Sarah Hanson- Executive Director 

 
Sarah has been working as a conscious land steward for over 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, kayaker, canoe skipper, 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 winter chrysalis, often desert bound with her beau and bicycle.  jenny(at)onsacredgroundlandtrust.org​

Taylour Stephens - Island Marble Butterfly Captive Rearing Technician

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​Taylour has been fascinated by the natural world for as long as she can remember. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Sonoma State University and has traveled all over the U.S. to research a variety of wildlife populations including birds, bats, amphibians, and more. In 2023, she moved to San Juan Island and fell in love with its unique ecosystems and wildlife diversity. Taylour has joined the crew at On Sacred Ground to assist in Island Marble Butterfly population stability efforts. She strives to acquire an abundance of knowledge related to island pollinators that will be shared through conservation efforts. In her spare time, Taylour loves to explore and you will find her out and about searching for novel wilderness experiences.