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Mia Rose Maltz - Co-Founder, Board Member
Currently, Dr. Mia Maltz is appointed as the University of California, Office of the President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Medicine at UC Riverside. Mia’s research is focused on affected communities in both natural and human systems. Mia’s work with fungi links environmental microbiology, environmental justice, and biomedical science. Mia studied at the University of California, Irvine where she received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, with an emphasis on Ecological Restoration and Fungi. Her dissertation work in Kathleen Treseder’s Lab of Fungi, Ecosystems, and Global Change looked at the effects of habitat fragmentation on fungal community composition and function. For her dissertation research, she investigated whether restoration techniques affect fungi and evaluated the efficacy of methods for restoring mycorrhizal fungal function within degraded landscapes. Mia is interested in how microbes mediate important biogeochemical reactions relevant to global change studies. She has taught undergraduate courses at Chapman University’s Schmid College of Science and Technology, including Ecology Lecture and Lab and the Biology Capstone course entitled: Underground Currencies: Plant and Microbial Exchange. Mia has been with CoRenewal from the beginning and values the opportunity to engage in meaningful research, education, and outreach across ecosystems to evaluate how human practices influence ecological processes. |
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Maya Elson - Executive Director, Board Member
Maya is a teacher, naturalist, mycologist, organizer and lover of the wild. As the Executive Director of CoRenewal, she is dedicated to enacting effective and just solutions to environmental and social crises by working in collaboration with fungi. As one of the founding members of the Radical Mycology network, she’s worked on various fungal cultivation and educational projects in Olympia, WA and the San Francisco Bay area. She’s worked as a campaign organizer with a number of climate justice and wilderness defense struggles over many years. Maya is the founder of Wild Child Santa Cruz, a nature immersion program for homeschoolers. As an instructor of Mycopermaculture, Fungal Biology, Mycorenewal and Mushroom Identification for both adults and children, she has experience writing curriculum and giving mycology-related workshops. She is currently studying Ecopsychology, leading mushroom hunts with ForageSF, leading rites of passage programs with Gaia Passages, and raising an enchanted child. |
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Jacquelyn Burmeister - Finance Director
Jacquelyn has recently received her MBA and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University, and has a passion for working on sustainable community development projects both domestically and internationally. She received her B.S. in Biology from Duke University, where she studied soil biogeochemistry and went on to work as a technician in limnology, marine biotechnology and herpetology laboratories. Jacquelyn has worked throughout Central and South America on projects ranging from protected areas management and water infrastructure to waste management and microfinance. In 2015 Jacquelyn spent five months working with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project in Ecuador. There, she worked with the Program Manager to develop organizational structures and establish local contacts, as well as initiate a feasibility assessment for establishing a network of mushroom cultivators for environmental remediation and economic development. |
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Danielle Stevenson - Board Member
Danielle is an applied mycologist and the founder of D.I.Y. Fungi, which offers education and mushroom cultures to help people of all ages grow mushrooms for food, medicine, and earth renewal. Through D.I.Y Fungi, and her diverse work as a food systems consultant, educator and community organizer, Danielle develops projects which build community capacity to address interconnected environmental problems of waste and soil and water pollution. Currently these include ‘Healing City Soils’- a soil science literacy project which provides free heavy metal testing for farmers and gardeners, and several low-tech, accessible myco-remediation protocols to address specific toxic waste products in partnership with colleges, businesses, and townships. Danielle is currently a PhD Student in Environmental Toxicology at University of California, Riverside as part of the Soil Biogeochemistry Group, where she studies how arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect heavy metal uptake into food crops and phytoextraction strategies. She is also outreach chair for the Association for Women in Science (Riverside Chapter), and a Foundation for Food and Agriculture 'Future Leaders' Fellow. |
Athena Vescott - Board Member
Athena holds a Bachelors in Anthropology with a minor in Appropriate Technology from Humboldt State University. Her background is in workforce development and is committed to providing equal access for individuals who have overcome barriers to employment. She is dedicated to Corenewal's mission of providing education and research opportunities in ecosystem restoration, health and healing, and sustainable community dynamics.
She values career-building and research-oriented programs pertaining to ecology and sustainable community development. She has found that ecological restoration is an inspirational and empowering notion in affected communities where it gives one a chance to "take back the land".
Athena holds a Bachelors in Anthropology with a minor in Appropriate Technology from Humboldt State University. Her background is in workforce development and is committed to providing equal access for individuals who have overcome barriers to employment. She is dedicated to Corenewal's mission of providing education and research opportunities in ecosystem restoration, health and healing, and sustainable community dynamics.
She values career-building and research-oriented programs pertaining to ecology and sustainable community development. She has found that ecological restoration is an inspirational and empowering notion in affected communities where it gives one a chance to "take back the land".
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Sarah Phillips - Board Member
Sarah received a degree in Environmental Studies & Planning: Restoration & Conservation with a minor in Biology from Sonoma State University in 2009. Soon after graduation, Sarah traveled to Ecuador with AMP (Amazon Mycorenewal Project) to help instruct students and volunteers on experimental design in addition to explore the potential for phytoremediation. In daily practice, Sarah works as the Urban Streams Program Manager in Marin County and is charged to; assist in writing ordinances to protect sensitive habitats, facilitate streamlined permitting approaches to restoration, educate the public on the value of habitat rehabilitation, execute the implementation of restoration projects in the county and manage projects around salmonid habitat enhancement. Sarah has over ten years of experience around fostering collaborative processes, grant writing, project management, volunteer recruitment and management, facilitation, public speaking, education, permit compliance and native plant nursery management. From California's diverse ecosystems to Ecuador working in public, private, and federal sectors, Sarah is thrilled to assist and support habitat rehabilitation and community involvement every step of the way. |
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Brendan O'Brien - Board Member
Brendan is a CoRenewal Board Member and a graduate student at The University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. Brendan is interested in soil and aquatic ecology, biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling, and applied mycology. His research focuses on decomposition of organic wastes and how application of fertilizer products may affect native soil microbial communities and water quality. His work also investigates experimental methods designed to integrate fungi into waste management and resource recovery practices. Brendan earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from The Evergreen State College in 2008, where he focused on environmental analysis and water quality. In 2012 Brendan ventured to the Bolivian Amazon as part of a fungal biodiversity survey, where he developed a deep affinity for the region’s astounding biological and cultural diversity. Brendan is excited to work closely with CoRenewal to remediate petroleum contamination in Ecuador, and to engage local stewards in research that promotes soil health and water quality. |
Rebecca Russell - Executive Vice President, Board Member
Rebecca brings to CoRenewal her education in Conservation Biology and work experiences in water quality monitoring and resource protection, sustainable community development, non-profit administration, and applied mental and behavioral health medicine.
At Boston University she earned a Biology degree including a semester of Tropical Ecology field studies throughout Ecuador. There, she witnessed firsthand, the destructive impacts of oil and gas exploration on ecosystems and indigenous cultures in the Amazon bioregion.
Rebecca’s professional trainings and certifications include: Regenerative Landscape Design, Biodynamic Farming, Yoga and Insight Meditation, Person-Centered Thinking, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of applied ecological sciences and regenerative agriculture, behavioral health practices, and education and outreach programs that address the needs of individuals and communities adversely impacted by environmental disturbance and/or climate disruption.
Rebecca brings to CoRenewal her education in Conservation Biology and work experiences in water quality monitoring and resource protection, sustainable community development, non-profit administration, and applied mental and behavioral health medicine.
At Boston University she earned a Biology degree including a semester of Tropical Ecology field studies throughout Ecuador. There, she witnessed firsthand, the destructive impacts of oil and gas exploration on ecosystems and indigenous cultures in the Amazon bioregion.
Rebecca’s professional trainings and certifications include: Regenerative Landscape Design, Biodynamic Farming, Yoga and Insight Meditation, Person-Centered Thinking, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of applied ecological sciences and regenerative agriculture, behavioral health practices, and education and outreach programs that address the needs of individuals and communities adversely impacted by environmental disturbance and/or climate disruption.
Monica Neff - Co-founder, Board Member
Monica Neff is currently finishing her final year of medical school at Charles University. She has a bachelor of science from UC Berkeley in Microbial Biology where she was involved in research in endophytes, fungal and plant genomics. She is co-founder of Co-Renewal and has traveled, worked and taught with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Radical Mycology in Ecuador and the States. She was owner and co-founder of PowerShroom medicinal mushroom supplement company. She also is a licensed Ayurvedic Practioner. Her passion has always been health of self, community and planet and is dedicated to finding ways to bring resilience, health and balance to all aspects of life.
Monica Neff is currently finishing her final year of medical school at Charles University. She has a bachelor of science from UC Berkeley in Microbial Biology where she was involved in research in endophytes, fungal and plant genomics. She is co-founder of Co-Renewal and has traveled, worked and taught with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Radical Mycology in Ecuador and the States. She was owner and co-founder of PowerShroom medicinal mushroom supplement company. She also is a licensed Ayurvedic Practioner. Her passion has always been health of self, community and planet and is dedicated to finding ways to bring resilience, health and balance to all aspects of life.