Mark started his career as a volunteer firefighter in 1986 in Sonoma County. He was hired by the Marin County Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic in 1991 and retired as the Deputy Fire Chief. After serving for nearly 30 years with the Marin County Fire Department, Mark retired in order to assume the position as Executive Officer for the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. Mark served on a CAL FIRE Incident Management Team for 15 years as a Type I Operations Section Chief and was qualified as a Type II Incident Commander. Chief Brown was a founding member of the North Bay Incident Management Team, a Type III All-Hazards IMT in the San Francisco Bay Area and was the Program Manager and one of the Incident Commanders. His deployments include floods, earthquakes, public health emergencies, hurricanes, oil spills, mud slides, civil unrest, wildland fires and planned events. Mark has a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Studies – Organizational Leadership. He is married and has three adult children.
For the last two decades, Anne has worked in environmental planning, wildlife biology, climate adaptation, and fire resilience. During her 18 years with Sonoma Water, she conducted environmental review under CEQA and NEPA; worked with regulatory agencies to secure permits; served as a wildlife biologist for capital projects and for vegetation management along streams in Sonoma County, specializing in nesting birds; worked toward climate adaptation for water resources and the landscapes that supply our water; and collaborated with many fantastic agencies, organizations, and landowners to lead efforts toward greater fire resilience to improve forest health, watershed health, public safety and protect water resources in Sonoma County. A case study describing her work in the Lake Sonoma watershed is featured by the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research as part of the Integrated Climate Adaptation & Resiliency Program’s Adaptation Clearinghouse.
After the devastating fires of 2017, Anne trained to become a wildland fire fighter to help conduct prescribed burns across the North Bay. She has also helped acquire grant funding through CALFIRE and the Coastal Conservancy for fire risk reduction efforts in Sonoma County and secured PG&E settlement funds to develop a science-based decision-support tool for vegetation management for the County of Sonoma. Anne also led the County’s team for natural resources recovery after the Glass and Walbridge fires. Anne’s passion for fire resilience, natural resources management, and climate mitigation and adaptation eventually brought her to the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, where she has been since May 2021. Anne holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Studies and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies.
In May of 2021 Maria graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelors of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Science with a concentration in Land Resources. She chose this career path because she feels passionately about resource conservation and is interested in learning more about the human dimensions of resource management. During the summer of 2018, Maria studied abroad in Costa Rica for two and a half months. While abroad she participated in a research project studying allometric variations in Socratea exorrhiza according to Phosphorus availability. She also took courses in Latin American culture, statistics, ecotourism, and agroforestry techniques. At Purdue, Maria stayed active by working as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Soybean Research and Extension lab. Here she learned how to analyze each part of the soybean plant to study the effects of sulfur treatments on plant yield. In addition to this, she also worked a part-time job off of campus and was an active member of the Climate Committee for the Purdue Student Sustainability Council where she helped advocate for Purdue’s commitment to carbon neutrality.
Last summer, Maria experienced life in California for the first time as she worked as the Property Operation intern on Oakhill Ranch in Concord, CA. Having fallen in love with California and all that it has to offer, she decided to return after graduation to work here full time. Following her service term as a GrizzlyCorps fellow, Maria has accepted a position with the MWPA as our Grants Specialist. In her free time she loves to read, garden, hike, ski, and travel.
Josh graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in June, 2021, with a degree in Business; Marketing and the intent to use it for the promotion of sustainable practices. Considering the tools of marketing have historically been drivers of extensive social and environmental damage, there was a lot of dissonance surrounding his initial decision to pursue this degree. However, he also believes it is an essential piece of the "sustainability jigsaw puzzle," and must be used effectively to drive behavioral and systemic change. Through his experience and knowledge gained exercising this philosophy as a GrizzlyCorps fellow for Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, Josh has accepted a position as a Representative with Fire Safe Marin. He hopes to use the tools of his degree to understand and overcome the obstacles to fire prevention work in Marin. He will be focused on projects to promote the idea that defensible space is beautiful and partnering with MWPA's member agencies as they work to execute core and local projects to protect their communities and shared coastal resources. These responsibilities excite him far more than any marketing objective or research he's worked on over the last four years, and he hopes to continue leveraging his experiences into a career filled with many more like it. When Josh isn't trying to justify his degree, he is climbing or cooking or hiking or surfing.
Bio to come
Bio to come
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Alaina moved to the Bay Area for college. In 2020 she earned her Bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Santa Clara University with a minor in studio art. Before coming to MWPA she worked at a nonprofit involved in environmental education and organic farming. Her work with MWPA will focus on public outreach and project implementation. More specifically, she will organize public field trips to project sites, set up systems for project documentation, and create webinars among other things.
Andrea was born and raised in the tropical climate of El Salvador. She moved to the U.S. to further her education and in 2019 she earned a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Human Biology at the University of California, Merced. While in school, she formed part of various pre-med and environmental stewardship programs which led her to spend a season in Yosemite National Park (YNP) as part of the Search and Rescue team. During her season at YNP, Andrea experienced one of the major forest fires up to this date –The Ferguson Fire. Since then she became fascinated with forest restoration projects and all the novel research being conducted in the Sierra Nevadas. This opened the door to a new field and she decided to work as a Research Assistant for the Sierra Nevada Research Institute. She then transitioned into working on her research project after spending a season working for the U.S Forest Service in the state of Montana. She is currently finishing her Master’s degree in Quantitative Systems and Biology with a concentration in Microbial Ecology. Andrea will be working on various roles at the MWPA, from creating accessible material for Spanish-speaking communities in Marin to developing defensible space project plans.
Mark started his career as a volunteer firefighter in 1986 in Sonoma County. He was hired by the Marin County Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic in 1991 and retired as the Deputy Fire Chief. After serving for nearly 30 years with the Marin County Fire Department, Mark retired in order to assume the position as Executive Officer for the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. Mark served on a CAL FIRE Incident Management Team for 15 years as a Type I Operations Section Chief and was qualified as a Type II Incident Commander. Chief Brown was a founding member of the North Bay Incident Management Team, a Type III All-Hazards IMT in the San Francisco Bay Area and was the Program Manager and one of the Incident Commanders. His deployments include floods, earthquakes, public health emergencies, hurricanes, oil spills, mud slides, civil unrest, wildland fires and planned events. Mark has a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Studies – Organizational Leadership. He is married and has three adult children.
For the last two decades, Anne has worked in environmental planning, natural resources, water resources, climate adaptation, and fire resilience. While working for a water district in Sonoma County, Anne helped create and lead a collaborative effort to improve fire resilience to improve forest health, watershed health, public safety and protect water resources. A case study describing her work in the Lake Sonoma watershed is featured by the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research as part of the Integrated Climate Adaptation & Resiliency Program’s Adaptation Clearinghouse. After the devastating fires of 2017, Anne trained to become a wildland fire fighter to help conduct prescribed burns across the North Bay and continues to serve on the steering committee of a prescribed burn association. Anne also led Sonoma County’s team for natural resources recovery after the Glass and Walbridge fires of 2020. Anne’s passion for fire resilience and climate adaptation brought her to the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA) in 2021 as the Planning & Program Manager where she has been working with consultants, stakeholders, and Member Agencies to build an environmental compliance program to address wildfire risk reduction projects efficiently while also incorporating ecological stewardship. To date, well over 30 vegetation management projects have gone through environmental compliance and are currently being implemented. Anne holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Studies and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies.
After graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2021 with a B.S. in Business Administration-Marketing and a minor in Sustainable Environments Josh dove into the world of fire adaptation through a year-long Grizzly Corps fellowship with the MWPA. He has enjoyed contributing to the organizational development of the MWPA, helping to develop programs and processes that further MWPA's mission, as well as engaging with the public to learn about the challenges and motivators of residents in their personal efforts towards fire adaptation. Last year, Josh had the opportunity to further these two pursuits working for Fire Safe Marin as the county's Firewise liaison, while continuing to work directly on MWPA projects and procedures. In September, Josh transitioned to the role of Grants Specialist, continuing the work of his Grizzly Corps co-fellow, Maria Schmitt, in designing and managing a resident grants program that reduces the financial burden of on-parcel fire hazard mitigation for residents. Josh's motivation for working in natural resources is driven by his favorite recreational activities: climbing, hiking & surfing.
Martina Wilson is Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority’s Management Analyst. She is responsible for MWPA’s administrative functions which includes clerking for the Board of Directors and providing direct assistance to MWPA’s Executive Officer, Planning and Program Manager, office team, and its member agencies. Martina has served as an office manager, executive assistant, and as advisor to East Bay non-profit organizations dedicated to family and youth empowerment. Martina received her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Human Development from California State University of the East Bay. Her passion for helping others and administrative experience lead her to MWPA following roles in the 0ffice of the General Manager, and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Culture at East Bay MUD. Martina’s interest in vegetation management comes from her love of hiking the Bay Area’s vast network of trails and regional parks. She is committed to MWPA’s fire resilience effort, made possible by Marin County voter support for Measure C and hopes to one day take the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT). In her free time Martina loves to read, hike, and spend time with her fiancé, family, and friends.
Steven is a Vegetation Management Specialist (VMS) for MWPA. In his role, Steven coordinates fuel reduction efforts throughout Marin to reduce wildfire risk as well as managing MWPA’s Chipper Day Program. Steven graduated from the University of San Francisco in 2020 with a Master of Science in Environmental Management with an emphasis in environmental health and hazards. During his time at USF, Steven worked to develop a study of the effects wildfires within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) would have on both surface and ground water sources. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science from Willamette University. Steven has previously worked for the City of Chico, CA, where he focused on Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) policies to aid the city in absorbing population growth due to the Camp Fire in nearby Paradise, CA. He joined the MWPA in 2022 after previously working for Fire Safe Marin, where he worked closely with many of MWPA’s member agencies and expanded the Chipper Day Program after taking over management at the start of its second season. A Marin County native, Steven has spent much of his life exploring the beauty that Marin has to offer and has a passion for preserving its natural resources for years to come. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, bicycling, backpacking, and playing rugby for a local club.
Jacob was born and raised in San Diego, California, and developed a passion for environmentalism and fire resilience from a young age. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in environmental policy and forestry, and taught an undergraduate course on California Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Before joining the MWPA as a Vegetation Management Specialist, he worked on a field crew in the Sierras measuring fire severity and management tools in the Dixie Fire, and worked in Transportation Planning with the City and County of San Francisco. In his free time, he loves hiking, backpacking, cooking, and leatherworking.
Ted Briggs is a Vegetation Management Specialist focused on mitigating wildfire risk in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) by planning, coordinating, and executing wildland fuel reduction projects. He started his career as a Volunteer Firefighter in Farmington, CA. He was then hired by Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo as Firefighter/EMT, and finally served as a Reserve Firefighter for the City of Sacramento. After 5 years in the fire service, Ted spent 2 years working as an Environmental Planner for EIP Associates in Sacramento conducting land use, soils, and biotic surveys, and preparing assessments under CEQA and NEPA. He then spent nearly 30 years in supply chain and procurement, working in a number of industries and locations across the globe, including 6 years in the arctic (Prudhoe Bay, Alaska), across Europe and Asia, and in Africa. While in Alaska, he served as the Logistics Section Chief on the North Slope Incident Management Team, with deployments including extreme weather events and a river flood event that threatened the health and welfare of 2,500 oilfield workers. Ted holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Studies, and an MBA. Ted lives in Santa Rosa, and after experiencing the North Bay fires, enlisted in the California State Guard where he currently serves as a Wildland Firefighter.
