Craig Poole 

Jon Edwards grew up in Columbus, Ohio and while a “city boy,” he always enjoyed nature and being in the great outdoors. In 1990 he followed his wife to California’s Great Central Valley where they’ve resided for 30 years lovingly restoring a 100 year old home where they lived for 16 years; and have begun doing so to another. Jon’s career has been in various healthcare finance and operations roles in Fresno. He was invited to join the Sierra Foothill Conservancy in 2014 just as he was searching for a small, grass roots organization where he could contribute his experience and time. SFC’s dedication to pragmatically preserving & managing wild lands well-suits his love of the Central Valley foothills and mountains and their extraordinary flora, fauna, vistas and beauty. Additionally, he sees SFC’s commitment to youth and education as important, critically-necessary functions of the Conservancy.

Paul Beare grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, but spent much of the 70’s on trails in rural Missouri.  In 1979, he moved to Minnesota where he still owns a lake cabin.  Like many Minnesotans, Paul spent weekends and summers on the lakes, watching birds and trying to catch fish.  A special favorite was trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

He currently enjoys hiking and biking in the foothills and camping in the national parks or wilderness areas.  Paul has been an educator for 38 years, and recently retired as the Dean of the Kremen School of Education at Fresno State.  He has two children, Tom, 26, who resides in Portland, Oregon, and Marianne, 30, who is a nurse practitioner in Alexandria, Virginia.

Margarita King was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States of America at a young age. Through the years, she has lived in the states of New York, Idaho and California. Her first experience with the outdoors was in the Philippines when she was child. Walking in the outdoors meant you had no transportation due to limited resources. Walking was your mode of getting to places. The outdoors was nothing special but a place to get through from point A to point B. When she was attending college her best friend took her hiking at the San Gabrielle Mountains – Mt. Baldy specifically. The outdoors manifested a new special meaning for her. The outdoors became a wider expansive space of beauty that nurtures physical and emotional health. In 1999, she and her family moved to Central CA and made Mariposa County her home. She has been a public health nurse at the Mariposa County Public Health Department since 2002. As a Public Health nurse, she follows the “One Health” approach -this approach to public health recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals, plants and our shared environment. Her dedication for stewardship of the land and rivers came from living through a personal challenge as she turned to nature for strength and healing- spending time on local trails and the rivers. You can see her around the community working at different public health events and community volunteer work.  When not working or volunteering, she loves visiting with her three children living in the Pacific Northwest, and hiking at the local trails of Mariposa such as the Stockton Creek Preserve and Merced River Trail and a new love for fly fishing. SFC’s commitment to protect the resources of the natural and cultural heritage is protecting the health of the community. Margarita believes in the SFC’s mission of preserving these resources for the present and future generations.

Jean Linder…

With a BS in Resource Conservation and Wildlife Ecology, an MA in Biology and Science Education and a Ph.D. in Science Education, Jim Marshall worked as a field biologist for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission then taught science at both the high school and the elementary school level in Tampa, FL. Upon completing his doctorate at the University of South Florida in 1990, Dr. Marshall began his academic career at Fresno State.

During his 32 years at Fresno State, Dr. Marshall has held several leadership roles including Professor, Graduate Program Coordinator, Department Chair, Director of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership, Associate Dean, and Dean of Research and Graduate Studies.  As an active scholar, he has served as Principal Investigator on over $11M in grants, has published 34 articles in professional journals and textbooks, and has made numerous presentations to state, national, and international audiences.   Dr. Marshall is also active in the community, having served on the boards of California Teacher Fellows Foundation, Yosemite Institute, San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust, and the Fresno Metropolitan Museum.  In 2006, Dr. Marshall received the President’s Award for Excellence from Fresno State.

​Rodney Olsen grew up in Fresno and has devoted much of his life and his career to the area. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biology, Ecology Option from Fresno State University. He has worked as a field biologist and educator and has been a full-time biology instructor at Fresno City College for over 20 years. Rodney has been involved with SFC since its’ inception in 1996 and is committed to the mission and values of the organization. He initially got involved with SFC for a naturalist project on McKenzie Preserve as a student at Fresno City College. Since then, he has served as a longtime volunteer, land steward (fence-building, revegetation projects, oak caging, noxious weed removal, etc.), has led numerous hikes and classes, conducted docent trainings, served as SFC’s California Naturalist instructor, and was a former board member (including time as President, Vice President, a committee member) from 2008-2014. Rodney and his wife, Mariette have three dogs and cats. He loves activities that involve getting outdoors like skateboarding, snowboarding, fishing, birding, botanizing, hiking, and backpacking. A number of his former students are now involved with SFC as well, through his introduction.