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About Our Staff

Mark Welther, Executive Director, began serving Golden Gate Audubon on April 20, 2009 . For the past two-and-a-half years, Mark served as founding Executive Director of an emerging non-profit organization, Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito. At SWBC, he created a maritime museum and educational center from a historic boat yard. In the process, he launched new youth education programs and introduced Marin City and other Marin County youth to the art and craft of woodworking and sailing, developed a youth and senior public sailing program staffed with volunteers, worked with the board of directors to raise funds, and increased the organization’s visibility through national and local media coverage and public speaking. Prior to that position, Mark worked for nine years managing membership and major donor fundraising programs for the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), one of the state’s largest and oldest environmental organizations.

Ilana DeBare, Communications Director, joined the Golden Gate Audubon staff in January 2012 after more than 20 years as a journalist. Ilana worked as a business reporter and columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, and as a political and business reporter at the Sacramento Bee. A co-founder of the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland, Ilana is author of the book Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall and Surprising Revival of Girls’ Schools (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004). She has a B.A. in English from Harvard College and a Master’s in Journalism from U.C. Berkeley.

Anthony DeCicco, Education Director, joined Golden Gate Audubon in September 2006. He has an extensive background in bilingual instruction and in teaching children and adults in underserved communities about the environment and conservation. At KIDS for the BAY, Anthony directed a program that introduced urban youth to the local watershed and strategies for combating pollution, and helped develop curricula fostering environmental stewardship. His passionate commitment to environmental justice also derives from teaching students in other countries. Anthony holds a degree in language and education from the University of California-Santa Cruz, and recently completed his master’s degree in environmental education from California State University-East Bay.

Mike Lynes, Conservation Director and General Counsel for Environmental Matters, joined Golden Gate Audubon in November 2008. Mike Lynes grew up in Fresno , California . He graduated from U.C. Davis in 1994 with a B.S. in Biological Studies. He has studied birds and their habitats throughout California , primarily as a biologist with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (now PRBO Conservation Science), and actively engaged in statewide and local conservation planning. In 2000, Mike enrolled in Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco , where he focused on environmental law and policy. After graduation, Mike joined the Law Offices of Andrew L. Packard, a Bay Area firm that represents non-profit groups in consumer protection and environmental enforcement actions. Mike joined the Golden Gate Audubon Society as Conservation Director in December 2008.

Marissa Ortega-Welch, Environmental Education Program Coordinator, joined Golden Gate Audobon in November 2010. Marissa returned to the Bay Area after living in Washington for four years. She taught environmental education at the Olympic Park Institute, as well as conducted bird surveys in northwest National Parks for the Institute for Bird Populations. Prior to that, she taught bicycle-based environmental education for Cycles of Change here in the East Bay. Marissa is from San Diego. She loves to share her passion for the outdoors and is committed to empowering youth to work towards positive change.

Lisa Owens Viani, Development Director, joined Golden Gate Audubon in October 2011, after working for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership for many years, where she produced the award-winning ESTUARY NEWS, podcasts, green streets tours, forums, and media events. She also pursued and was awarded funding for several innovative green streets projects in the East Bay. Prior to that work, she was a freelance writer and editor, and grant writer for the non-profit Urban Creeks Council, and worked for San Francisco BayKeeper, Pacific Institute, and Berkeley Ecology Center. She contributes to Landscape Architecture Magazine on green streets and ecology-related topics. Lisa has a B.A. in Technical and Professional Writing with a minor in Biology, and an M.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from San Francisco State University. Her master’s thesis involved restoring an urban stream in Richmond to create better riparian habitat for resident and migratory songbirds. She volunteers as a wildlife rescuer.

Noreen Weeden, Conservation Project Manager, was formerly a Golden Gate Audubon board member who served as chair of the San Francisco Conservation Committee and board secretary.  She is an active volunteer for Golden Gate Audubon, the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, Hungry Owl Project and Wild Equity Institute.  She worked in technology in large corporations and for a small, local business.  Noreen has a B.A. in International Relations and a M.S. in Telecommunications.

Golden Gate Audubon is now hiring for the position of Office Manager.