Steve Brennan, PE, has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from California State University, Chico. He received his PE license in 2004, having worked in the alternative energy field for 8 years. He is currently working for Davis Energy Group performing research on Zero Energy Home strategies and commercial energy management. He has passed the test and is awaiting AEE Certification in Energy Management (CEM). At the UU Church of Davis, he is a member of in the Music Advisory Group, the Young Adults Group and the Caring Congregation Mental Health Education committee. His interests include Peace and Justice issues, energy efficiency issues and sustainability. He headed the Green Sanctuary subcommittee to do the energy audit of the church and wrote the report for the committee.
Marnelle Gleason, has BA Social Science from Cal State Stanislaus, and is currently working part-time in the family business. Her interests include learning to live with less, driving less, biking more, helping to bring ecological consciousness to the community. She has been attending the Unitarian Church for the past 5 years. In addition to the Green Sanctuary Committee, she is currently teaches R.E. to the 4th-6th graders and helps out as a greeter once a month.
Leisa Huyck earned a Ph.D. in an Individual Interdisciplinary degree combining soil science, ecology, and regional planning from 1994 Washington State University. With a career interest in sustainable agriculture, she has taught natural resource planning, environmental law, sustainable systems development, and environmental conflict resolution at Humboldt State University 1994-1998 and managed Sustainable Agricultural Farming Systems Project at UC Davis from 2000-2004. Currently she is a program administrator at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, working on several biological agriculture projects. She is also a writer and is considering entering the ministry. At the UU Church of Davis, she has served on a minister search committee, the Children's and Youth RE council and as a Worship Associate. She is currently on the Music Advisory Group and will be an RE teacher in 2006. She will be leading the Green Sanctuary Water Forums: Thirsty for Justice.
Tom Jankowski has a B.S. in General Biological Sciences and an M.S. in Entomology. He has been self-employed for over 20 years as a service specialist in residential repairs ("handyman"). As part of his lifelong work to develop a spiritual viewpoint and practices complementary with scientific knowledge he found an accepting community in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, where his primary involvements have been in work with teens, adult RE, and buildings/facilities repairs and improvements. Through Green Sanctuary he hopes to help increase awareness and appreciation of the rare and fragile beauty of Earth and thus to generate commitment and support for the lifestyle and social changes that are needed to reduce our harm to our home planet.
Gail Kennedy earned a Masters in Public Health from Colombia University in 1992 after completing two years service in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa. For the last ten years, Ms. Kennedy has worked in international health, presently working in HIV/AIDS prevention and care in Africa and Asia. She also has worked at the California State Department of Health Services where she worked on a statewide asthma prevention program and an EPA-funded project, educating children about air quality and the dangers of ozone and particulate matter and ways to create cleaner air. She and her husband have a 5 year-old daughter. Gail is a new member of the UU Church of Davis. She will be working on organizing an interfaith bike, bus or carpool to church day.
Donna Lott came to Davis in 1966, and has been active in the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Davis since that time. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors, Stewardship and Green Sanctuary committees. After she earned a Masters degree is in Community Development, she had a career as a transportation-air quality planner with the California Air Resources Board. She is now retired. As a Davis resident, she has been an active member in community affairs, beginning with advocacy in 1966 for developing a bikeway system for Davis…the first in the nation. Her civic activities through the League of Women Voters of Davis extend over many years, and she served as president for four years (1999-2002). She has moderated many candidate forums and provided voter education on topics studied by this nonpartisan organization. Other civic activities have included six years on the Davis Planning Commission and membership on the Davis Affordable Housing Task Force and the Davis Social Services Commission. In recognition for her many years of volunteer work, she was honored as C.A. Covell Davis Citizen of the Year in 2001. She is the Board representative to the Green Sanctuary Committee and is working on getting funding together to finance the addition of Solar Panels to the church property.
Judy Moores has an A.B. degree from Mt. Holyoke College and extensive graduate units from UC Davis in the fields of biology, education and human development. She has lived in Davis since 1966 and has had a “Career” of volunteer work. For 17 years she worked as a volunteer in Davis school classrooms, served on many school committees, and on the board of various PTAs. She co-founded the Davis Science Center (now Explorit). From 1984-1987, she served on the Yolo County School Board, including two years as President. During the 1990s, she was on the board of STEAC (Short Term Emergency Aid Committee) helping the agency transition to a very small non-profit run entirely by a few volunteers to one with staff and an expanded volunteer base. At the UU Church of Davis she has chaired the Sunday Services, Sanctuary Renovation, Caring Network, and Intern Ministry Committees. Currently, she is co-chair of the Green Sanctuary Committee. In 1999, she was awarded the C.A. Covell Davis Citizen of the Year Award for outstanding volunteer service. She is married to a geologist, Eldridge Moores. They have three children and three grandchildren. She is interested in sustainability and environmental justice issues and concerned about global warming and general environmental degradation.
Michael Pach has baccalaureate degree in social science from California State University, Sacramento; and, a master’s degree in business administration from National University, Sacramento. He works for Intel Corporation as an Information Technology auditor. He is a new member of the UU Church in Davis, and a new resident to the community of Davis, California; having previously lived across the river in Sacramento for many years. Although new to the Church, he is an active participant in the forming Green Sanctuary, and the Peace and Justice Committee, as well as, active in the local Davis Religious Community for Sanctuary, MoveOn.org, and Amnesty International. He has a longstanding commitment to the preservation and conservation of our natural environment and is eager to share his commitment to others through the Green Sanctuary.
Vincent Schwent was president of Windmaster Inc. one of the first firms developing large-scale wind energy projects in the world in the early 1980's. Before that he worked for the California Energy Commission on the commercialization of wind energy. While still in graduate school, he set up a recycling center at the University of California, San Diego and was the founding president of the California Public Interest Research Group, which has been a major environmental organization in California since 1972. In the early 1990's he helped start and was Chairman of the Board of Greentree Plastics, a company which attempted to develop new technology to handle the recycling of all types of plastic-waste. More recently, he worked at the California Energy Commission on the commercialization of photovoltaics, where he was a Senior Project Manager at the world-renowned Sacramento Municipal Utility District Solar program. Currently, he is president of Spectrum Energy, Inc., a provider of commercial scale photovoltaic systems. Vince wants to help the church and its congregation work toward a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
Dawn Student has a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development from U.C Davis, and a teaching credential from C.S.U. Sacramento. She teaches first grade in Sacramento. She has been a church member for ten years and during that time has been active in many areas of the Religious Exploration program; she currently teaches the pre-schoolers religious exploration class. She is also a member of the Green Sanctuary committee and is interested in bringing those ideas into religious exploration, and in educating and involving the whole congregation in a greener way of living.
Mary Wind has a BA degree from the University of San Francisco, and a Masters of Public Administration from Golden Gate University. Mary has lived in Davis for fourteen years and while she did not get involved in volunteer work until this year, for many years she did spent an extensive amount of her personal time working through the University of Davis Extension Program to assist Counties in tackling a range of management and training issues. Mary has spent the past twenty-five years in the field of Organizational Development (OD) and Training/Facilitation. She has designed and provided specific OD facilitations and management trainings to a wide range of public health professionals, many involving individuals working in environmental areas. Repeatedly she has had to assist folks in moving through dynamic and conflicting demands, personalities and systems to best design actions which would enable the group to meet their designated objectives. Questioning and focusing have often proven to be her most rewarding tools. Mary enjoys the challenges and rewards that come with using creative design to solve “real world” dilemmas. Currently, she is co-chair of the Green Sanctuary Committee.