Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness
Address: Sunol Regional Wilderness, P.O. Box 82, Sunol, CA 94586
Phone No.: (510) 544-3240
Email: svisit@ebparks.org
Gail Broesder, Naturalist
Naturalist Gail, who started working for the EBRPD in 1994, is an interpretive naturalist with years of experience helping youth and their families understand and appreciate our natural world. Specializing in marine and aquatic education with an AA from the College of Alameda, a BS in Biology from San Francisco State and a MS in Education from Cal State University East Bay, she teaches in classrooms, on hikes, walks, beaches, mud flats, marshes, estuaries and boats. Gail has worked in just about all the wet areas around and continues to share her knowledge, working for other agencies as well as EBRPD, teaching about the environment.
Katie Colbert, Naturalist/Volunteer Coordinator
Katie joined the naturalist staff at Sunol in 1985. She spent her pre-Wilderness years as a ranger for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, an interpretive student aide at the Tilden Nature Area, and as a naturalist and Environmental Education Specialist for several other Bay Area agencies. She found her way into interpretation following several years as a landscape gardener during which she discovered she'd rather eat, than spray the garden pests she was hired to control. She holds a degree in English/Art History, a certificate in Landscape Horticulture and has nearly completed a master’s degree in Ecology based on field research with local rattlesnakes. She has written three science activity books for children and many articles for EBRPD publications. She has a soft spot for animals that creep people out: snakes, invertebrates (especially insects), and bats. She also loves west coast swing dancing, stream ecology, hands-on science, very, very long nature hikes, patterns in nature, flowers and pollination ecology, woodcarving, papermaking, stars, maps and masks, gardening, and spending lots of time with family and friends.
Anthony Fisher, Naturalist
Anthony grew up in Oakland, California exploring the hills and ravines of the East Bay. He began working for the Park District as an Interpretive Student Aide in 1996. He received his B.S. in Biology from San Francisco State University and is currently teaching and learning in the Sunol/Ohlone Wilderness, surrounded by dragonflies, bobcats, woodpeckers, rattlesnakes and oak trees.
Erica Oudeboon-Herron, Supervising Naturalist
Presently an Environmental Education major at California State University, Hayward, Erica completed her A.A. degree in Liberal Arts at Ohlone Community College. Previous to her present position at Sunol, she was a Naturalist at Coyote Hills, a temporary Naturalist Aide at Sunol in 1994 and at Coyote Hills from 1993 to 1994, and an Interpretive Student Aide from 1989 to 1991, also at Coyote Hills. Prior to this assignment, Erica worked with the environmentally aware Shaklee Company in research. Her greatest joy is seeing children's eyes light up when they discover something new. Her favorite audience is children and enjoys sharing outdoor experiences with them. Erica's free time is spent camping, backpacking, and reading.
Cat Taylor, Naturalist
Cat began her career as an archeologist in Belize and Texas as well as working in wildlife management radio-collaring and studying black bears, electroshocking streams, doing plant biodiversity and flying squirrel studies. But what got her hooked into becoming a naturalist was working as a tracker and scatologist. It was love at first scat! She is an accomplished artist and illustrator and is discovering the joys of digital photography – her cameras accompany her on all her adventures with her kayak, bikes, kids and backpack adventures. Her goal is to foster a love of nature, culture and adventure while promoting the idea of sustainable lifestyles. She joined the East Bay Regional Park District staff in 1991.