Before joining the Land Bank staff in 2005, Lincoln previously directed the Southwest Florida Program for the Nature Conservancy and oversaw acquisitions for the Sarasota County Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program. His background includes marine and forest conservation work for the Pew Charitable Trusts and private consulting in forest biodiversity. Lincoln did his post-graduate study at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the University of Minnesota. He is passionate about the outdoors and enjoys hiking and kayaking, as well as catching spot prawns and crab.

Shauna grew up in the hills of Orinda, California, where she spent her childhood searching for the best trees to read in. Living through multiple seasons of drought and wildfire taught her the value of water, biodiversity, and responsible land stewardship, which ultimately led her North in pursuit of rain. She attended Western Washington University and graduated with degrees in Environmental Education and English Literature. Her curriculum incorporated extended trips to the San Juan Islands that further shaped her sense of place, education philosophy, poetry, and passion for conserving all that is wild and sacred. After two years of working for Washington Conservation Corps conducting restoration and disaster response work across the state, Shauna found herself returning to the San Juan Islands with a wellspring of enthusiasm and gratitude. She particularly enjoys Oak trees, poetic inquiry, and cardamom in her oatmeal.

Tyler comes to the Land Bank with a deep passion for the intersection of scientific research and recreation on public lands. His formative years were spent equally among the Channel Islands and mountain ranges of Southern California where he saw the value of quiet moments away from city life. Moving to Washington in 2010, Tyler quickly adopted the NW lifestyle and shifted his love for the outdoors and fly fishing onto trails of the Cascade Range. He attended the University of Washington and earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies, focused on invasive plant species management. In 2015 Tyler hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada and built a foundation for a life-long love of long-distance hiking and trail stewardship. He went on to earn his Master of Environmental Studies (MES) from the Evergreen State College, studying interactions between native amphibians and introduced salmonids in mountain lakes. Needing to move his body after a couple of years of being cooped up in the classroom, Tyler went on to hike the entirety of the Appalachian and Continental Divide trails to complete the Triple Crown of hiking. You can find Tyler around the trails of Orcas with his daughter, who is an equally passionate hiker and lover of nature.

Jacob grew up in the foothills of Colorado exploring the public lands right outside his back door. After working a summer as a ropes course facilitator as a teenager, he set a goal to make a career working in the outdoors. Jacob studied plant identification and learned hands-on forestry skills at Front Range Community College before transferring to Colorado State University to continue field ecology coursework and earn his B.S. in Natural Resources Management. After taking many trips to the islands each summer kayaking with his wife’s family, they finally moved to San Juan Island in 2011. Before joining the Land Bank, Jacob managed a large outdoor adventure company, guiding and planning trips all over WA state. Jacob loves wildflower hunting with his two dogs in the spring, boating to the outer islands, and is an avid mountain biker. He loves the island community and enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for the Salish Sea. He hopes to see you on the trails!

Charlie Behnke prefers to be outdoors in wild places getting dirty and scratched up, lucky for him this is his job. Charlie grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and spent much time experiencing the beauty, bounty, and communities of the San Juan Islands. He graduated from the Evergreen State College in 2010 with a B.S. in Biological/Agricultural Sciences and has been living in the islands ever since. His background includes leading the Lopez Island Conservation Corps, a Field Biologist/Naturalist monitoring seabirds and other wildlife, managing the Lopez Community Seed Library, farming, landscaping, and carpentry. Charlie is honored to put his knowledge and skills to work towards the stewardship of these special lands.

Tanja Williamson first learned about the San Juan Islands while attending University of California at Davis. Many moons later, after a gloriously sunny three-day visit in February 2001, followed by endless, soul-sucking hours in Bay Area traffic, Tanja and family traded in their “fast pass” for a “ferry pass,” and moved to Friday Harbor. Prior to joining the Land Bank, Tanja worked for a number of years as the Development Director for San Juan Community Theatre.

With a degree in Education from Western Washington University, Margo spent several years working as a science educator at the Friday Harbor Labs Science Outreach Program. Life shifted to Seattle where she worked in higher education at the University of Washington and dabbled in horticulture courses on the side. After several years of taking classes for fun, she decided to switch gears and work in the plant world. This led to her participating in a yearlong internship at the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden while also working as the Education Coordinator for the PNW Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. After moving back to Friday Harbor she was lucky to land her dream job at the Salish Seeds Project in 2021. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, boating in the Salish Sea, and going on walking holidays with her family.

Originally from Chicago, Aaron moved to San Juan Island in 2011 as an aspiring Executive Chef with a passion for outdoor recreation. He, his wife and two daughters, actively enjoy the beauty of the San Juan Islands, as well as the greater PNW. In 2019, after 8 years in the restaurant industry in Friday Harbor, he shifted his focus from hospitality towards sustainability and conservation for the islands, starting a nonprofit focused on creating energy from food waste. It was with those skills he found the ability to blend finance, business operations, and conservation into one passion, leading him to proudly joining the Land Bank.

Erin began her conservation work in forest restoration and wildland fire in southern Oregon. She later moved into wildlife management and research, and supported surveys of spotted owls, Pacific fishers and other elusive creatures like bats and flying squirrels. She holds an B.A. from Emory University in Environmental Studies and a M.A. from the University of Utah in Environmental Humanities. Also, a published writer, her articles and essays have appeared in High Country News, Orion Magazine, and various literary journals. Most recently Erin served as the Associate Director of the Taft-Nicholson environmental center, an interdisciplinary field station in the Greater Yellowstone, prior to moving to the islands in 2018. Her responsibilities for the Land Bank include monitoring conservation easements, preparing management plans and grant applications, and whatever else she can to further conservation efforts within the archipelago.

After studying biology at Humboldt State University and earning a M.S. in ecology in North Carolina, Peter started a career in watershed management at the Council of Governments in Washington DC. In Oregon, he helped build a successful watershed restoration program at Clean Water Services and then worked as an environmental consultant while supporting his wife’s post-doctoral forestry research overseas. Most recently, he served as Senior Natural Resource Scientist at Oregon Metro. Peter joined the Land Bank to put his passion for habitat conservation and restoration to work in the islands.

As a child, Doug visited family on Lopez Island, and was captivated by the water, land, and people of the San Juans. He moved to the islands soon after graduating from Western Washington University to manage one of the county parks. Doug started out as a volunteer with the Land Bank and has been lucky to work as a steward here since 2004. He’s proud of the work the Land Bank does to provide access to the beauty and wildness of the islands, to protect and improve its rare habitats, and to seek creative ways to maintain a connection with the land and waters that inspired him as a child.

Amanda has been active in island stewardship since moving to Lopez Island in 2010. She was the Director of the Lopez Island Conservation Corps and has led youth crew projects on many of the public lands on Lopez. She has experience as a landscaper and enjoys working with a diversity of plants and people. Amanda’s background in conservation began at Evergreen State College, where she studied botany and environmental sciences, and received a dual BA/BS. Before taking the position as the Lopez Preserve Steward, Amanda spent three years volunteering as a Land Bank commissioner.

Eliza Habegger joined the Land Bank in 2003. She holds a B.A. in Biology/Botany from Cornell University and was previously employed by The Nature Conservancy and the New York Botanical Garden. Her responsibilities include ecological assessment, monitoring, and restoration on Land Bank Preserves, and managing the Salish Seeds Project native plant nursery. With family roots on Waldron Island, Eliza lives with her husband and son on San Juan Island, where she tends an ever-expanding garden and orchard, messes around with art, and builds sheds.