Board of Directors
Meet Nearby Nature's Board of Directors!
Nearby Nature's Board of Directors is made up of community members from many different walks of life. We meet approximately once a month. If you are interested in learning more about joining our Board, let us know at info@nearbynature.org.
Holly Hartmann:
President: Board member since December 2003. Holly volunteered as a nature guide and served on the Board in the early 1990s when Nearby Nature was just beginning. Prior to this, she served 12 years as a volunteer naturalist, guide, coordinator, and board member for the Waterloo Nature Center near Ann Arbor MI, and as a trainer for Michigan's 4-H Challenge Program. Holly is Director of the Arid Lands Information Center at the University of Arizona where she leads research projects related to climate, hydrology, and development of decision support resources and tools (she prefers living in Eugene and going to Tucson when necessary). Holly also led our first year of weekend family Nature Quests in Alton Baker Park.
Rebecca Daniels
Board member since November 2009. Rebecca is currently the Finance Director at the Network Charter School and a volunteer at Sacred Heart Hospital. Mother of four kids ages 8-20, Rebecca also has a degree in classical piano, plays the cello, and loves to camp, hike, and swim in creeks.
Linda Johnson
Board member since August 2010. Linda has been active in our community for many years, as a founding and supporting member of many local education and nature-friendly organizations. Linda has already helped out with several of our community events and is currently in training to serve as an Alton Baker Park nature guide.
Sariantra Kali
Board members since January 2011. Recently moved back to Eugene after time in the southwest, Sariantra’s connection with Nearby Nature goes back to our 10th anniversary party, for which she wrote and directed a wonderful Kinder Critter review. To this day, our Critters base their Haunted Hike performances on scripts originally written by Sariantra. Sariantra is a licensed Acupuntcurist and owns her own business, Ancient Rivers Acupuncture.
Samara Phelps
Board member since summer 2012. Currently Travel Lane County’s Adventure Center Manager, Samara has been part of Nearby Nature’s family ever since the mid 1990s, when she first starting volunteering for us. Over the years, Samara has led nature walks, trained volunteers, helped direct school programs, and even dressed up as a Kinder Critter!
Scott Maguffin
Board Member since 2012. Before moving to Eugene for graduate school, Scott worked in Massachusetts managing the clean up of contaminated groundwater sites as an environmental consultant. He has an MS in Hydrogeology and is currently studying biogeochemistry and researching arsenic contamination of groundwater for his PhD at the University of Oregon. Scott enjoys educating students of all ages about science and nature. He leads nature walks for Nearby Nature and teaches geology labs at the UO. Scott's hobbies include soccer, running, hiking, traveling, and local and national politics.
Non-voting Board Member
Joseph Minato:
Board member (non-voting) and co-founder (1992). Joseph teaches natural sciences, and is a former executive director, board member, and lead instructor for Nearby Nature. He served two terms on the board of the East Alton Baker Park Citizens Planning Committee. He holds a B.S. from M.I.T., has completed post-graduate work in astrophysics and geophysics, has an Oregon teaching certificate, and is currently working at the Portland Jewish Academy as a middle school science teacher.
