Cynthia Powell

Ron Vanderhoff is currently Calflora's President of the Board. He is a botanist and professional horticulturist living and working in Southern California. He has has long affiliations with and held various positions with The California Native Plant Society, California Native Plant Council, Calflora and others. He is actively involved in understanding and documenting the status and distribution of the native and naturalized plants in the South Coast region. Ron is especially interested in rare plant conservation and the early detection and management of invasive plants and works collaboratively with agencies and land managers throughout the area. He is an avid collector and observer with numerous records on Calflora, the CCH, and iNaturalist. He believes that the sharing of information is essential to our enjoyment, understanding and conservation of California's flora.

Jutta C. Burger is the science and conservation program director for the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) and worked previously at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy as a land manager. She grew up in Washington and received her degrees at Washington State University, University of Nebraska, and UC Riverside, where she also worked in the Department of Entomology for several years. Jutta has had a career-long commitment to conservation, native plants and insects, and understanding the ecology, impacts, and effective management of invasive plants. Supporting Calflora’s valuable online tools to better map and track both native and invasive plants is part of that commitment. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Chavez Park Conservancy and the Contra Costa County IPM Advisory Committee, and, previously, on the Boards of the Orange County chapter of CNPS and Cal-IPC. Jutta joined the Calflora Board in 2018.

Julie Kierstead, M.S., retired Shasta-Trinity NF botanist, CNPS certified consulting botanist, affiliations with UCJEPS and California Academy of Sciences; focus on rare plants of NW California, and documenting the flora of the Klamath Ranges.

John C. Game, D Phil., Research Associate, University of California Herbarium at Berkeley; Research Associate and Fellow, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai.

Sandy McCoy lives in Berkeley. A past member of the CNPS board, he helped to establish the CNPS Planned Giving Program. He currently Board Chair of the Berkeley Symphony and has past board service on the board of American Friends of Canadian Conservation. He has a law degree from UC Law San Francisco. He attended Reed College. He is an avid hiker and an amateur botanist and birder.

Ramona Robison is a botanical consultant with over 30 years’ experience in the California flora. She specializes in invasive plant management and has a PhD in Plant Biology and a BA in Botany from UC Davis. She also co-manages a family ranch in eastern Sacramento County.

Bob Marsh Director of Inveneo: Inveneo delivers the tools of technology to those who need it most in the developing world.

Sandy DeSimone is director of research, education and land management at Audubon’s 4000 acre Starr Ranch Sanctuary in southeast Orange County. For both master’s thesis (Cal State Fullerton) then Ph.D.(UC, Davis) research focused on ecology of the globally endangered shrubland, coastal sage scrub.

Mark Bowler, a retired systems engineer and Orange County Parks volunteer with a life-long interest in nature and science, uses Calflora’s Weed Manager as he leads volunteer invasive plant management and restoration activities for Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in close cooperation with Park Rangers and Resource Management specialists.

Botanical Committee
Chair: John Game
Members: Julie Kierstead, Ron Vanderhoff, Keir Morse, David Greenberger, John Malpas
Watch dogs for what’s coming into Calflora, applying reference photos, checking disjunct populations, etc. Ensures data quality and integrity.

Outreach Committee
Chair: Cynthia Powell
Members: Ron Vanderhoff, Julie Kierstead, Mona Robison
Edits Calflora Constant Contact emails, posts on social media, writes botanical journal articles.

Grants and Contracts Committee
Chair: Sandy McCoy
Members: Ed Dorrington, Cynthia Powell, Jutta Burger
Assists in the sourcing, writing, and procurement of grants that align with the mission and needs of Calflora and its users.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (JEDI)
Chair: Mona Robison
Members: Cynthia Powell, Sandy DeSimone
To ensure that the demographics of people who actively engage in land management and botanical efforts mirrors the changing demographics of people who live in this state. We want to include as many perspectives as possible.

Technical Committee
Chair: Mark Bowler
Members: Ken-ichi Ueda, Falk Schuetzenmeister, John Malpas, Ed Dorrington, Cynthia Powell
Discuss the technical aspects of the database, including software and hardware, systems, and licensing. Also a clearinghouse for new features and enhancements.