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egret
Egret photo courtesy of Terry Vance


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Meet Our Staff

Robin Rierdan
Executive Director- Robin Rierdan

 Robin has a M.C.P. in Urban Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology with specializations in economic development and real estate, and a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego (Revelle College), in Anthropology and Teaching. She is the past director of the State of Nevada's Rural Economic Development Program. She has been active in land preservation projects and issues in Santee and East County for the past six years. Robin, a founding employee of the River Park, has written several multi-million dollar grants for property acquisition and restoration.

Cindy CollinsMembership & Volunteer Manager- Cindy Collins

 Cindy joined the Lakeside Conservancy in the Spring of 2004 and has over fifteen years of combined experience as a non-profit administrator. She has a B.A. from San Diego State University in Fine Art. Cindy’s goals are to increase membership enrollment and develop and maintain volunteer programs.

Bob ForsytheSpecial Projects Coordinator - Bob Forsythe

Bob has a M.A. in Political Science from San Diego State and a B.A in Asian Studies, also from San Diego State.  He is retired from The County of San Diego, where he worked as a Land Use and Environmental Planner for the Department of Planning and Land Use.  While with the County, Bob was the lead planner for the Upper San Diego River Improvement Project, where the River Park is located.   Bob was also the County’s Project Manager for the River Park’s Reclamation Plan.

Linda OlmsteadAccountant - Linda Olmstead
 Linda has lived in the growing Santee area for 25 years.  Originally from Denver, Co., she moved to California in 1964.  She has worked in the construction accounting field for  the past 20 years.  Linda like tennis, golf, cooking and being outdoors.

Mark WilliamsField Supervisor - Mark Williams

Mark Williams spent many years as a machinist in the aerospace industry and can fix anything around here. He left machining to take on more meaningful work in the environmental field. He learned his restoration and revegetation skills by working at the Soil Ecology and Restoration Group at SDSU, where he worked on a variety of restoration projects and learned about restoring San Diego coastal sage scrub and chaparral and East County riparian restoration.   He also worked on projects in  the Mojave desert and on San  Clemente Island. He brings a wealth of knowledge about this area and an enthusiasm for advancing planting and restoration techniques.

Consultant- Gary Ruyle

Gary Ruyle has 25 years experience as a landscape architect specializing in habitat restoration. Habitats restored include riparian, coastal sage, chaparral, native grasslands, and vernal pools. He has a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly Pomona and a BA in Park Administration. Mr. Ruyle is experienced with development of exotic plant mapping and removal programs.