About our Board and Staff

  • Bill Mitchel, Board Member and Treasurer

    Bill_M After working in Human Resources in California’s aerospace industry for years, Bill and his wife Vivian traded corporate life for retirement in Bishop. They really came out ahead on that deal. An avid backcountry hiker and birdwatcher among other interests, Bill is also Treasurer of the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, a volunteer with the local Birds in the Classroom education program and past Secretary of the Inyo County Treasury Oversight Committee. He joined the Board of Friends of the Inyo in March 2007 and was Secretary prior to becoming Treasurer in March 2009.

     

  • Margy Verba, Board Member

    MVMargy Verba is a local business owner of Flowmotion Pilates and joined the Board of Friends of the Inyo in late 2007. Margy spends her free time wilderness rambling and playing traditional music. Margy lives in Mono County with her husband Jack and both have entertained us with their music for many years.

     

     

     

  • James Wilson, Board Member

    wilsonJames has spent and forgotten more days working for the protection and preservation of the Eastern Sierra than most of us will ever know. He grew up in the Central Valley working in the agricultural industry – loading trucks, picking fruit and working in peach canneries. James and his wife Kay moved to Bishop, California in 1977 and raised their daughter Rosanne here. They own Wilson’s Eastside Sports, an outdoor retailer in Bishop which caters to hikers, climbers, backpackers, cross country skiers and natural history enthusiasts. James, a founding member of Friends of the Inyo, is also an active member of many local conservation and civic organizations, including the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society and Bishop Rotary, and chases birds and the peace of wild places in his spare time.

  • Sara Steck, Board Member

    saraSara grew up in an outdoor family, eating mountain dirt at 6 months of age and picking up trash in Camp 4, Yosemite Valley in grade school. She traveled the world guiding trekking groups for Mountain Travel, Inc., worked cooking for a climbing school in the Palisades (Sierra Nevada), and then got a Spanish bilingual teaching credential and a Masters in Environmental Education, and taught elementary school with a lens of environmental consideration. She and her husband and young son moved to Bishop about 10 years ago. Since then she has been active in the Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, working on environmental programs such as the Eastern Sierra Watershed Program.

  • Todd Vogel, Wilderness Stewardship and Education Coordinator

    piper09009Todd Vogel has been a resident of the Owens Valley since the late 1980's and is part owner of mountain guide service Sierra Mountain Center and outdoor education company Outdoor Link, llc. Much of his work as a guide involves outdoor education with groups from all walks of life and involving activities such as rock climbing and natural history.

    Prior to his stint at FOI as the Wilderness Stewardship Coordinator Todd was a FOI board member. He has been a director of a number of other non-profits including the American Mountain Guides Association, the Bishop Chamber of Commerce, and, most recently he is a founding director of the Professional Climbing Instructors Association.

    His interests include never ending home remodels, his wife and family of dogs, birding and photography. He is also the primary architect of this website.

  • Paul McFarland, FOI Executive Director

    Prickly pear, valley oaks and California thrashers instilled a deep love for wild places and wildlife in Paul McFarland. After graduating with a degree in Geology from U.C. Davis, Paul traveled the country working as an outdoor educator, pizza maker, newsstand clerk, sunset monitor and Forest Service Botanical Technician. Paul, his wife Yvette, and kids, Solomon and Henry, live on the steep side of the Sierra above Mono Lake. As the first staff person for Friends of the Inyo, Paul can't think of a better job than working to keep our nation's public land heritage wild & free through direct, hands on stewardship.

  • AmeriCorps SNAP member Conservation Associate

    Andrew Schurr grew up in the woods of Michigan but fell in love with the mountains at an early age.  He graduated from the University of Michigan in April 2008 with a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on sustainable land use and landscape design.  Andrew has spent large amounts of time living and working in the backcountry and loves any excuse to be outside in a beautiful place.  When not working Andrew loves to hike, climb, snowboard and backpack (preferably at stretches of 200 or more miles during a trip).