Sequoia Riverlands Trust Staff
SOPAC MCCARTHY MULHOLLAND, Executive Director
Soapy joined Sequoia Riverlands Trust as the first paid Executive Director in March 2002. She brings to SRT a unique history with experience in ranch management, land development and agriculture that guides her conservation vision. Since 1989, she has served as the general manager of River Valley Ranch in Springville, CA which her family has owned for more than 40 years. She has owned and operated the McCarthy Creek Ranch in Porterville for 15 years. Through her sole proprietorship, Sopac and Associates, she actively engaged in the field of real estate entitlements and government and agency land use. Soapy currently sits on the Board of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Stewardship Council, the Statewide Blue Print Committee, the California Ag Visioning Committee, the Aldo Leopold Award selection committee, and the Tejon Ranch Conservancy Board of Directors. She is a member of the California Cattlemen’s Association and the Farm Bureau. She previously served as interim President of the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation and as Director of Development for the California Agricultural Education Foundation, and later became a member of their Board of Directors. Soapy lives in Springville, California.
DEBBIE BRATT, Finance, Accounting & Grant Manager
Debbie joined the SRT team in February of 2009 with over 20 years experience in a wide range of financial and administrative operations. A former Buckeye, Debbie has spent the majority of her career in the construction industry, with an emphasis on bringing efficiency and consistency to reporting and operating systems. Enjoying the transition to the non-profit sector, she finds the efforts of the Trust to be personally rewarding and is honored to be a part of those efforts. Debbie lives in Visalia with her husband John and their canine companion Obi-Wan.
LAURA CHILDERS, Education Coordinator
Laura joined the land trust in 2009 after being inspired to investigate practical methods for conserving land by her studies in Environmental History at The University of Texas at Austin. After a season in Yellowstone National Park , Laura noticed that the state of privately owned land surrounding the park was hugely influential on the health of the park's natural resources, namely its wildlife. It became clear to her that she needed to help conserve private land in order to ensure that important natural resources continue to exist. Laura brings her experience as a naturalist ranger at Yellowstone National Park and Sequoia National Forest to SRT's education program. She also offers her enthusiasm for insects, reptiles, and amphibians that she cultivated during a season of trapping insects and exploring caves in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park . Laura lives in Three Rivers.
HILARY DUSTIN, Conservation Director
Hilary has a lifelong interest in practical, sustainable relationships between people and their natural habitats. She has enjoyed exploring this in academia, government, private business and now, with SRT, the private non-profit sector. Prior to joining SRT as the Lead Land Steward in December 2003 she received degrees in biology and range management; spent 15 years with the U.S. Forest Service as a range conservationist, timber sale planner, district ranger and public affairs officer; co-owned a medium sized architecture and planning firm; and recently got some hands-on experience with the food system as a grocery stocker with a whole foods co-op. Hilary's work has allowed her to live in rural communities in Central California, Upstate New York and Montana, giving her a great appreciation for the diversity and productivity of the landscapes she is privileged to care for through SRT. Hilary lives in Three Rivers.
ANDREW GLAZIER, Stewardship Technician
Andrew Glazier is a landscaper, writer and artist whose work has appeared in Time magazine, Sunset magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. He has worked many years in the nursery business and collects drought tolerant plants. He is looking forward to his role expanding the SRT nursery and its sale of native plants. He lives in Exeter, CA with his wife Amy and daughter Lily.
ELIZABETH OLSON, Conservation Project Manager
Elizabeth joined the SRT team in 2010 as Conservation Project Manager. Elizabeth has more than 10 years of experience in the precast concrete industry. In her time at Huffcutt Concrete in Chippewa Falls, WI, she filled a diversity of roles from field labor jobs to quality control manager to marketing manager. Elizabeth also worked as a Marketing and Sales Executive for Bobcat Hockey in Bismarck, ND where she gained valuable experience in marketing, advertising, sales and game operations. She has served on the board of the Wisconsin Precast Concrete Association (WPCA) and participated in the WPCA Precast Concrete Promotions Committee. Elizabeth has a BS in Psychology with a minor in Speech Communications from the University of Wisconsin Stout. A Wisconsin transplant, Elizabeth moved to Visalia with her fiancé, Kraig Kraft.
ERICA TOOTLE, Development Director
Erica joined the SRT staff in 2007 as Communications Coordinator. A native of Ohio, Erica relocated to Visalia with her husband Steve, a Visalia native, and has enjoyed establishing her own Central Valley roots. Erica has extensive experience in media relations and graphic design. Her prior work included coordinating all marketing, communications, and public relations activities for a school employee credit union. Erica graduated magna cum laude from Ohio University with a B.S. in Journalism and was also awarded the Outstanding Graduating Senior award. Erica's additional work experience includes serving as Public Information Assistant at the PBS/NPR affiliate in Athens, Ohio.
FRANCES TWEED, Executive Assistant
Frances brings many years of administrative experience to SRT, from professions as varied as the garment and travel industries, cargo shipping, food processing, and architecture. Since moving to Tulare County , she has become exposed to the world of environmental non-profits and appreciates both the hard work involved and great satisfaction derived from this important effort. Frances lives in Three Rivers with her husband Bill.
NIKI WOODARD, Communications Director
Niki, a Visalia native, joined SRT in November 2008. She returned to the Central Valley after nearly fifteen years gaining valuable work and life experience in various cities across the country. Most recently, she worked at the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC as a Research Associate where she authored several reports on the news media. She also worked in advertising in Seattle, as a journalist in San Francisco, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala where she taught indigenous families how to garden organically. She earned an M.A. in Communications, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University and two B.A.’s from UC Berkeley in Economics and Rhetoric.