Staff

Eamon O’Byrne

Executive Director

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Eamon holds an honors B.A. in English and History from University College, Dublin. Prior to joining the Sonoma Land Trust, Eamon was the director of The Nature Conservancy’s California Islands Program. He led a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, conservation practitioners and partners focused on the ecological restoration and recovery of the Conservancy’s Santa Cruz Island Preserve. Eamon’s nonprofit career began in 2000 with the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, first as the education program manager and then as executive director. Eamon is an avid sailor and is married to Stephanie Linder, Executive Director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society.

Melissa Frediani

Operations Director

As the operations director for Sonoma Land Trust, Melissa is the liaison to the board of directors managing various board activities, as well as supporting the work of the management team.  Melissa has called Santa Rosa home for over 20 years and her husband comes from multiple generations rooted in Sonoma County. Raising their two teenage children with a solid appreciation for the great outdoors has always been a priority. Prior to working at Sonoma Land Trust, Melissa had a 20-year career in the medical industry in sales, marketing and product development. She is excited to have made a career shift to follow her passion and be involved with an organization that makes a significant positive community impact.

Jeff Conti

Land Acquisition Project Manager

Jeff supports the acquisition team’s work in the Russian River watershed and Sonoma Coast. He grew up in New Jersey, but his passion for conservation was fueled by traversing and building trails in the mountains of Montana two years after college. Before moving to Sonoma County in 2019, Jeff worked in the glamour camping (glamping) industry and in public lands stewardship. Jeff has a master’s of environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a bachelor of arts in economics from Brown University. In his spare time, he loves to climb, cook and roam both wild and urban settings.

Joseph Kinyon

GIS Manager

Joseph guides the use of maps and computer-based map information to support the many needs of staff and collaborators telling Sonoma Land Trust’s story of landscape or agricultural conservation. He stewards the main components of our geographic information system, which are people, computers, mapping software, methods of cartography and mapping science, and our spatial data library. He is a certified geographic information systems professional (GISP) holding an MS degree in geographic information systems (GIS) from the University of Redlands with over 15 years of GIS work experience.

Kendall Webster

Land Acquisition Program Manager

Kendall’s primary focus at the Land Trust is conservation and restoration in the Sonoma Baylands. Previously, Kendall worked in the Bay Area environmental planning world at Caltrans District 4 in Oakland and various consulting firms, providing environmental support to PG&E. Kendall has a master’s degree from Tufts University in environmental policy and planning, with a concentration in watershed management. She grew up on the peninsula and moved to Sonoma County in 2016. Outside of work, Kendall enjoys time with family and friends, doing yoga, hiking, swimming, and thinking about and making art.

Sean Dowdall, Landis Communications

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Neal Ramus

Director of Community Engagement and Education

Neal leads organizational efforts to broaden audiences, serve community needs, and include a multitude of voices and interests in the work of Sonoma Land Trust. As a born-and-raised Petaluman, Neal has a deep connection with the lands, people and diversity of Sonoma County, which informs his approach and work engaging the community. Neal previously led community program development at the California Academy of Sciences, Petaluma Wildlife Museum and Sonoma State University’s Center for Environmental Inquiry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, with a minor in paleontology, and a master’s degree in business administration from Sonoma State University.

Ingrid Stearns

On the Land Program Manager

Ingrid designs and manages Sonoma Land Trust’s On the Land program, which connects people to our diversity of protected lands across a variety of ecosystems. You’ll often see her out on hikes exploring the wildflowers and identifying the native plants on the landscape. A dedicated mother of a young child, Ingrid brings her love of the natural world to her everyday interactions with others. She holds a BA in environmental studies and planning from Sonoma State University and an AS in business from Shasta College.

Shannon Nichols

Director of Philanthropy

As director of philanthropy, Shannon helps people further their values by contributing to the work of Sonoma Land Trust. She has more than 20 years of fundraising experience and has led annual and major gift campaigns benefiting land preservation and conservation, social change grant-making and higher education. Shannon moved to California in 2008 from her home state of Maine, where she first fell in love with wild and quiet places. She now lives in Windsor and enjoys spending time with her family and keeping up with the hummingbirds who visit her feeders.

Natasha Bacci

Major Gifts Manager

In her role, Natasha engages supporters and friends of Sonoma Land Trust with our work, either through events and communications or out on the land. Prior to Sonoma Land Trust, Natasha worked at The Trust for Public Land where she helped manage the California advisory board and the national organization’s statewide fundraising program for protecting land and creating parks. As a native of Sonoma County, she is excited to be bringing her experience back to her local community and helping the region become more resilient to the changing climate. In her free time, Natasha enjoys sailing, standup paddle-boarding, hiking, traveling and visiting all the beautiful places Sonoma County has to offer.

Aja Walter

Development Associate

As the development associate, Aja is responsible for managing the membership database and preparing reports and analyses for the development team. Prior to joining Sonoma Land Trust in October 2018, she was a grant writer for a social services agency in San Diego County. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, sewing, obsessing over political news, and playing with her Barack Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figures.

Joe Rizzo

Director of Finance & Administration

Joe possesses over 25 years’ experience in financial leadership and human resources, including working in nonprofits for the last 10 years. After several years in for-profit businesses, he joined Judevine Center for Autism as chief operating officer in 2004. The organization grew by over 50 percent during his first four years to become the largest provider of Autism services in the Midwest, eventually merging with another organization to form Easter Seals Midwest. He comes to Sonoma Land Trust from Buckelew Programs, a behavioral health services nonprofit. Joe is a resident of Petaluma.

Kirti Bavdekar

Senior Accountant

Kirti is responsible for a range of financial and accounting duties that are essential to the maintenance and reliability of our accounting systems. Prior to joining Sonoma Land Trust, she worked with nonprofits in the childcare, mental health and health care industries. She has a master’s degree in accounting and finance, and a diploma in HR management. Kirti is a native of Mumbai, India and has called Santa Rosa home for 15 years. She loves our nature-rich Sonoma County.

Bob Neale

Stewardship Director

Bob has led the development and growth of Sonoma Land Trust’s stewardship program since 2004, a time during which the management of our natural lands has become a primary focus of the conservation community. He is fortunate to have great colleagues to work with and learn from, now and throughout his career. A California native, he graduated with a BA in creative writing from San Francisco State, then worked at Peninsula Open Space Trust and Sustainable Conservation. He may be found among serpentine wildflowers contemplating, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Chris Carlson

Sonoma Valley Stewardship Program Manager

Chris manages Sonoma Valley preserves and leads SLTs effort to live with wildfire, keeping forests and communities safe. Chris joined the land trust in 2022, after working as a restoration project manager in the Sacramento delta region. He has worked across the western US monitoring and studying natural resources, including wildfire response to thinning in the Sierra Nevada. When he isn’t gardening or mushroom hunting, Chris stays busy chasing young twin boys and exploring the biodiversity of Sonoma County with his partner. Chris has a BA in geography from the University of Oregon, and an MS in Forestry from the University of Montana.

Julian Meisler

Baylands Program Manager

Julian focuses on conservation of the Baylands region of southern Sonoma County. He is particularly interested in understanding and connecting tidal and upland landscapes to accommodate future sea level rise — work that enables him to work with many partners in conservation, transportation, agriculture and more. Julian lives in Santa Rosa with his family and, when not at work, he loves to ride, hike, ski and surf as much as possible. Julian holds a BS degree from Colorado State University and an MS degree from the University of Vermont.

Joe Plaugher

Stewardship Project Manager

A West Sonoma County native who grew up among the redwoods, Joe stewards our Sonoma Valley preserves and serves as coordinator for the Sonoma Valley Wildlands Collaborative. Joe has a bachelor’s in political science from Pacific University, is working towards a Natural Resources Management certificate and is an active volunteer in support of ecologically beneficial prescribed fire with the Good Fire Alliance. Prior to joining the Land Trust, he worked in political campaigns and public policy, most recently as a field representative for Rep. Mike Thompson. Joe has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, worked as a whitewater rafting guide, is an avid cyclist and is happiest sleeping out under the stars.