Stuart is a retired Certified Public Accountant licensed in California with over 25 years of experience in the areas of corporate treasury and tax. Stuart is eager to help revitalize the San Lorenzo River in an effort to increase its use for recreation and public education, as well as improve the quality of the main water source for the city of Santa Cruz. He holds a Master in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas in Austin and Bachelor’s Degree from Rice University. Stuart lives in the Happy Valley area of Santa Cruz with his wife and two children. One of his favorite activities is to go for a run along the Riverwalk.

Amber is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget Analysis and Planning at UC Santa Cruz, and brings 20 years of experience in strategic budgeting, fiscal oversight, and collaborative decision-making to CWC. She oversees complex financial planning and resource allocation as part of her work, as well as institutional research, data management, analytics, and reporting functions.  Amber was previously part of the budget and finance office at California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), Humboldt for 16 years, including serving as the Executive Director of Budget & Financial Planning. 

Growing up in Humboldt County, Amber spent countless hours on or near the water, running on levees, paddling in lagoons, and surfing where rivers met the ocean. This experience instilled a deep appreciation for healthy natural environments and community access to them. Amber has a personal passion for the outdoors, including running, surfing, hiking, paddle boarding, scuba diving, and playing soccer. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the California State University, San Bernardino and a bachelor’s of science in business administration from Loyola Marymount University. 

Drew leads cloud storage product marketing for Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that makes cloud computing services. An Idaho native and former professional whitewater guide in the US, Central and South America, Drew has lived firsthand the impacts of ecotourism, resource extraction and seen the delicate balance between use and abuse of river communities. He was appointed to two terms on the Santa Cruz Historic Preservation Commission, where he advised on the controversial La Bahia project, numerous private development projects and advocated the City adopt a Mills Act ordinance.

Drew holds a BA in Political Science with minors in French and English from the University of Puget Sound, and lives in a historic house with his wife (wedding confection artist Edith Meyer) and their twin boys in Santa Cruz, California.

As a seasoned community engagement leader and driver of impactful change, Emma is honored to serve as a board member for the Coastal Watershed Council. With a background in environmental stewardship and a passion for fostering collaboration, she brings expertise in public programs, fundraising, and relationship building to the table. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion, combined with her ongoing education in leadership and environmental studies, enables her to contribute meaningfully to the Coastal Watershed Council’s mission of preserving and enhancing our coastal watershed for future generations.

As the Senior Community Engagement Manager at Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, Emma will draw on her experience to inform CWC’s efforts to engage community members in habitat restoration and stewardship of the San Lorenzo River and Riverwalk. She loves going to Science on Tap talks, running in the redwoods, reading on the beach, and spending time with loved ones.

Colleen is passionate about rivers, having grown up whitewater rafting in remote wilderness areas and then working as a rafting guide. Born and raised in Santa Cruz, she is thrilled to be back in this community and working to support a thriving San Lorenzo River. Colleen works with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District on projects to enhance streamflow, improve water security, and restore wildlife habitat. She has also worked in national river policy, coalition building, and international development projects focused on ecosystem health, and she brings these skills and experience to the CWC Board.

Colleen earned her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College and her M.A. in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University. In her free time, Colleen enjoys hiking with her dog, dancing, rock climbing, gardening, and spending time along the river.

Megan is a long time resident of Santa Cruz County and she grew up in Aptos and currently lives in the City of Santa Cruz. Megan has always had a passion for water resources. She has an educational background of Water Resources, Watershed Science and GIS mapping to the CWC Board. She obtained a Masters and PhD from Clemson University with research specifically examining the impacts of land use change on water quality in small urban watersheds. She also has a BS from UC Davis in Environmental Resources with an emphasis on freshwater aquatic chemistry.

Megan brings years of work experience as a mapping expert and program manager to the CWC. She has been an employee of Google since 2006 with roles ranging from GIS mapping, Accessibility and creating accessible products for people with disabilities. She currently is a program manager for Google Maps.

Megan is a lifelong explorer and has traveled to 60+ countries for work, tourism, and scuba diving. She has lived and worked in Europe and Africa as an environmental consultant to water projects. Megan also graduated from the Leadership Santa Cruz County program in 2022 as part of class 35.

Stuart is a retired Certified Public Accountant licensed in California with over 25 years of experience in the areas of corporate treasury and tax. Stuart is eager to help revitalize the San Lorenzo River in an effort to increase its use for recreation and public education, as well as improve the quality of the main water source for the city of Santa Cruz. He holds a Master in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas in Austin and Bachelor’s Degree from Rice University. Stuart lives in the Happy Valley area of Santa Cruz with his wife and two children. One of his favorite activities is to go for a run along the Riverwalk.

Dan Ackerstein’s fascination with the environment and water began as a reporter for his high school newspaper while writing an in-depth piece on the changing health of the marine environment around Siesta Key, Florida, the island on which he grew up. Since then, Dan has built a career and life centered on environmental sustainability and water in its various forms, receiving degrees from Tufts University (Environmental Policy) and Duke University (Corporate Environmental Management) and working in the private sector, public sector, and NGO world.  

Dan’s career has centered on the relationship between business and the environment. While his initial focus was on corporate and institutional impacts produced by the operation of large facilities and campuses, in recent years his work has broadened to include nature-based riverway habitat restoration projects in California and Colorado, as well as innovative programs around alternatives to rodenticide and ecologically sound pest control strategies. Currently, Dan advises sustainability-minded clients while also serving on the Santa Cruz City Parks & Recreation Commission as well as the Santa Cruz Junior Lifeguard Booster Club Board. 

Amber is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget Analysis and Planning at UC Santa Cruz, and brings 20 years of experience in strategic budgeting, fiscal oversight, and collaborative decision-making to CWC. She oversees complex financial planning and resource allocation as part of her work, as well as institutional research, data management, analytics, and reporting functions.  Amber was previously part of the budget and finance office at California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), Humboldt for 16 years, including serving as the Executive Director of Budget & Financial Planning.  

Growing up in Humboldt County, Amber spent countless hours on or near the water, running on levees, paddling in lagoons, and surfing where rivers met the ocean. This experience instilled a deep appreciation for healthy natural environments and community access to them. Amber has a personal passion for the outdoors, including running, surfing, hiking, paddle boarding, scuba diving, and playing soccer. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the California State University, San Bernardino and a bachelor’s of science in business administration from Loyola Marymount University. 

Richard’s interest in the natural world began with a deep appreciation for the wildlife and coastal environments of his home country, Costa Rica, where it grew into a lasting commitment to understanding how human and ecological systems can sustainably coexist. He has a formal background in law and marine policy and brings experience in research, stakeholder engagement, and cross-sector collaboration to advance the protection of coastal ecosystems to his role at CWC. His work reflects the value of incorporating diverse perspectives when addressing complex environmental challenges. Richard holds a Master’s degree in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, and is fluent in both Spanish and English, enabling him to engage across communities and support inclusive, long-term solutions for coastal, ocean, and land stewardship. Richard works as Climate Resilience and Adaptation Manager for Regeneración – Pajaro Valley Climate Action.

Artist, Educator, Community organizer, Environmentalist and Friend of the river Linda Cover lives and works at the Tannery Arts Center, located on the banks of the San Lorenzo River. She is a photographer/artist focused on community and the natural world. At the Tannery, she is a board member of ARTU the tenant’s union. She is the founder of Camp Tannery Arts, a summer camp for young artists and Art Outside, a nature-based summer camp. Linda is a SPECTRA teaching artist, through the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, teaching “Watershed Art” in schools throughout the county. As a city of Santa Cruz Arts Commissioner, she is honored to serve both the city and artist communities. Linda has organized clean-ups with kids and families in Watsonville & Santa Cruz for 20 years. You may see Linda on her yellow bike riding on the river walkway where she socializes with folks along the way, photographs the ever-changing landscape, and creates “sand doodles” and mandalas at the river mouth beach.

Drew leads cloud storage product marketing for Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that makes cloud computing services. An Idaho native and former professional whitewater guide in the US, Central and South America, Drew has lived firsthand the impacts of ecotourism, resource extraction and seen the delicate balance between use and abuse of river communities. He was appointed to two terms on the Santa Cruz Historic Preservation Commission, where he advised on the controversial La Bahia project, numerous private development projects and advocated the City adopt a Mills Act ordinance.

Drew holds a BA in Political Science with minors in French and English from the University of Puget Sound, and lives in a historic house with his wife (wedding confection artist Edith Meyer) and their twin boys in Santa Cruz, California.

Eva is a Costa Rican biologist that moved to Santa Cruz around 2011. She spent many years working in marine ecosystems and has witnessed firsthand the critical influence that rivers have on the ocean. She feels lucky to be living in Monterey Bay, a very unique place in the Pacific Ocean with a deep underwater canyon and lush kelp forests, and she knows that it is fundamental to take care of watersheds to keep that beauty going. She joined the CWC board because she believes in the importance of involving herself and the local neighbors in the vision for our San Lorenzo River.

She feels quite privileged to live right next to the Santa Cruz Riverwalk, a place to meditate, walk, admire nature, and her main biking route to get anywhere in this amazing community. She particularly loves to see the changing faces of the San Lorenzo River throughout the year.

She has a PhD in ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UC Santa Cruz, is married, and has one child. Works at FISHBIO doing research and monitoring of fish in California, SE Asia, and Costa Rica. Loves mountain biking, scuba diving, paddle boarding, and hanging out with friends and family.

Jim Sandoval recently retired as the City of Los Altos Public Works Director & City Engineer. During his 33-year civil engineering career, he worked with communities in the U.S. and abroad to develop, rebuild, and maintain infrastructure and sustainably manage renewable resources, including projects and programs in water resources and protection, waste management, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, energy generation and distribution, and transportation. Jim’s role on the CWC board taps into his passion for environmental protection and sustainability, and his experience allows him to further CWC’s mission to protect and enhance the lower San Lorenzo River by partnering with the Santa Cruz community.

Jim is a licensed civil engineer in California and holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University. He has lived in Santa Cruz since 1995, residing most of that time on Beach Hill near the San Lorenzo River. He enjoys all that Santa Cruz has to offer with cultural and outdoor activities around town, at the beach, on the bay, in the redwoods, and along the river. 

As a seasoned community engagement leader and driver of impactful change, Emma is honored to serve as a board member for the Coastal Watershed Council. With a background in environmental stewardship and a passion for fostering collaboration, she brings expertise in public programs, fundraising, and relationship building to the table. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion, combined with her ongoing education in leadership and environmental studies, enables her to contribute meaningfully to the Coastal Watershed Council’s mission of preserving and enhancing our coastal watershed for future generations.

As the Senior Community Engagement Manager at Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship, Emma will draw on her experience to inform CWC’s efforts to engage community members in habitat restoration and stewardship of the San Lorenzo River and Riverwalk. She loves going to Science on Tap talks, running in the redwoods, reading on the beach, and spending time with loved ones.