Board and Staff

SANDY BARNEY attended Central Methodist University and was a flight attendant for United Airlines for 37 years. She has been a long time active member of the League of Women Voters of Seattle, serving four years on the board, two as co-president. She and her husband moved to Freeland from Seattle in 2007 and immediately became Land Trust supporters and volunteers. She also enjoys volunteering with Learning Partners and the M Bar C Ranch.

JOANI BOOSE was raised in the Seattle area and received her B.S. degree in Nursing from the University of Washington. Her nursing background became the foundation for teaching both professionally and as a volunteer. Joani has been visiting Whidbey since her early teens. She and her husband Dale have changed their primitive summer cabin into a cozy year around home. She enjoys birding and is an active participant with Island County Beach Watchers.

TOM CAHILL is a retired attorney who practiced law in Palo Alto, California with the law firm of Lakin Spears. He was its Managing Partner for the last twenty years of his career. Tom and his wife Sally have been residents of Whidbey Island since 2003, have been supportive of various community organizations and are active land trust volunteers. Tom is currently the President of the North Beverly Beach Association.

TOM CAMPBELL is retired from the US Navy after a career that included command of an aviation squadron and departmental leadership on an aircraft carrier. Tom holds a business degree from University of Florida and an MBA from University of Chicago. Following his career with the Navy, Tom worked in the public and private sectors. Tom resides in Langley and is an avid nature photographer, birder, and fly fisherman. He is also a member of the Whidbey Audubon Society and Island County Beach Watchers.

LENNY CORIN recently retired from a thirty year career in natural resource management with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.  With a Bachelor's in Wildlife Conservation from Cornell University and a Master's from Northern Michigan University, focusing on wetlands management, Lenny worked on a variety of restoration projects throughout the country including places like the Great Lakes and Alaska. Lenny resides in Oak Harbor.

PAUL GOLDFINGER served as a school finance consultant to school districts and county education offices in California for over 30 years and brings to the board budgeting and lobbying experience. Now retired, Paul is active in the community and also serves on the Langley Community Club board. He enjoys hiking and recently co-founded a men's hiking group. Paul lives in Langley.

LARRY HARRIS was a teacher and administrator who, after graduating from Yale and serving in the Navy, taught and directed schools in Lebanon, India, Africa, and the United States. Larry has served on various non-profit boards including Community Mental Health/Compass Health and League of Woman Voters and has also served as a planning commissioner and county commissioner in Whatcom County. In the past, Larry raised cattle and stewarded a 175 acre property along the Nooksack River.   Larry is a resident of Freeland.

GRANT HEIKEN worked for NASA during the Apollo Program, in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, as a geology instructor and researcher. In 1975 he and his wife moved to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, where he was a researcher in the geological sciences. He has co-written or edited 10 books. Retired in 2003, he lives on Whidbey Island, with his wife Jody, who is a scientific editor. Heiken volunteers for several service organizations and is on Island County’s Water Resources Advisory Committee.

MULLY MULLALLY recently retired after 25 years with the South Whidbey Children's Center as their founder and executive director. With a career in early childhood and parent education, she is passionate about young children developing strong bonds with the natural world. She joined the board to help save land for future generations and brings to the board many non-profit management skills. Mully enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and resides in Langley.

DAN PEDERSEN of Langley is author of Whidbey Island’s Special Places and the People Who Love Them. He has written about nature for Island County newspapers, the Land Trust, and for WSU Extension and the Marine Resources Committee (MRC). He received his master’s  from the University of Washington and for 22 years was manager of marketing publications for Safeco Corporation. His interests include dogs, gardening, nature photography and writing humor. He is active in a writers’ group and in Whidbey Audubon Society.

TODD PETERSON is a public involvement facilitator and consultant on environmental and community issues.  He earned a B.A. with Honors in English from Dartmouth College and an M.A. in Education from Stanford.  Todd served on the board of directors for the South Whidbey School District and International Association for Public Participation.  He is the editor and a writer for BirdNote, broadcast on Seattle’s National Public Radio affiliate, KPLU.  He and his wife, Chris, have owned land on Whidbey since 1978.  He enjoys beekeeping, fly fishing and hiking the bluff at Ebey’s Landing.

DAVE PINKHAM recently retired as editor and publisher of the Stanwood-Camano News. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Whitman College and a master’s degree from Columbia University. Dave entered the field of journalism to pursue his interest in environmental issues and over his thirty-five year career covered local topics including the birth of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, the efforts of Save the Trees, and other land conservation in Island County. Dave and his wife, Pam, reside in Stanwood.

PATRICIA POWELL, executive director, was hired in January 2003, as the first staff for the Whidbey Camano Land Trust. Pat has extensive experience in land protection, grant writing, and natural resource planning and management. Her successes include acquiring and protecting over 250 conservation properties, totaling well over 75,000 acres, and working on numerous grants that awarded nearly $100 million to land acquisition projects. Before joining the Land Trust, Pat owned a successful land protection consulting business. Prior to that, she was the Director of Land Protection for The Nature Conservancy of Washington. She was also the Special Lands Acquisition and Trust Land Transfer manager for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Pat has experience working in small communities and rural areas, having been a planner for San Juan County and a natural resource planner in Alaska for eight years. She resides in Greenbank.

JAN GRAHAM, development associate, joined the Land Trust in September of 2006. She has a background in technical writing, training, and project management. Jan has a B.A. in English and a teaching credential in elementary education. She lives in Oak Harbor with her husband where she volunteers in Island County's Master Gardener program and in the Boy Scouts.

ELIZABETH GUSS, director of development and outreach, began with the Land Trust staff in 2007. With extensive experience in both the business and non-profit world in Utah and Washington, she has founded and nurtured organizations through management, organizational development, and marketing work. Earning a BA at the University of San Francisco, California and an MA at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, she infuses daily tasks with a sense of purpose and achieves goals with enthusiasm and cheerfulness. Moving to Whidbey Island in 2004, she served for three years as the director of the nationally recognized Whidbey Island Writers Conference. Passionate about caring for the land and building the community, she believes in inviting everyone to help create a vibrant, healthy environment. She and her husband, Steve, live near Langley in a home that overlooks the Saratoga Passage.

CHRIS HILTON, land protection specialist, began working at the Land Trust in May of 2007. Chris came to the Land Trust from The Nature Conservancy where she spent three years working in operations followed by seven years working on land conservation projects in Washington. She has extensive experience managing and negotiating land acquisitions for protection. A native of western Washington, Chris has long been passionate about conservation of the Pacific Northwest’s habitat and history. She has a B.S. in Landscape Ecology from Western Washington University. In her spare time, Chris enjoys knitting and spending time outdoors.

JESSICA LARSON, stewardship associate, joined the Land Trust in October 2008.  Her background is in forest management, flood restoration, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Prior to joining the Land Trust, Jessica worked with Mount Rainier National Park and Longview Timber. She received her B.S. in Environmental Science and Resource Management from the University of Washington and a certificate in GIS from Green River Community College.  She lives near Langley where she helps her family operate a small farm. Jessica enjoys running, hiking, triathlons, logging sports and volunteering for the local fire department/Red Cross.

CHERYL LOWE, land steward,land steward, joined the Whidbey Camano Land Trust in May 2007. She has extensive experience in land stewardship, site management, public outreach and volunteer coordination. For 15 years prior to joining the Land Trust, Cheryl managed the New England Wild Flower Society’s native plant botanic garden in Massachusetts. She also has experience working for the North Cascades National Park and The Nature Conservancy in Portland, OR. She received her B.S. in plant ecology from Cornell University and an M.S. in public horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware. She is also a co-author of Peterson’s Field Guide to Ferns (2005).

PETRA MARTIN, communication and marketing specialist, joined the Land Trust in 2010. She received a B.A. in English from Seattle Pacific University and brings decades of experience in writing, editing, and publishing for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Petra and her son Adrian were “called” to Whidbey Island in 2001 and have enjoyed it in different ways. They’ve experienced “city” life in Langley; built a house on raw land; raised goats, chickens, ducks, and bees; and founded a refuge for writers. Petra enjoys writing, reading, walking, taking photos, and engaging in fiber-related arts such as knitting and spinning. She is the creator of the Mixed Emotions card deck.

DANIELLE RIDEOUT, program associate, began working for the Land Trust in September of 2006. Prior to joining the Land Trust, she was a city planner for the City of Champaign, Illinois for five years. Danielle has a B.A. in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has experience in comprehensive and neighborhood planning. She also studied in Sheffield, England for one year to gain an international perspective on planning issues. In her free time, Danielle enjoys trail running, camping, quilting, and collecting stamps from National Parks. She resides in Oak Harbor.

CARRIE VIERS, operations manager, joined the Land Trust in 2008. Carrie started with us part-time as our Bookkeeper and then became the full-time Operations Manager and Bookkeeper. She brings 25 years of accounting/bookkeeping experience to keep the finances straight as well as extensive office/operations experience in various organizations. Currently the treasurer for the South Whidbey Association of Jazz Educators, she does their books to background music from her children’s guitar and piano practice. Moving to Whidbey in 2006, she enjoys gardening, exploring the outdoors, caring for her chickens, and spending time with her husband and children. She resides in Clinton where she also makes a phenomenal raspberry jam.