WELCOME NEW STAFF MEMBERS / NOVEMBER 2021
Vivon Crawford
Restoration Program Manager
Vivon grew up in San Jose, California and moved to Santa Barbara for college. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and continued on to pursue a Master of Environmental Science and Management at the UCSB Bren School. In graduate school, Vivon was a Sustainable Water Markets Fellow and focused her studies on the economics and policies of water use in the Colorado River Basin. Since then, Vivon lived in Argentina and worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society to develop a drone-based wildlife monitoring pilot program. This work took her to remote reserves throughout Patagonia, where she would spend weeks in the field with researchers, ranchers, and park rangers surveying wildlife ranging from guanacos to sea lions. One of her favorite projects was conducting annual drone surveys of nesting albatrosses and penguins in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas).
As Restoration Program Manager, Vivon will be leading the charge on all aspects of restoration at OVLC. She will be expanding our restoration program and securing additional funding to continue current oak woodland, wetland, and riparian projects. Vivon has already jumped in headfirst, working with key stakeholders and private landowners to start the process of eradicating the 69-acres of giant reed (Arundo donax) that remain in the Ventura River Watershed to date.
In her free time, Vivon loves going on road trips, pitching her tent under the stars, and tying flies on the river with her foxy Shiba Inu, Buta Mallin. Now that she is back in the Central Coast, Vivon is excited to explore the area and contribute to making the Ojai Valley more resilient and adaptable to today’s changing climate. If you see Vivon and her dog, Buta, on the trails, be sure to stop and say hi!
Adam Morrison
Volunteer & Events Coordinator
Adam grew up in Wyoming and spent his childhood in the Big Horn Mountains. This instilled in him a love of the mountains and open spaces. He attended the University of Denver for a BA in Religious Studies after returning from a year-long youth exchange in Thailand. Throughout his academic career, he balanced his academic studies with work as a seasonal wildland firefighter, spending the better part of a decade working across the Mountain West for the BLM, USFS, and NPS. Adam moved with his wife Kate to California to pursue an MA and PhD in Religious Studies, completing the program in 2018 with a dissertation focused on nineteenth-century legal debates over the practice of polygamy. After three years in academic administration, working on public humanities programs offered by UC Santa Barbara, the open spaces of Ojai called (and the commute was slowly killing him)!
As OVLC’s Volunteer and Events Coordinator, Adam will be the main point of contact for all of your volunteer needs. He’s also going to be rejuvenating the programs that were put on hold due to COVID-19. These programs include the All About Ojai speaker series, the docent program, donor parties, and field trips.
Keep an eye out for Adam at future OVLC and community events. He can also be found hanging out around town, coaching his kids’ soccer games on Saturdays, and hiking the trails with his wife and two kids, Waylon and Kally.
Lisa Nix
Restoration Field Crew
Born and raised in California, Lisa grew up spending much of her time exploring the Santa Ynez Mountains and learning about the native flora and fauna. Her love for nature has led to a passion for regenerative agriculture and land stewardship. Lisa has studied plant ecology in relationship to fungi and is continuing her education in mycology. In her free time you will find her foraging for invasive species and hiking the local trails with her dog, Bee. Lisa looks forward to being a part of restoring native species and taking part in land preservation for the community and the future of the Ojai Valley!
FAREWELL TO CAITLYN BARRERA
In August, we said farewell to Caitlyn Barrera. Caitlyn parted ways with OVLC to pursue a Master of Public Administration with a focus on non-profit management from University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. During her two years at OVLC, Caitlyn worked her way up the tree, starting as Restoration Field Crew and ending her term as Restoration Program Manager. Caitlyn brought a lot to the table and we are incredibly grateful for everything she did during her time with us. She wrote the new mitigation/restoration plan for the Ojai Meadows Preserve and secured additional funding for those projects. The next time you read the “Creature Feature” and “Unbeleafable” sections of our quarterly newsletter, you can thank Caitlyn for those additions too. We wish Caitlyn nothing but the best in her future endeavors. Good luck and thank you for everything, Caitlyn!
