Sarah Hanson- Executive Director 

 
Sarah has been working as a conscious land steward for 25 years.  She directed trail and wilderness restoration crews in varied ecosystems from 2003-2012 for Student Conservation Association, Pacific Crest Trail Association and Washington Trails Association in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, South Carolina and Georgia.  She has been a WWOOFer in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Italy and Senegal, learning organic gardening techniques, and is a certified permaculture designer.  Sarah was the first program director for the San Juan Island Conservation Corps for 5 seasons from 2012-2016, working with public lands agencies, local non-profits and Coast Salish tribes.  She helped pave the way for a Coast Salish Youth Conservation Corps, and served on the San Juan County Agricultural Resources Committee from 2020-2022.  She has a B.S. in Geology/Geophysics from Western Washington University, moonlights as a healer, writer, sailor, DIY tinkerer, and has studied indigenous healing with the Q’ero tribe in the high Andes of Peru.  Sarah has called San Juan Island home since 2001.   sarah(at)onsacredgroundlandtrust.org 

Jenny Shrum - Island Marble Butterfly Program Director

  



​Jenny has been a biologist and professional stalker of wild critters for nearly three decades working broadly for public lands agencies west of the Mississippi. She came to San Juan Island to work for San Juan Island National Historical Park in 2014.  Since then, Jenny has had the unique fortune to follow (sometimes chase!) the island marble butterfly and other Washington butterflies in both natural and laboratory settings.  In the process, she has learned as much about pollinators as she has about herself.  She is currently working as a contractor with On Sacred Ground and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to support population stability under cooperative agreements.  Jenny serves as a subject matter expert for the island marble butterfly and has come to mimic its behavior by hiding from winter altogether.   The butterfly does so in a carefully crafted chrysalis.  Jenny has carefully crafted her Eurovan chrysalis and is bound for the Sonoran Desert with her beau and gravel bicycle.  jenny(at)onsacredgroundlandtrust.org​

Walt Andrews - Island Marble Butterfly Volunteer Program Coordinator

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​Walt is an ecologist who has worked in research, conservation, agricultural science, outreach, and education.  He has experience working with a wide variety of federal, state, and local land managers and with these imperiled species: Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Bull Trout and the Marbled Murrelet.  Walt is excited about the possibilities in front of us, for islanders to rally for our endemic Island Marble Butterfly by creating and maintaining habitat with the volunteer program.   Walt also works at WSU San Juan County Extension as a Research Assistant, balancing field work with data analysis, presentations and writing, most recently working on wireworms and pasture trials.  He enjoys exploring what the mountains and islands offer and thoroughly appreciates the scientific process. vc(at)onsacredgroundlandtrust.org.