Bryan believes his passion for nature and the great outdoors was ignited in his youth, growing up in the Santa Cruz mountains and preferring to go outside to play, rather than do chores or read. He still prefers to be outdoors hiking, fishing, birding, camping, swimming, skiing, and gardening. After receiving his degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from UC Davis, Bryan started working at Hedgerow Farms in Winters, CA, a commercial producer of seed and propagules of native grassland species to be used in habitat restoration projects.
For nearly 30 years, Bryan has worked with the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) as part of the team managing 2,000+ acres of open space surrounding the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant near Elk Grove. This area, called “The Bufferlands,” is managed with an emphasis on wildlife conservation. He uses his knowledge and experience in natural resource management to help steer Regional San’s infrastructure projects to minimize impacts to the sensitive biological resources of our region.
Bryan is now working on a recycled water delivery project that aims to provide recycled water from Regional San’s activities to 16,000 acres of agricultural land in south Sacramento County. As Bryan says, “Supporting irrigated agriculture with recycled water will reduce reliance on pumped ground water and allow significant recovery of ground water tables in the region. That’s essential to our local wetland and riparian habitats.”
Bryan has had a long and close relationship with Splash for over 20 years. When his two daughters reached 4th grade, they were in classes that used Splash’s Investigating Vernal Pools curriculum, so Bryan jumped at the chance to be a chaperone on their class field trips to Splash! More recently, Bryan has been working closely with Splash to launch Project AWE’s outdoor education programs at the historic Nicolaus Dairy at the Bufferlands.
Bryan maintains, “Land stewardship and resource protection requires a culture that recognizes its importance. Splash presents a unique opportunity for young people from diverse backgrounds to learn important lessons about conservation that will help them be good environmental stewards in their daily lives.”