Team
Born and raised in Venice Beach, Talia wasn’t always surrounded by nature. Everything changed when she moved up to UC Santa Cruz to attend college. Most of her spare time was spent exploring redwood forests, hiking trails of the Sierra, or paddling in the Monterey Bay. While guiding fellow UCSC students on outdoor adventures, she developed a passion for cultivating community in outdoor spaces and fostering comfort within uncomfortable environments.
Talia Akiba (Rat)
Outdoor Instructor
I’m an Idaho native and I studied at UCLA. I’m interested in alternative building methods, regenerative farming and I am working towards having a homestead of my own one day. I spend most of my time running, walking, pedaling, and paddling through mountains and rivers seeking connection and understanding of landscape, watershed, and trout.
Dylan Cabus (Twig)
Outdoor Instructor
I am a West Marin native who grew up visiting Slide Ranch since as far back as I can remember, which helped instill in me a love/interest of nature and food systems. When I’m not at Slide Ranch, you can find me making ceramics, cooking meals for my family, and tending to my own garden. I love being able to work at such a beautiful place that means so much to me!
Luke Goodman (Lichen)
Ranch Hand
Hogan Kinder
Ranch Hand
Tony Roth is a long-time Marin County resident / native with a passion for the environment in which he grew up. His love of the area, food and cooking brought him to Slide Ranch as the Farm to Table and “Experience” Manager with the goal of contributing to and supporting the mission of Slide Ranch. When he isn’t at Slide he can be found providing custom west Marin tours to tourists and locals alike as he educates about the area's rich history and culture while providing knowledgeable access to the pristine scenery, activities and culinary delights the area has to offer.
Tony Roth (Tidepool)
Ranch Manager
Rochelle is an East Bay native with 14 years experience in the nonprofit sector. She is passionate about supporting youth, families and community and connecting people to nature. Rochelle is especially excited about the work Slide Ranch is doing to provide experiences to underserved communities through its scholarship programs and grants. She is also an avid fan of all things Disney and a true 49ers Faithful.
Rochelle Tolbert (Quail)
Office Manager
Paulina grew up in Petaluma CA where she attended farm camp, inspiring her to pursue agriculture as a career. She has a Bachelor's in sustainable agriculture and food systems from UC Davis and a Master's in organic agriculture from Wageningen University. She has spent time living between California and Europe over the last few years and is now happy to be in a role where she can learn about animal management so that she can eventually have a farm of her own!
Paulina Binsfeld (Newt)
Animal Care Manager
Wendy Dalia has over 30 years of experience developing and leading environmental education and leadership programs for children ages 2 through 102. A coastal marine ecologist by training, Wendy has worked with a diversity of great environmental organizations including the Marine Science Institute, Redwood City, CA, San Francisco State University, Surfrider Foundation – Boston Chapter, Massachusetts Audubon’s Blue Hills Reservation, HOBBES – Hands on Boat Based Education & Science, the New England Aquarium, The National Audubon Society, and Marin GreenPlay. Wendy is also an Advaced Team Leader and Technical Rope trainer with Marin County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue Unit.
Wendy Dalia (Willow)
Director of Programs
Over 25 years of experience – Executive Management – Non-Profit – Strategic Alliances – Fundraising – Marketingand Communications – Event Planning and Development – Public Relations – Board Development – CommunityOutreach – Program Management. Passionate about education, equity and the environment.
Maika Llorens Gulati (Blue Whale)
Executive Director
Rudy has been alive for about 23 years. His outdoor education background stems from his experience working at a Boy Scouts of America summer camp and his teaching style is influenced by his Waldorf education. He loves leading creative play often including fantastical gnomes and imaginative stories.
Rudy spends his summers (and most of the year) outside. Be it operating on a sawyer crew in Oregon or sharing wilderness education at Yosemite National Park, he enjoys pursuing outdoor education and natural resource conservation.
Ralph is an aspiring cruciverbalist, slowly but surely creating and solving crosswords, however challenging it may be.
Rudy Lautner (Tomato Jones)
Outdoor Instructor
I grew up in the Sacramento area and always loved playing in the oak savannah behind my home. I love to backpack, hike, and read and am learning how to sew and crochet! I graduated from UCLA last fall with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Energy and the Environment. I’m excited to spend some time at Slide Ranch learning about the inner workings of a farm and exploring the tide pools. I’ve spent a couple summers as a camp counselor in the Sierra Nevadas and am looking forward to spending more time teaching kids about nature!
Lindsay Stark (Cricket)
Outdoor Instructor
My name is Veruska Claudeth Villacorta Correa, I am Ecological Engineer, graduated from the Master in Industrial Safety and Environment with nine years of experience in the Public and Private Sector. I am a person with many strengths, disciplined, honest, dynamic, efficient, with a lot of creativity, trained with values and professional development to organize activities, work as a team and interact with people from different work areas.
Veruska Claudeth Villacorta Correa (Queen Bee)
Outdoor Instructor
Alex is a Marin native and grew up visiting Slide Ranch, which helped to instill in her an immense appreciation and respect for animals and nature. After attending the Newhouse School at Syracuse University for college, she went on to work at the Discovery Channel, before joining the communications team at World Wildlife Fund for six years. Alex is thrilled to come full circle and return to Slide Ranch as an adult to help inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.
Alex Buckley (Pelican)
Events/Corporate Development Manager
Logan is a Marin native who grew up exploring the beautiful hills, woods, grasslands, marshes, mountains, rivers, creeks, and coastlines of Marin County and Northern California. His passion, admiration, and appreciation for nature is rooted at the core of his life. Logan's aspiration to live with the earth and all its inhabitants in a good way has led him through adventures, studies, and endeavors in children's education, permaculture design, regenerative agriculture, sustainable small-business, Qigong, performing arts, song-writing, off-grid community development, traditional Hawaiian agriculture, and now to Slide Ranch!
Logan Gleeson (Golden Eagle)
Ranch Hand
Jack has an interest in the connections between natural and human history sparked by the glacial-industrial landscape of their native Cleveland, Ohio, and experience doing geological research throughout the American West. More recently, they have led outdoor environmental programs for public and Montessori schools, and adults with intellectual disabilities, and led environmentally-focused tours for private clients. Their love of teaching began as a college student, where they taught classes on building giant puppets. When not working, they enjoy opera, collecting vintage perfume, and karaoke.
Jack Hoehn (Vulture)
Program Coordinator
Having grown up in the large metropolitan area of Chicago where nature and farming are scarce; Dan first came out west for undergrad at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. He spent as much time as possible on the coast, in the mountains, and the desert; growing his appreciation for nature, and environmental preservation. Taking a break from school at age 18, Dan lived in a small community in Nepal, where food came directly from shared community farming and this exposure changed the course of his life. He was drawn to the mission of Slide Ranch to promote similar, often transformative experiences, especially to those who would normally not have access.
He holds an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University of California and for the last 20 years has been waiting patiently (and sometimes impatiently) for the opportunity to combine his experience, skill set, and values in a career-defining position. The role of Director of Operations at Slide Ranch was worth the wait.
Dan Miller (Madrone)
Director of Operations
Eliana was born in Oakland, California, and has been getting to know the Bay Area landscape ever since. With a BA from UC Davis, she has worked in wild-land conservation and urban planning. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to the natural spaces right in our backyard, and is excited to explore the ranch and coastline alongside many curious young stewards.
Eliana Thompson (Bug)
Outdoor Instructor