SEACOLOGY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Seacology is administered by a Board of Directors who care deeply about protecting island cultures and ecosystems. All of the board members serve without compensation, and each has made significant donations of their own funds and time to Seacology.
Donald M. Arntz
Donald M. Arntz is a Bay Area native. He graduated from California State University, Chico, with a degree in business administration. After graduation, Don joined Arntz Builders, a family business which he currently runs with his brothers. Arntz Builders specializes in public works projects such as the recently completed Berkeley Public Library. He currently lives in Novato with his wife Adrian and his children Chris and Martina. He is also a director of the Arntz Family Foundation.
Larry Barels
Larry Barels was founder and chief executive officer of Wavefront Technologies, a leading innovator of graphics software for film, interactive multimedia, industrial design and visualization markets. Subsequently, he was the chairman of the board of Software.com, a leader in carrier-scale messaging products. Currently, Mr. Barels is a principal of Pacific Capital Resources and an advisor to Vantage Point Venture Partners, through which he structures and arranges venture and leveraged mezzanine capital for companies with high growth potential. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Driveway Corporation. He is an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has been the subject of feature articles in publications including Forbes, TIME, Venture, Entrepreneur and The Wall Street Journal. Larry Barels is an avid scuba diver, surfer and sailor.
Michael Burbank
Michael is the founder of The Burbank Group at UBS Financial Services, an investment and financial planning practice focused on helping entrepreneurs harvest and manage the wealth they build in their businesses. Prior to joining UBS Michael was a Managing Director in the Private Client Group at Montgomery/Bank of America Securities. Michael is a Certified Investment Management Analyst and CFP. An avid scuba diver and enthusiastic rookie surfer, Michael graduated with a B.S. in Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before starting his financial services career in 1983, Michael ran field research diving projects at the UCSB Marine Laboratory and for Neushul Mariculture, Inc. under grants from the California Department of Fish & Game and the National Science Foundation. Michael and his wife, Cindy Roberts, an environmental consultant, have been active supporters of many environmental causes.
Kimo Campbell
Kimo Campbell was raised in Hawaii. Since 1984 he has operated the Pohaku Fund, a donor advised fund of the Tides Foundation which focuses on environmental and Native Hawaiian issues. In 1975 he started Pueo Press, a small press which publishes Hawaiiana. Mr. Campbell is currently on the boards of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and the California League of Conservation Voters. He has also served as co-chair of the Social Justice Committee of the Threshold Foundation, as Trustee of the Marin Community College District, and as Board President of the Vanguard Public Foundation. Mr. Campbell participated in the 2004 Seacology expedition to Fiji.
Paul Alan Cox, Chairman
Seacology was founded by world-renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Paul Alan Cox. Dr. Cox is a botanist whose scientific research focuses on the ecology of island plants and the ethnobotany of island peoples. Receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard University, he served for many years as professor and dean at Brigham Young University and later became King Carl XVI Gustaf Professor of Environmental Science at the Swedish Agricultural University and the University of Uppsala. For seven years he was Director of the Congressionally-Chartered National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawaii and Florida, and is currently Executive Director of the Institute for Ethnomedicine, which is affiliated with the NTBG. He is the author of over 150 scientific papers and reviews, and was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of eleven “Heroes of Medicine” for his search for new medicines from plants. In 1997 he received the Goldman Environmental Prize for the conservation efforts described in his book Nafanua: Saving the Samoan Rainforest ( New York: W.H. Freeman), which has been translated into German, Japanese and Samoan. He speaks a variety of island languages and is internationally renowned for his advocacy of indigenous peoples.
Paul Felton, Treasurer
Paul Felton founded Trellis Health Ventures in 1998 to invest in early stage companies in the medical industry. Prior to founding Trellis, Paul was a managing director at Furman Selz, an investment banking firm, where he specialized in financing and advising companies in the medical industry. Paul spent 16 years in investment banking before making his business avocation of venture investing a full time commitment. He holds a degree in Soviet American Relations from Brown University, and received his M.B.A. from Columbia University. Paul has been married to D.D. Felton since 1981. Both Paul and D.D. are strong supporters of environmental awareness and issues.
Scott S. Halsted
Scott Halsted received an A.B. in biomechanical engineering from Dartmouth College in 1981, and a B.E. from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth in 1982, also in biomechanical engineering. In 1987, he received an M.M. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He joined Morgan Stanley Venture Partners in 1987, where he is a managing member of their health care group. Scott serves on the board of directors of several health care companies. He grew up cruising on sailboats and it is there that he developed his appreciation for islands and their unique biodiversity and cultures. Along with his wife Lisa and four children, he continues to make regular visits to the islands of the South Pacific, Caribbean, Mexico and the United States.
Douglas Herst
Doug is Vice President and General Manager of Peerless Lighting, an Acuity Brands Company. He's a pioneer of indirect lighting systems for schools and offices and holds over twenty utility patents and forty-five design patents in the field of illumination in the U.S., and ten patents in other countries. Doug attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a B.S. in business administration. Doug currently serves on the board of directors of the Northern California Chapter of the World Presidents' Organization and is a past chairman. Various other organizations in which Doug has served as officer/board member include YPO Barbary Coast Chapter, YPO Northern California Chapter, and the Golden Gate Chapter of the Illuminating Engineering Society of Northern California. He has a keen interest in the environment and enjoys being in and around nature as an avid hiker, swimmer and scuba diver.
Masayuki Kishimoto
Masayuki Kishimoto and his wife, Tamako, are successful distributors for Nu Skin International, Inc. They co-ordinate two-thirds of their sales in Japan, where they spend about half of their time. Before becoming involved with Nu Skin, Mr. Kishimoto was a senior account marketing executive at Japan Airlines. Mr. Kishimoto has a Master's Degree in business administration from the University of Maryland and was a recipient of Fulbright fellowships for two consecutive years. He currently serves as a trustee of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens. Mr. Kishimoto is also the founder and president of Kishimoto Family International, Inc.
Cathy Klema
Cathy has been in healthcare investment banking for fifteen years at SG Cowen, Furman Selz and Lehman Brothers and has focused principally in the areas of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, clinical laboratory and healthcare information industries. In November 2001, she formed her own business, Nettleton Advisors, with the goal of working more closely with a smaller number of companies and having the flexibility to take on additional community activities. Cathy also serves on the boards of Pharmaceutical Product Development, a public company which provides drug discovery and clinical development services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; 300 Central Park West Apartments Corporation and the Nettleton Hollow Association. She received an AB in History from Princeton University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. She lives in New York City with her husband, David Resnick, and their two children.
Ken Murdock, President
Ken founded Nature's Way, one of the world's leading herbal companies, after his mother was cured from a serious illness by plants. He spent several years in Samoa doing volunteer work, residing in the remote islands of the Manu'a group where he became fluent in the language. Ken has always had a special place in his heart for the Polynesian people. When he learned of the impending destruction of the Falealupo rain forest, Ken immediately offered to help stop the logging. In addition to winning major environmental awards, Ken's former company, Nature's Way, funded all of Seacology's administrative costs for three years and has played a key role in Seacology since its inception.
Matsuno Kuhara Patrick
Since 1990 Matsuno Patrick has been a distributor for NuSkin/Pharmanex, a leader in the research and development of personal care and nutritional products. She was attracted to the company in part because of its dedication to humanitarian and environmental causes. Matsuno moved to Marin County, California in 1983 to work as a promoter introducing young, promising artists from Japan to the U.S. Prior to her move West, Matsuno lived in New Haven, Connecticut for 23 years where she raised three children and co-directed Round-the-World Women of Yale University, an organization dedicated to assisting the families of faculty members, graduate students, research fellows and others from abroad. Matsuno was born in Japan, where she still spends part of each year.
Peter Pistor
Peter C. Pistor was born in Berlin, Germany, where he finished law school with top honors. After practicing law for several years he founded a real-estate business which modernized historic buildings in the heart of Berlin. In 1989 Peter moved to Rome, Italy, where he began his entry into the arts, working as a stage actor in a repertoire theatre company until he was hired to direct the international troupe in classical plays around the country. In 1993, after completing his first film in Rome, he traveled to Los Angeles to study film at UCLA. To date he has produced and directed four films, his latest "In Pursuit," stars Daniel Baldwin and Claudia Schiffer. He speaks fluent English, French, Italian and German.
Shari Sant Plummer, Vice President
Shari Sant Plummer is Secretary and Trustee of the Summit Charitable Foundation. Ms. Plummer is also a member of The Ocean Conservancy Board of Directors, The Smithsonian Ocean Initiative Council and The National Council of WWF. A graduate of NYU, Ms. Plummer worked as Design Director with Ralph Lauren in New York for nine years. In 1994 Ms. Plummer founded and ran "Worldware," an environmental clothing and interior design store in San Francisco. She sold the store in 2000, and now lives in Malibu and devotes her time to working on environmental and population issues. An avid diver and explorer, Ms. Plummer travels extensively and has visited many islands throughout the world.
Gordon Radley
Gordon Radley joined Lucasfilm in 1985. He was the president of the company from 1993 to 2003. Radley began his career in the entertainment business in 1973 holding a variety of executive positions with production and distribution companies including Twentieth Century Fox. Gordon is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He is a returned Peace Corps volunteer having lived for several years in Western Samoa. Radley has traveled extensively to islands throughout the world including Bali, French Polynesia, Rarotonga and Zanzibar.
James Sandler
James Sandler is a former molecular biology student who has returned to his ecological roots. He is currently focusing on developing an environmental branch of the Sandler Family Foundation. Mr. Sandler has visited many island villages in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Joseph Scalzo
Joe Scalzo lives in Colorado and is the President and CEO of WhiteWave and Morningstar Foods Companies, maker of leading organic brands Horizon Organic and Silk soymilk. Joe believes that doing right is good business and has not only supported but helped propel his company's efforts to sustain and improve the environment, with significant commitments to sustainable farming practices and wind energy. Prior to joining WhiteWave, Joe served in various executive roles at the Gillette Company, the Coca Cola Company and Procter & Gamble. Prior to his business career, Joe was a naval officer where he developed his love for sailing, diving and the sea. He holds a Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and serves on the Board of Directors at HNI Corporation, a manufacturer of office furniture and home hearths. Joe is an avid scuba diver and has traveled the world pursuing his passion.
Michael Staffieri
Michael Staffieri is beginning his 30th year as president of Financial Advisory Corporation, a financial consulting practice specializing in managing a broad range of financial services to closely held businesses, trust estates and foundations. He has served on several community and corporate boards including; San Diego Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Alumni Executive Council Brigham Young University and the Advisory Board of Chubb & Sons. Michael is a former collegiate All American athlete and recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship prior to his four-year tenure with the Cincinnati Reds Organization. He is married to the former Marilyn Black and they have six children and 12 grandchildren.
Sandie Tillotson, Vice President
A former school teacher, and one of the founders of Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc., a leading personal care and nutrition company, Sandie has always been deeply interested in education and in improving the quality of people's lives throughout the world. She was named one of the top ten female business owners in the U.S. by Working Woman magazine. As a Seacology Board member, she helps to administer the Force for Good, an innovative program that links sales of the Epoch line of Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. ethnobotanical products to preservation of indigenous cultures and peoples. Sandie played an important role in expanding Seacology's donor base, and personally launched the Falealupo water supply campaign. Sandie has traveled throughout the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Caribbean.
Cindy Troop
Born in Minneapolis, Cindy attended the University of Minnesota, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. Following graduation, she lived for five years in Telluride, Colorado before moving to Maui, Hawaii, where she developed her love for islands. Ten years later, she relocated to the West Coast, where she met and married her husband, Dick. Following a career in real estate in Maui and Newport Beach, she received her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University and became a Clinical Psychologist, specializing in the treatment of eating disorders. Cindy has had an active volunteer career, and is currently the Chairman of the Grant Monitoring Committee and a member of the Executive Board of Everychild Foundation, which each year contributes $1 million to a selected project focused on children in Los Angeles, as well as a member of the Malibu Library Committee. Since learning to scuba dive on her honeymoon in Australia, Cindy and Dick have been devoted to the sea. They travel the world pursuing interests in trekking, diving and experiencing diverse cultures.
Eric van Boer
Eric and his wife Sharlene live in Northern Marin County and enjoy skiing, scuba diving and international travel to exotic places. Their travels have allowed them to see firsthand how important it is to preserve the few remaining pristine areas left on our planet. A former software industry executive with Oracle and Siebel Systems and an avid pilot, violinist and world-class Masters swimmer, Eric is also an advisory board member of CCIOnline and has been involved in fundraising for various organizations including American Bach Soloists, Marin Breast Cancer, etc. They have one son, a recent University of California Santa Barbara graduate, who is currently exploring a career in alternative fuels.
Jake Walker
James Leslie Walker IV ("Jake") resides in Kentfield, CA with his wife, Cindy, and three daughters. He is a partner in the law firm of DeMartini & Walker of San Rafael, CA and is a certified specialist in estate planning, probate, and trust law, including charitable gift strategies. Jake is a sixth generation Californian. He has served on the boards of The Schools of the Sacred Heart (San Francisco), Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Marin, Kentfield Schools Foundation and the Ross Valley Soccer Club. Jake's interests include diving, hiking, skiing and science fiction.
Marsha Garces Williams
Marsha Garces Williams is actively involved in San Francisco community efforts. She oversees her family's philanthropic entity, the Windfall Foundation, and serves on the advisory board of Doctors Without Borders. Ms. Garces Williams is also president of Blue Wolf Productions. Mrs. Doubtfire was the first feature film to be produced by Ms. Garces Williams under the Blue Wolf banner and earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy.
