BOARD & Staff Bios
Carrie Petersen - Activity Leader
Carrie's interest in the outdoors was first kindled in the North of Wisconsin, tapping maple trees, swatting mosquitoes, building forts and running around in the woods on her parent's small cattle farm. She recently arrived at DGES after spending five months in the highlands of Peru. Her travels allowed her to build upon pre-columbian ceramic skills as well as spend time learning about natural dyes, baskets, and weaving with the back-strap loom. Carrie has a degree in Art Education, and upon graduating acquired various non-classroom jobs as an Art Director at summer camps in MI, MN and CA, and as an Instructor Naturalist in the Boundary Waters of MN. These previous experiences have solidified her passion for teaching in the outdoors, and she is very excited for ALL of the activities offered at DGES, as well as getting to know a new place and program.
Whitney Krupp - Activity Leader
Since before Whitney could walk, she spent as much time as possible outdoors. She grew up gardening, hiking, canoeing, fishing, and backpacking from Samuel P. Taylor State Park to Alaska. She spent 8 summers at Point Reyes Summer Camp, where she experienced a camper’s perspective on nature learning, individual exploration, outdoor awareness and safety, and environmental stewardship.
Whitney started riding horses when she was 5 years old. Since then, she has competed in local horse shows and gymkhanas, which focus on technically correct, controlled horsemanship, agility and speed. Throughout her years horseback riding, she has taken the opportunity to help teach younger riders, whether it be sitting behind a six-year-old her first time on a horse or running a pattern for a group of twelve-year olds and giving them directions as they practice.
Whitney plans to enroll in UC Davis this fall to study soil science so that she may help protect one of the world’s most valuable and under appreciated resources. Over the summer, Whitney hopes to pass on her love of the natural world and spark similar passions in the kids that attend summer camp at Devil's Gulch Ranch
Joe Barr, Domestic Program Director
Joe Barr grew up in Central California in the town of Orcutt, just south of Santa Maria. In 1990, he went to Humboldt State University, where he received his Bachelors degree in Art with an emphasis in photography. In 1995 he moved to the Bay Area with his wife Julie and in 2004, they moved to Devil’s Gulch Ranch where they now live, and are raising their two boys Maxwell (age 11) and Finnegan (age 5).
Joe’s work with youth began in 1997, when he began working part time as a counselor at Families First, a short term emergency residential program for children who were victims of abuse and neglect. Since that time he has worked extensively with this population of students, both in the residential treatment environment and in non public schools for students with special needs. In 2007, he accepted a position as a teacher at Timothy Murphy School (TMS), a non-public school for boys with severe emotional disabilities. Part of his time at TMS was spent as the Art and Garden teacher. It was during this teaching assignment that he became enamored with the concept of outdoor education. Joe had grown to understand how through nature and the environment, students and adults are able to access knowledge and understanding in ways that are not accessible in the traditional classroom environment. Joe sees his position at DG Educational Services as a chance to utilize the incredible resource that is Devil’s Gulch Ranch, to network with local artists, crafts people, and educators and then to create programs and workshops that make all of these resources available to the Bay Area community and beyond.
Besides his family and the arts, Joe is also a devoted ultimate frisbee player. He has played on a competitive level since 1985. Joe and his wife Julie founded the Marin Ultimate Summer League in 2006, and are currently playing on the Bay Area mixed club team FunK.
Lisa Luzzi Registrar
Lisa joined Devil's Gulch Ranch in November 2007 as a part-time bookkeeper. She has a degree in math, and previously worked as an actuary and system's analyst in the corporate world. She embraced the transition to ranch life, and enjoys her office neighbor now being Valor, the Stud. She has gradually turned into the go to girl, as her duties continue to go beyond the basic books. She helps out with DGES admin work, fundraising work, and whatever work. "I love the ranch, especially when all the kids are around in camp. The energy is contagious"
Mark Pasternak, President
Mark grew up in Southern California but always dreamed of escaping the city and becoming a farmer. In 1971, at the age of 19, he bought the 65-acre heart of the 873-acre ranch known then as Devils Gulch Ranch. Subsequently, Congress included the ranch within the boundaries set for the expanded Golden Gate Recreation Area in 1980 and bought all but Mark’s 65 acres. From 1866 until sometime in the 1940’s, the ranch was used as a grade B dairy (producing cream that was sold and skim milk that was fed to hogs). From then on until Mark’s acquisition of the property in 1971, it was vacant, used only for grazing cattle.
The barn on the property was originally built in 1866 and has been remodeled by Mark twice. Because the ranch was off the grid, Mark installed a windmill in 1973 which was his sole source of electricity until 1980, when he planted the vineyard and connected to Pacific Gas & Electric to pump water for irrigating. In 2004, he replaced the old windmill with a much larger one that feeds into Pacific Gas & Electric using net-metering just as solar panels do.
Mark has raised pigs since his arrival at Devils Gulch Ranch, using milk, bread and tortillas as primary finishing feeds. The rabbits began as 3 breeding does for 4-H projects 12 years ago, and have increased to well over 2000. In order to meet the demand (French Laundry, Chez Panisse, Perbacco, Jardiniere, Auberge du Soleil, Bardessono, Cantinetta Piero, Zuni, Kuleto’s, Flour and Water, Poggio, Magnolia, etc) there is currently an expansion of the rabbitry under way.
Dutton-Goldfield and Sean Thackrey both produce Devils Gulch Ranch Marin County Pinot Noirs from the vineyards, which pair extremely well with the meats they produce. Mark produces his own compost for the vineyards from the rabbits, pigs and sheep that he raises. He was one of the first in California to graze his sheep in the vineyard during the winter, a trend that is more commonplace now. Mark sits on the Sonoma County (really district 3) Winegrape Commission, the Petaluma Gap Grape and Wine Alliance, the Marin County Winegrowers Association, and was past vice president of the North Coast Grape Growers Association.
Many restaurants have offered Devils Gulch nights featuring their meats and wines from their grapes. Several times a year there are events at the ranch in order for people to have the opportunity to meet Mark and Myriam, visit, taste, and purchase the products from Devils Gulch Ranch. Mark welcomes questions, dialogue, and networking with anyone interested in food, farming and animal husbandry.
Myriam Kaplan-Pasternak DVM, International Program Director
Myriam’s introduction to development work came as a Peace Corps Volunteer during a major drought in Niger, West Africa ('83-'85). She lived in a village without running water or electricity and was tasked with the job of conducting prenatal consultations and teaching nutrition to mothers. This was all well and good until the size of the village more than doubled from the influx of refugees who could not afford to buy food. The task fell to her to "find food !" She also found funds and constructed 8 hand dug concrete wells with fellow villagers. This experience profoundly influenced her perspective on "Development Work" and the vital role that sustainable income and livestock animals have on people living at the Base of the Economic Pyramid. She subsequently became a veterinarian, graduating from UC Davis, and a farmer with a strong focus on food and draught animals both here in the USA and in the Developing World.
Currently she runs a farm with her husband and two daughters in California. She is the Co-Executive Director and International Program Director for DG Educational Services, a non profit focusing on agricultural education in the US and in Lessor Developed Countries (LDC) and a Farmer to Farmer Volunteer in Haiti with Partners of the Americas.
As a Farmer to Farmer volunteer, she works as a catalyst in the development of a Haitian conceived and run agribusiness called Makouti Agro Enterprises. Makouti is a Haitian agricultural organization started by Benito Jasmin that unites farmers, allowing them to pool their resources to overcome obstacles. They are working together to build the meat rabbit industry from the small rural farmer up through export, strengthening agribusiness leadership and accountability, exploring and expanding potential markets in other agricultural products like honey bees, coffee, cacao, poly-culture farming, agrotourism, etc. and increasing the income potential of the over 6 million Haitian subsistence farmers.
Hunger alleviation can’t be solved with a single focused mission, which is why her consulting has taken her down many paths from shipping supplies, leadership and accountability training, liaison between villagers and US funders, to animal management and vet care. As a hybrid professional and a development practitioner, she strongly believes in helping the under served find their voice, define and share their desires, integrate globally, create sustainable positive evolutionary change and reinforcing collaborative networks to build sustainable foundations especially in agriculture. The creation of agricultural entrepreneurial opportunities is key to sustainable development. As much as possible she tries to avoid long term financial dependency on US funds and tries to focus these funds on initial set up, education and follow up through the learning curve stages of a project. Farming is not easy but it can put the power of development back into the hands of the village people.
Please feel free to contact her as she is always eager for more eye opening experiences and to share challenging brain storming exchanges with others interested in the development arena.
