Leadership Team

Academic Leadership

Dr. Sabrina Drill, Interim Director

Dr. Sabrina Drill Dr. Sabrina Drill is California Naturalist (CalNat) Interim Director. Additionally, she is the UCCE Natural Resources Advisor for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, where she helps communities, non-profits, and government agencies manage and restore aquatic ecosystems, from snorkel surveys for endangered steelhead trout, to working with volunteers to understand fishes and fishing in the LA River. She has worked around the country, as well as in East Africa, helping communities understand and conserve natural resources.

Greg Ira, Academic Coordinator

Gregory “Greg” Ira is the CalNat Academic Coordinator involved in the planning, management and operations of the program and its many partnerships. After completing his Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and Master’s in Asian Studies, he worked for six years in the Philippines integrating conservation into the context of rural development. In Florida, he established statewide environmental education programs for students and teachers and managed sustainable initiatives including the Florida Green Lodging program. His areas of interest include field-based environmental education, volunteer water quality monitoring, tools for addressing culture in environmental programs and strategic program planning.

Dr. Adina Merenlender, Founding Director, Workgroup Chair

Dr. Adina Merenlender is a Cooperative Extension Specialist at UC Berkeley and is an internationally recognized conservation biologist working on environmental problem solving at the landscape-scale. She has published extensively on the influence of land use on biodiversity. She is dedicated to bridging the gap between conservation science and practice through community led environmental stewardship, education, and citizen science. See more at her website.

Sarah-Mae Nelson, Academic Coordinator, Climate Stewards Initiative

Sarah-Mae Nelson leads the California Naturalist program’s Climate Stewards Initiative to incorporate climate science and climate change communication techniques into existing courses while developing a full climate stewards course which will be gradually rolled out to existing partners. An educator, science communicator, and climate change interpreter, she's worked for the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a Conservation Interpreter and Online Community Manager for ClimateInterpreter.org. Sarah-Mae is an active member of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), sitting on one of the leadership committees

Staff

Sarah Angulo, Community Education Specialist

Sarah Angulo advances new and continuing CalNat programs in central California and throughout the Sierra. Sarah has a strong interest and background in environmental education, having taught California natural history to kindergarteners through adults at the tide pools of the Sonoma Coast and Santa Cruz redwood forests, all the way through gold country to the snowy Castle Peak at Donner Pass and Mono Lake’s high desert. She leads backpacking trips every summer for the Sierra Club, and is Northern Chair Elect this year on the board of the California Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education.

Melissa Figueroa, Administrative Support

Melissa Figueroa provides essential part-time administrative support to the California Naturalist Program.

Brook Gamble, Community Education Specialist

Brook Gamble enhances the development of the CalNat community through communication, events, and marketing support. She has worked throughout California and Alaska first as a wildlife biologist and later in stakeholder engagement, science communication, and program management roles. She is interested in how a community of practice approach to building California Naturalist participation can increase capacity to address today's environmental challenges.

Michelle Hammer Coffer, Business Manager

Michelle Hammer Coffer provides all financial services and support to the California Naturalist Program as our business manager. She brings to the job a tremendous amount of fiscal planning and operations experience from her work at UC Davis, before recently joining UC ANR.