Our Board & Staff
Our board, officers, staff, and leaders have a diverse range of experiences and qualifications including technical expertise in trail building and wilderness management, leadership in youth development programs, managerial and business foundations, and a strong commitment to environmental stewardship.
Our Staff
Valerie McCampbell
Field Operations Coordinator
Val (they/them) has been involved in trail work and conservation for the past decade. They began their trails journey through the Backcountry Trails Program, spending five months in Kings Canyon National Park. Val has been with ESCC since the fundamental season and finds supreme joy in providing support, empowerment and resources to folks who are beginning their outdoor journey or continuing their path!
Luz Lara
Field Operations Coordinator
Hola! Soy Luz (she/they) & I am a queer first Gen Latinx. I’m from SoCal, but ever since I started trails I rarely call it my home. I’m constantly on the move from working with different parks agencies, being with family & traveling when I can. After a good amount of trail seasons I discovered ESCC will be the closest thing to calling something home. I started trails 8 years ago with back to back seasons. Did a season with ESCC as a WILDlands corpsmember, & a couple of seasons as a WILDlands supervisor. This time around I’m coming back as a program coordinator. I hope to be able to support & help build the upcoming community & help with a sense of belonging. Aside from trails/being feral.. I really enjoy playing magic, maybeeee being a little competitive, exploring different archeological sites, going to concerts, helping those around me & being a voice for whoever needs it. OH! & being Coldplay’s #1 fan.
Paola Flores Núñez
Program Manager
¡Hola todxs! Soy paola (she/her), the daughter of Mexican immigrants, granddaughter of Mexican farmworkers, and sister to four. I’m a queer self-proclaimed simpleton who loves communing with nature and learning alongside all species on this planet. My lived experience and formal education have equipped me with the tools necessary to build community and organize for local environmental justice. I have devoted my career to addressing systemic issues that prevent low-income BIPOC communities from thriving and founded an organization, Recreate Educate Coadapt (REC), which focuses on community beautification, wilderness restoration, and environmental justice education. Through my work in the environmental field, I strive to cultivate a consciousness of connectivity while also fostering hope for change.
Ash Weil
Wildlands Technical Supervisor
I'm Ash Weil (she/they) and I am a queer Floridian who's been bopping around the west coast for 11 years. This upcoming season will be my second year as a WILDlands Technical Crew Supervisor for ESCC. In 2013, after living the Big Easy life in New Orleans and having never been camping, I got an offer to join the Backcountry Trails Program in the Shasta Trinity National Forest. Since then, I've worked in natural resource management in the Santa Cruz District, trail crew and hazard trees in Kings Canyon, back to Santa Cruz to focus on Forestry and Fire management. I'm passionate about fighting for justice and equity, which is why ESCC is the perfect home for me. I love backpacking, dancing, activism, my plants, diet [redacted- FREE PALESTINE], laughing and serving looks. I can't wait to share a piece of my heart and places I love dearly with you all while helping you develop as a trail worker, land steward, leader and active member of the community!
Gabi Huerta
Range Supervisor
I’m gabi huerta (she/they). I’m from Southern California and started doing trails during the first covid summer and since then have just fallen more and more for the type of work and community that it brings together. I’ve done a season with ACE, ESCC, Kings, and Joshua Tree and now will be doing my first season as a supervisor (agh) (I’m totally stoked to meet you all). Worldly matters are un poco sad orita so finding pockets of change and community like this is so important and why it’s ESCC>>> anything else. Soon you will see too haha. Otherwise my interests include: cats, playing games, reading, dancing, watching the sunrise, birds, astrology, maybe ukulele (idk still learning), playing organized sports, and thinking up ways of dismantling the current system :) can’t wait to meet you all!!
Micah Craig
Range Supervisor
What’s up friends! My name is Micah (He/They) and I am a cosmic compilation of Virgo sun, Gemini moon, Aries rising, and overall free spirited Queer human being energy who set out on their very own path into the realm of trail work the summer of 2022, beginning as an introductory Range Crew Member with ESCC and was called back by the mountains for another season in 2023, this time to mentor my very own Range Crew as a Crew Leader with ESCC in the mountains of the Inyo National Forest. Now with another trail-work season closely upon the horizon combined with the never ending need to get myself dirty again, I find myself being drawn back to the wonderful realm of my ESCC family, beyond stoked and ready to continue my own self-development and work diligently to impact others and the lands around us in which we live and work to preserve daily through stewardship and community. As a (forever) student of the earth, ally to ALL, opposed to injustice and inequality, lover of life, appreciator of the weird things, curator of creativity and curiosity, music enthusiast, nature nerd, fellow human being, steward of this wild thing we call earth, (and much much more) I’m grateful for yet another opportunity to pursue my passion in building community through outdoor stewardship with my ESCC family of queers in the woods!
Marta Cigalla
Range Supervisor
My name is Marta (they/them). I’m a scorpio sun, aries moon, and pisces rising. I’ve lived in a few places but currently call Tucson AZ home. This will be my second year with ESCC, having completed a WILDlands season in 2023. My outdoor journey began in 2019 when I did a six month season working for Xanterra in Yellowstone NP. I decided I wanted to do more gratifying work which led me to the Arizona Conservation Corps. What landed me at ESCC were the values behind it of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In my free time I love to hike, read, play music, make pasta by hand, and write. I feel passionate about getting people out into the outdoors and practicing environmental stewardship with fellow queer folks!. I feel grateful for the opportunity to help folks challenge themselves, and I'm looking forward to building community with you all!
Our Board of Directors
Marisa Gierlich
Board President
Marisa Gierlich began her career as a travel writer and guide, focusing on culturally and environmentally sustainable tourism. As a leader and Hiring and Training Manager for Backroads Active Travel and as a Coordinating Author for Lonely Planet, she managed and coordinated staff, content, and budgets on a global platform.
Having spent extensive time in the French and Swiss Alps and in her native California’s Sierra Nevada, she has a deep love for mountains and is dedicated to their stewardship. Her current position as a Business Development Executive for a small, restaurant-only financial management company allows her to combine her love of numbers with her passion for people.
Philip Lafollette
Vice President
Philip LaFollette recently retired from over 33 years of service with the California Conservation Corps serving in a variety of positions from Cook to Conservationist I, Project Coordinator, Backcountry Supervisor and Backcountry Program Director. He is a recipient of Salmonid Restoration Federation’s (SRF) Restorationist of the Year Award as well as their Lifetime Achievement Award. He also serves as an advisory member to the Watersheds Stewards Program as well as continuing trail work today.
Adam Somers
Secretary
Adam Somers has over 40 years of extensive nonprofit and corporate management experience. He served as the Executive Director of the PEN Center USA and is a graduate of UC Berkeley. He is an avid backpacker and spends time volunteering with the CCC Backcountry Trails Program.
John Matthew Newman
Treasurer
Matthew Newman was born in Hot Springs National Park and grew up surrounded by woods and water. He earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Accounting from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. While in college, he found a deep love for the outdoors in the Ozark Mountains and surrounding areas. Since graduating, Matt has served for 10 years as Controller for Athena Manufacturing, a 150 employee company in Austin, TX. Matt contributes to the team a wealth of financial knowledge and business experience.
Paul LaMartina
Board Member
Paul LaMartina is an attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area. Paul moved to California in 2010 to attend law school, and decided to stay after falling in love with California’s wilderness. Paul enjoys backpacking, climbing, and skiing throughout California.
Stacy Corless
Board Member
Stacy Corless is a longtime resident of Mammoth Lakes, CA, and serves on the Mono County Board of Supervisors. She has a background in nonprofit management and communications, and has worked to steward and protect wild places in the Eastern Sierra, as well as to create educational programs and opportunities for people to connect with and explore the mountains. One of her best summers in the Sierra was spent updating a backpacking guidebook for Wilderness Press; though she has to go to lots of meetings these days, Stacy gets outside as much as possible to hike, run and ski on the public lands around Mammoth and beyond.
Larissa Hepburn
Board Member
Larissa was born and raised in the Mojave Desert of CA, at 18 years old, she embarked on what would become the greatest adventure of her life by joining the California Conservation Corps in San Luis Obispo. She fell in love with nature, conservation, trails, and community which led her to spend the last decade working on trail crews in various national parks as a National Park Service trail crew member and CCC Crew Supervisor.
In addition to Larissa’s passion for the outdoors, she has gathered further achievements in the field of professional diving, teaching and guiding underwater excursions as a scuba dive master. She has explored, worked, and volunteered around the globe in over 20 different countries. She believes in learning and growing by connecting with other cultures and communities and getting out of your comfort zone.