California’s urban forest, A Californian’s Guide to the Trees among Us (Heyday, 2011). His writing has appeared in several magazines, including a regular column on tree diversity in Pacific Horticulture. He won the Cal Poly’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the International Society of Arboriculture Award for Excellence in Education. He is the California Coordinator of the American Forests Big Tree Registry, studies California’s native plants, and trees that escape cultivation, particularly Eucalyptus. He’s an avid woodworker, mason, and gardener.

Mike got a BA in History from Dartmouth College. His fascination with California native plants began in the mid-1970’s. He joined the Marin Chapter and picked up science classes at College of Marin. He then went to SF State where he befriended evolutionist Ledyard Stebbins and made many trips with him to track down listed native plants. Mike focused on a rare endemic of seabird breeding habitats for his MA and got a job at SF State as Coordinator of the Conservation Biology Program. He participated actively in the Yerba Buena Chapter, lectured in Conservation Biology, and was president of CalBotSoc. He also worked closely with Tom Parker and Jon Keeley to explore relationships in California’s iconic manzanita genus. He later attended UC Santa Cruz and focused research on maritime chaparral. After obtaining his PhD, Mike returned to SF State to lead the SF Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve concentrating on remnant tidal wetlands and restoration ecology. Mike recently retired and lives with his lovely wife Patti and rascal cat Kai in Pacifica. His native garden is tiny but insects, birds, and other creatures seem to love it!

Steve is a retired California State Scientist who led invasive weed programs at the CA Dept. of Food and Agriculture for 16 years and then served as Branch Chief of the Biogeographic Data Branch at the CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, which oversees the CA Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), GIS services and the Vegetation and Mapping Program (VegCAMP).  Steve studied Entomology as an undergrad at UC Berkeley and both Entomology and Biostatistics at UC Davis completing two Masters. Botanical activities for Steve have entailed photographing all California monkeyflowers and describing 2 as new species.  He is also very in love with the northern Mojave Desert flora and partners in plant collecting forays and regional floras.  In addition to serving on the CNPS state board, Steve will continue his 15 year stint on the CA Invasive Plant Council board of directors. He lives in Davis with his wife Carol and is happily watching his two kids study herpetology and plant science in the UC system.

Vivian Neou is a retired software executive. She became interested in native plants after she retired and started hiking. That led her to volunteer at the CNPS SCV Nursery, where she became the nursery manager. She's a past president of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and is active in many other roles in the chapter. Vivian enjoys leading hikes for Midpeninsula Open Space District, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and Edgewood Park & Natural Preserve.