Staff Bios
Chris Kelley is a 26 year veteran of not for profit organizations having held senior leadership, fundraising and communications roles. Mr. Kelley most recently lead the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross, CA as its CEO. Prior to this, Mr. Kelley was the CEO and Division President for the National Kidney Foundation based in San Francisco with operations throughout Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Mr. Kelley was Director of External Relations for San Francisco Maritime Park and prior to this, spent 10 years in New York City in several posts, including Director of Development for Rainforest Alliance, Director of Major Gifts at National Audubon Society, Director of Corporate Gifts at Lighthouse International and Assistant Director, Major Gifts at CARE. In addition, Mr. Kelley founded International Philanthropy Advisors, a strategic management and fundraising consulting organization whose clients included for profit and not for profit companies based in the US and Latin America. Prior to living in New York, Mr. Kelley was the Managing Director and Deputy Director for the American Lung Associaton of Indiana in Indianapolis and the Promotion Coordinator for the Indianapolis Indidans Baseball Club. Mr. Kelley graduated from Purdue University in 1985 with a BA in Public Relations and Management. Mr. Kelley is married with two children and lives in Northern California.
Chris's Links: LinkedIn profile
Amy
Dean is the Education Manager for FMSA. She manages
the LiMPETS program for the Sanctuary, leads
teacher workshops, and develops curriculum for middle and high school
students. Amy earned a Masters Degree in Marine Biology from San
Francisco State University and has approximately 15 years of experience teaching
environmental science to students of all ages.
Amy's Links: Bernese Mountain Dog Club, Los Farallones Blog
Dru
Devlin is a Research Associate for the Farallones Marine
Sanctuary Association. She assists with the management of volunteers,
surveys, data and quality control. Ms. Devlin has years experience
developing and implementing marine and environmental education programs
for adults and children and was the associate director for the Tarlton
Institute for Marine Education. She earned both her Master's of
Public and Business Administration, and B.A. in Social Ecology from
the University of California at Irvine.
Dru's Links: Seafood
Watch and Surfline
Women
Kirsten Lindquist is the Ecosystem Monitoring Manager. She manages Beach Watch, a long-term monitoring program that utilizes the expertise of over 100 citizen scientists to collect data along the coast. Kirsten earned a degree in Environmental Studies and Marine Conservation from Prescott College in 2001. Since then she has worked in the remote field studying seabirds and marine mammals throughout the Pacific, Antarctica, and most notably here throughout the California Current. Kirsten is happily setting down roots here in the bay area which she has called home for ten years.
Kirsten's Links: Penguin Science and Boating SF
Abby Nickelsis the LiMPETS Coordinator for FMSA. She teaches middle, high school, college students and local citizen groups how to participate in the LiMPETS program. Abby earned her B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz and her M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University. Abby has had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects including: Pacific salmon ecology, black abalone monitoring and visitor learning in museums and other informal education institutions. Until recently, Abby was an ORISE fellow in the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington D.C. Abby is happy to be back on west coast working for FMSA where she can combine her love for the ocean and marine sciences with teaching.
Abby's Links:
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Institute for Learning Innovation and Año Nuevo State Park
Adrian
Skaj is a native San Franciscan who graduated from
San Francisco State University with a BA in Women's Studies and
a Minor in Holistic Health. She is happy to use her administrative
skills to support the fine work accomplished here at FMSA where
she serves as the Finance Officer and Whale Watch trip coordinator.
Adrian is also a Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and teaches at Iyengar
Yoga Institute, YMCA, ClubOne and the USF Koret Center in San Francisco.
Adrian's Links:
Iyengar
Yoga Institute of SF, Vipassana
Meditation and Station
46026 - 18NM West of SF
Peter
Winch is the Visitor Center Naturalist and assists
with the running of the visitor center and their educational program.
He has a BS in Environmental Science from Plymouth University, England,
and has a background as a scientist and as an educator. He
has studied seabirds in Alaska, Hawaii, Baja Mexico and Oregon for
US Fish and Wildlife and The Island Ecology Group, and worked as
a naturalist for Oceanic Society Expeditions on Whale Watching Trips
off California for five years. A self confessed ocean addict, Peter
surfs and dives, and is excited to be doing outreach and education
for such a remarkable marine sanctuary.
Peter's Links: Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society and Research
Vessel Tiburon
Taylor Nairn is the Data Manager for the Beach Watch program. She manages data frombeach surveys, in addition to surveying beaches and participating in ACCESS. Taylor earned a B.S. in Environmental Sciencefrom San Francisco State University in 2010, with a concentration in Natural Resource Management and Conservation. She has several years of field and horticultural experience in plant restoration. Taylor enjoys going on adventures, and expanding her knowledge of birds and marine wildlife with Beach Watch.
Mai Maheigan is the Development/Communications Associate, managing member donations and communication. She also works on the Seabird Protection Network at the Sanctuary, spreading the word about how to enjoy, but not disturb seabirds. Mai has studied marine life around the world from Australia to French Polynesia and even the cold waters of the North Atlantic. She earned her M.S. while studying tropical reef coral at California State University Northridge, and her B.S. in Natural Resources & Wildlife Conservation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Mai's links: Seabird Protection Network, Solar Flare
