MEET OUR BOARD
Lisa Ruder
Board President
Lisa has played many roles in her life. Trained as an industrial engineer and holding an MBA in Production Operations, she has worked as an energy and atmosphere team leader, a sustainability consultant, and a grant researcher.
She was introduced to the Conservancy through her work on the grants committee for the Escondido Charitable Foundation where she served as chair and has overseen membership and philanthropy. Lisa is especially passionate about the City of Escondido, wanting residents of all ages to have opportunities to access the arts and nature as part of their everyday lives.
Lisa serves as President of the Conservancy.
Richard Murphy
Board Vice-President
Richard Murphy grew up in San Diego North County and enjoyed exploring the abundant open space on foot, bike, and horses growing up. The experience taught him much about the natural world and helped him develop a love of the outdoors. He thinks it is important that kids today and, in the future, have the same opportunities to enjoy the natural open spaces, rather than just seeing them on TV.
While Richard joined the Conservancy’s board with the idea, he’d use his engineering and business background to support the Conservancy’s efforts, he quickly became the Conservancy’s unofficial official photographer, creating stunning pictures of the Escondido Creek watershed that now grace the website and the Conservancy’s outreach materials.
In his official role, he has served as the Conservancy’s treasurer and is the current Vice-President.
Leonard Wittwer
Board Treasurer
Leonard is a founding Board member and the Treasurer of the Conservancy. Over the years, he has also held roles as Secretary and President.
A retired research scientist, Leonard spent his professional career specializing in gene cloning and protein expression but has had a life-long interest in natural history and the outdoor world. His role in the Conservancy centers on land acquisition and land stewardship, leading the Conservancy’s work to make certain the lands the Conservancy acquires are cared for properly and can be maintained in perpetuity.
Leonard is a self-taught wildlife biologist who is a passionate advocate for the special and not so special wildlife of the Escondido Creek watershed, including those “though not particularly rare or endangered, are still an incredible expression of life on Earth, southern California style.
Kevin Barnard
Board Secretary
Kevin is a life-long resident of San Diego County, growing up in North County when its beaches and the backcountry were still fairly untouched. He moved to Harmony Grove decades ago and has been involved in community activism in an effort to responsibly manage development in the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove core habitat area.
He joined the Conservancy board of directors in 2006. In 2007, after retiring from the San Diego Police Department, he took a leave from the Conservancy board for a year and assumed the role of Executive Director. In addition to serving again on the Conservancy board, including service as president, Kevin also works as a Medicare fraud investigator.
Kevin has led the Conservancy’s work to expand its partnership with the City of Escondido to give Escondido residents an opportunity to love and appreciate a future restored 7-mile section of the creek through the heart of the city. Kevin’s “age-inappropriate” passion is playing hockey at least three nights per week in four different leagues, serving as goalie. Kevin serves as the Secretary at the Conservancy.
Steve Barker
Founder, Eagle Creek Travel Gear
As one of the organization’s founders, Steve Barker has served on the Conservancy’s board since its inception.
He and his wife Nona have lived in Elfin Forest since 1984. They have four grown children. Steve and Nona founded Eagle Creek Travel Gear in 1975, selling the company in 2007 (with Steve staying on as president until 2010). Steve is the former chair of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and has served on the board of the Outdoor Foundation, a sister organization to the OIA that focuses on getting kids outdoors. Steve serves on the advisory board of the Adventure Travel Trade Association and is board chair of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund.
Betsy Keithley
UCSD Professor Emerita
Betsy moved from the east coast to Elfin Forest in1985 for her career as a research scientist at UCSD studying hearing and the inner ear.
In Elfin Forest, she has served many terms on the Town Council, the Fire Advisory Board, and the Elfin Forest Community Foundation. She has a strong passion for outdoor activities including hiking, biking, and skiing. She joined the Conservancy Board of Directors to help raise awareness of the Conservancy and its activities in the community.
Like Leonard, Betsy has a special interest in making certain the Conservancy is a strong voice for wildlife, working to ensure the preservation of healthy places for wildlife to thrive, in balance with human activities, in perpetuity.
Krystle Miller
Principal, Quantum Academy, Escondido
Krystle Miller first engaged with the Conservancy while working as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) with the Escondido Union School District. It was in this role that Krystle, who has a Master of Arts’ degree in Teaching and a B.A. in History with a minor in Italian, led the district’s multi-year plan to transition to Next Generation Science Standards.
Krystle worked with non-profit organizations including the Conservancy to create the Protecting our Watershed: Inquiry to Action Program for all EUSD students in grades 3-5 and their families. As a result of this work to help her students get into nature, Krystle received a Classroom of the Future Foundation Inspire Award Honorable Mention.
Krystle was Teacher of the Year multiple times and is currently a principal at the Quantum Academy. Her focus on the Conservancy Board is outdoor education.
Anne Middleton
Associate Director, WILDCOAST.
Originally from Montana, Anne moved to San Diego in 2014 from Cameroon, after having finished a contract with Taylor Guitars on legal and sustainable ebony wood procurement for guitar manufacturing. Anne served as Executive Director at ECOLIFE Conservation, a local nonprofit that builds fuel-efficient stoves in rural Mexico and aquaponics systems here in San Diego. Also in San Diego, she was employed by the San Diego County Water Authority. Prior to her tenure in Cameroon, she worked for a non-profit organization in Washington DC, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), whose focus is to investigate international wildlife crime and advocate for legislative solutions. EIA’s investigations in Madagascar led to the first criminal case for the amended U.S. Lacey Act, a ban on trade in illegal wood.
Anne has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Oberlin College and a master’s degree of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara.
Having non-profit, public, and private-sector experience, Anne brings a unique set of skills to the board at the Conservancy. In her time not at work, she enjoys making cakes, taking her dog to the beach, and singing and playing guitar in her bands.
Marianne Nelson
Trust Manager (Retired)
Marianne joined The Escondido Creek Conservancy Board in May 2024. She is a retired wealth and trust manager having worked for Wells Fargo for over 30 years. Marianne has served on several non-profit boards, including a 10-year term with Second Chance, an advocacy group that specializes in workforce readiness and sober living for at-risk individuals. An avid nature enthusiast, Marianne enjoys regular camping, hiking and backpacking with her husband, son and friends, appreciating the beauty of nature up close. This passion is what brought her to the Conservancy as a weekly volunteer to help transform the newly purchased Mountain Meadow Preserve into a native wonderland for wildlife migrating the land near Escondido Creek.
By joining the Board, Marianne is committed to increasing attention to the need for more open space that can support a healthy environment for our native plants and animals.
Edward Philbrick
Publisher, San Elijo Life
With over 20 years of San Diego real estate experience, including residential and commercial, Edward brings local expertise and exceptional service. As the publisher of San Elijo Life, he covers community news and events in San Elijo Hills. He founded Realtor On Bike, a network for cycling enthusiasts relocating or purchasing vacation homes.
Passionate about open space, the natural environment, surfing, cycling, hiking, and community building, Edward aligns with the Escondido Creek Conservancy’s mission.
JP Theberge
President, Cultural Edge
Being trilingual and bouncing between the different cultures of Chile, Nicaragua and Saudi Arabia until the age of 12 taught JP to navigate between different cultures and shaped him into a keen observer of culture and human nature.
He received a degree in international relations and sociology from Boston University, which he used to enter the advertising world. This segued into a VP position at multinational research conglomerate TNS Kantar, becoming a leading expert in Latin American, Hispanic and cross-cultural insights. He went on to found Cultural Edge, the consummation of his passion for understanding what makes people tick and shepherding Fortune 500 clients through the minefield of a culturally-complex mainstream culture.
Ed Van Liew
Engineering Manager, Retired
Ed and his wife, Amy, moved to Hidden Meadows in 2000. They are both active as land stewards for the Hidden Meadows property managed by the Escondido Creek Conservancy. Ed, a retired engineering manager, has experience in product development, regulatory compliance, and quality assurance. His current pursuits include hobbies such as embedded systems, computer programming, welding, and cooking. Additionally, Ed contributes to the growth of his wife's business. He joined the Board with a commitment to leverage his engineering and managerial expertise to advance the Conservancy's strategic objectives and ensure its success into the future.