About Us

Environmental and peace activist: 1965 - present.

Taught philosophy: Cal State Hayward, Stanford, College of Notre Dame: 1970 - 1992.

Owner/operator: San Gregorio General Store: 1980 - present.

Founder with wife Joey Jacobs: San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center and the Coastside Habitat Coalition: 1988.

Founder with Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Ferlinghetti Insurgent Artists for KPFA: 2017.

Organic Farmer: 1982-present.

Neil has lived in San Gregorio since 1999 and began water quality monitoring with SGERC in 2000. In 2003 he was named Executive Director of the group, a role he fulfilled until 2015. He is currently President of the Board and continues to be active in the watershed with stream monitoring, as well as clean-up efforts at San Gregorio State Beach and 8 miles of Highway 84.

His leadership helped develop a Watershed Management Plan for San Gregorio, which has led to restoration efforts including removal of fish passage barriers, several off-stream storage ponds, and large woody debris projects. In 2016 he led a group of pampas/jubata grass fighters who manually removed hundreds of invasive plants from the San Gregorio Watershed.

Neil received a “Quiet Hero” award from the California State Legislature in 2017, and in 2021 he was honored as a Community Champion by Flows to the Bay for his work reducing and recycling tobacco litter in the watershed.

Sue Henkin-Haas has lived in rural San Mateo County 44 years – 16 years in La Honda and 28 years in San Gregorio. She has been an active member SGERC for over 3 decades, currently serving as the vice-president of the Board.

Some of her activities for SGERC include stream monitoring, organizing watershed field trips for elementary school children in the La Honda-Pescadero and Cabrillo Unified School Districts, fundraising, and promoting and participating in coastal cleanup days.

She is a writer, teacher and health educator. Now retired, she worked as a Public Health Educator for the County of San Mateo and taught at Foothill College for many years.

Sue received her master’s degree in Health Education from the California institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Michael Braude’s interest in preserving and protecting habitat on the San Mateo County coast led him to join SGERC as a stream monitoring volunteer in 1998. He became a board member soon thereafter, is a past Board Chair, and now serves as Treasurer.

Michael has worked for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank since 2000 and has been their Chief Financial Officer since 2004 leading the organization’s IT, Facilities, and Finance departments.

In his free time, Michael is a docent naturalist at Año Nuevo State Park. Michael received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Athena joined the SGERC in 2024 as Secretary of the Board, and as a Volunteer Water Monitor. She is completing a Bachelor's in Environmental Studies at San Francisco State University, with a focus in Sustainability.

In her spare time, Athena is an avid gardener, dog trainer, and babysitter. She has lived in La Honda for the last 10 years.

Samantha Friedman grew up in Florida, which fostered her love of the ocean and her dislike of the effects invasive species have on native flora and fauna. She joined the Board of SGERC in 2017 and recently served on the Fundraising Committee with Sue. Samantha also maintains SGERC’s website and watershed data system.

Previously, Samantha cofounded a biotechnology company that was acquired, and a nonprofit that sought to help startup founders from underrepresented backgrounds. Samantha earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wellesley College, and her PhD in chemistry from Florida Atlantic University.

Retired from chemistry and startups, Samantha enjoys knitting, gardening with native plants, and fishing.

Rita describes herself as a skeptical optimist and a lifelong nature lover. Born in New Mexico’s high desert, Rita moved to La Honda in 2003.

A University of New Mexico graduate in psychology and literature led her to a career in publishing. As a UNM student, Rita volunteered with AGORA, a peer to peer student counseling service at UNM. She was also elected and served on the board of PIRG (Public Interest Resource Group) based at the University.

Environmental stewardship has always been key. Upon arriving in La Honda, Rita discovered and joined the San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center (SGERC) as a monthly stream monitor, as well as participating regularly in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) Snapshot Days.

Now retired, Rita serves as a SGERC board member and notes how rewarding it has been to see how SGERC has expanded its mission beyond water testing, as it set its sights on the education of future generations and increased participation in several community actions to protect our watershed.

Karl Lusebrink recalls the awe he felt as a child discovering crayfish in creek pools between heritage redwoods, and sunlit days spent on the nearby beaches. Such experiences formed a lifelong respect for these intricate ecosystems. After a sojourn through mountains and deserts, Karl returned to join SGERC in 2003 to actively protect these vital coastal habitats.

Karl co-authored the Quality Assurance part of SGERC’s Watershed Management Plan, securing grant funding for riparian habitat restoration and endangered species protection. His contributions include stream water sampling, managing equipment, Coastal Cleanups, and community outreach. Additionally, he recruited mapping colleagues to develop an emergency response GIS for the La Honda Fire Brigade.

A University of New Mexico graduate, Karl built a career as a geographer designing route networks in early GPS navigation databases and scaling international Quality processes. He went on to manage documentation of GIS programs to mitigate natural gas hazards. In retirement he enjoys local arts and continued environmental stewardship.

Sally Rayn is a media arts teacher and artist currently at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo where students produce a weekly news program and the yearbook under her direction. She is also an adviser of the Environmental Club and the Short Film Club. She began her teaching career as an art teacher in La Honda and Pescadero, guiding student murals and helping them create videos about the local environment. When she lived in La Honda and on Skyline, she participated in the Kings Mountain Art Fair and has been an active member of the South Coast Artist Alliance group show in Pescadero since 1994.

As one of the original members of the SGERC stream monitoring teams, Sally Rayn has spent many hours over the years going out to sites along the creek and regularly gathering data and observations about the San Gregorio watershed. She has been on the SGERC Board since 2018.

Julie Schreiber graduated in biological sciences from UCSC, where she contributed to mapping and population surveys in monarch butterflies’ over wintering sites. She became an educator in the SF Bay Area with a focus on the sciences.

Julie joined SGERC in 2006 as a stream monitor. She attended interagency meetings leading to the formation of the San Gregorio Watershed Management Plan. She co-conducted a year-long study of San Gregorio Lagoon function through a grant with the EPA and American Rivers. Julie initiated the SGERC Watershed Education Program, which has grown to serve schools in both the La Honda-Pescadero and Cabrillo Unified School Districts. Julie also worked with State Parks to install a placard at San Gregorio State Beach to inform visitors about the lifecycle of the native steelhead population and the critical role lagoon function plays in the success of the species.

Julie enjoys hiking the beautiful coastal and watershed trails in her free time.