Board of Directors

Our staff, board of directors, and advisory council members power Vashon Nature Center, along with our amazing cadre of community and student volunteers.

Jennifer Williams

President

Jen was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and grew up sailing and exploring Puget Sound. She moved to the islands as a teen and has lived and farmed on Vashon with her family since 2000. Jen deeply values the interconnection between humans and the natural world. She holds a Masters in Environment and Community and strives to create global change on a small community scale through land stewardship and farming. She is the owner of Wild Dreams Farm & Seed company.

Anne Guerry

Secretary

Anne is fascinated by the relationship between people and nature. She believes that cutting-edge science, engagement with leaders of all sorts, community science, environmental education, art, poetry, and more can be used to understand and enrich that relationship. She is the Chief Strategy Officer and Lead Scientist at the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University. She lives with her family amongst Doug firs, cedars, and hemlocks near Shinglemill Creek.

Michael Tracy

Treasurer

In 2011, Michael traded the island of Manhattan and a roof-top garden for Vashon Island and 27 acres of forest. He retired from wealth management in 2021 to steward “his” forest–building a trail network and working to maintain the health and beauty of the land and water. Michael also volunteers with Vashon Center for the Arts, presenting lectures and concerts to foster a vibrant arts scene on the island.

Trish Howard

Board Member

Trish has lived on Vashon since 1981, when she worked building timber frame homes with logs harvested from homeowner’s land and milled locally. She still operates a small cabinet making business. In 1989, she and eight other islanders, founded The Vashon Maury Island Land Trust. For many years, Trish was a science coach at Chautauqua Elementary School, where she developed and piloted curricula. She likes working with Vashon Nature Center because it fuels her true passion of making science available and engaging for all ages.

Jeff Adams

Board Member

Jeff is a marine and freshwater biologist at Washington Sea Grant within the University of Washington College of the Environment. His naturalist passion is discovering, interpreting, and sharing the amazing natural and human history stories of aquatic life. Jeff also serves on Vashon Nature Center’s Advisory Council, and acts as a link between the board and council.

Roxanne Lyons

Board Member

Roxanne and her family live on Maury Island where she can be found walking the forests and exploring the beaches. As a former science teacher and instructional director for school districts, she worked with teachers to shift science education into the natural environment, and bring scientists into classrooms. She currently works as a consultant for nonprofits where she coaches executives and boards. Roxanne is an enthusiastic believer in connecting children, science, and the natural world.

Paul Kampmeier

Board Member

Paul lives with his family on Vashon’s south end and believes that nearly every living creature in the world is worthy of awe, attention, and admiration. For better or for worse, he also thinks the world should agree with him. This fuels his professional life as a public interest environmental attorney who represents activists working to protect Pacific Northwest wildlife, streams, old forests, clean water, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Ann Edwards

Board Member

Shaped by a childhood in Africa, Ann has lived her life ever-curious about how humans are nurtured, body and soul, by our living biosphere. As an ecologist, she investigates human impacts on life’s interconnected webs. Ann moved with her husband and children to Vashon while she was completing postdoctoral research at NOAA on how to mitigate the impacts of Pacific fisheries on seabirds. She currently consults with the Cascades to Coast Landscape Collaborative, bringing together agencies, NGOs, land trusts, and private landowners to work towards shared goals for ecosystem resilience on protected and working lands.