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Our team.

Hello from all of us!

STAFF

Hadley Dynak + Kent Strader

  • Hadley is a creative producer and nonprofit executive. She leads the day-to-day operations of Western Hills Garden. She is constantly dreaming up new ways to activate the garden and provide new experiences for visitors. She loves to host, cook, and weed the garden beds and paths.


    Kent is an aspiring plantsman who pays the bills for now by lawyering. In addition to handling HR and finances for Western Hills Garden he is the consummate handyman and loves playing with succulents, making bouquets for garden visitors, and spending time with his beloved dog Eloise

Anna Castagnozzi Bush

Justin Berthiaume

  • Justin earned a B.S. in landscape architecture from the University of Massachusetts and worked several years for the National Park Service in the planning and design group. After a stint as a full-time musician in Boston, Justin switched to education and taught at Gateway High School in San Francisco for 12 years, where he started the environmental science program and a gardening and horticulture program. Justin brings his organizational and leadership skills to Western Hills, coupled with his passion for plants and the natural world.

Rio Gurule

  • Rio tends to the garden during the week and on weekends enjoys seeing guests appreciate our hard work. She has a passion for creating complimentary bouquets for each attendee and helping people find the right plant for them. Rio sees a future in landscaping and conservation. She loves working in trees and the making spaces in the garden look picturesque and welcoming.

Kat Gritt

  • In a mid-career shift to horticulture, I've completed an Associate of Science degree in Arboriculture from Merritt College in Oakland and working towards becoming an ISA-certified arborist. Starting as an Arboriculture Fellow at Western Hills in 2023, I focus on tree and soil health, botanical identification, structural and aesthetic pruning, and pathogen/abiotic diagnostics.

Sienna Viar

  • Anna is a Bay Area native whose work has focused on fundraising and community engagement for public gardens and cultural nonprofits. She loves helping visitors and supporters feel connected to Western Hills Garden and excited about its future. In her down time she enjoys listening to KDFC and pruning or building paths in her garden. Ask her about her favorite garden, and she'll probably ask about yours, too.

FOUNDING BOARD

Hadley Dynak

  • Hadley is a creative producer and nonprofit executive. She leads the day-to-day operations of Western Hills Garden. She is constantly dreaming up new ways to activate the garden and provide new experiences for visitors. She loves to host, cook, and weed the garden beds and paths. She serves as a Founding Board member and acts as the Board’s Treasurer.


Kim Jordan

Bonnie Bridges

  • Bonnie brings a keen awareness of place and purpose to her life and work as an architect and Founder of BBA Studio. Her approach to the design process is grounded in human experience, logic and thoughtful actions. This humanistic methodology took form during her graduate and doctoral research at Harvard,

    Bonnie’s work is informed by growing up in California and ten years in the Sonoran Desert. She was profoundly inspired by these landscapes—imprinting within her a fundamental experience of light and space.

     Actively involved in the civic realm and the greater architectural community, Bonnie is fueled by a deep, longstanding dedication to advancing the profession—through mentoring, teaching, advisory and Board roles. She is a member of the WHG Founding Board of Directors and serves as the Board’s secretary.

  • Kim Jordan, Co-founder and former Executive Chair of the Board of New Belgium Brewing, has expertise at the intersection of business, the environment and community. She created one of the most respected craft breweries and innovative businesses in America.

    Her lifelong commitment to developing healthy communities informed New Belgium's culture and her work as Founder and Board Chair of the Mighty Arrow Ranch Foundation.

    Kim has served as a director on many diverse Boards over the years including The Brewers Association, 1% for The Planet, the Advanced Energy Economy, the Governor’s Renewable Energy Authority Board, and Colorado State University’s Board of Governors.

    She currently participates as a board member of Hog Island Oyster Company and Earthjustice.

    She is also a member of the Western Hills Garden Founding Board of Directors and serves as the Board Chair.  

HORTICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Anthony Garza

  • Anthony is the Supervisor of Horticulture and Grounds at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, CA.

    "WHG represents for me a significant horticultural collection and an inspiring setting. Few private gardens in the West can match this alluring combination that appeals to both the plant aficionado and the general public. I hope that my involvement [with WHHAC] contributes to the goal of preserving this gem for future generations."

Betsy Flack

  • Landscape Architect, gardener, educator at SF Botanical Garden and The Garden Conservancy (combined 20 years). Have enjoyed 55 years absorbing gardens in California and other Mediterranean climates.

    “My incredible journey began with mentors at Strybing Arboretum, the principals of a small SF architectural firm, and with Marshall Olbrich and Lester Hawkins at Western Hills Rare Plant Garden in the mid 1970s. I care about this Garden, especially as I grow old along beside it.”

Dave Tueschler

  • David Teuschler is the Director of Horticulture for Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery. He established the nursery’s propagation program and currently directs the propagation and inventory teams for the company’s sixteen locations across California.

    David has worked in the nursery industry for three decades, including many years at Valley Crest Tree Company. While there, he served as Plant Health Care Manager for the Specimen Tree Division, Account Manager in the Estate Gardens Division, and, most notably, Chief Arborist for the Apple contract grow, responsible for growing over 7,000 trees – half from seed – for installation at the Apple campus in Cupertino, CA.

Jeff Wright

  • A Plantsman in the Bay Area for the last thirty years spending most of this time at The Presidio in San Francisco I developed my skills and plant palette for the diverse collections of Meditarainain plants that grow in California, It is important to preserve private/public gardens like Western Hills for generations to come and I look forward to being a part of the future legacy of this very important garden

Jim Salyards

  • Jim Salyards is the associate director of horticultural initiatives at Filoli, the garden he's called home the past 30 years. He is a passionate advocate for public gardens locally and nationally. Western Hills Garden made an early impact on Jim's horticultural journey and he is thrilled to be a supporter of the organization.

Laura Counts

  • Laura Counts is a garden supporter and partner to Kent and Hadley in this WHG endeavor. She’s a lifelong plant and nature lover who’s excited to learn from fellow WHHAC members as we shape the future of Western Hills. In her day-to-day, life Laura is a communications director at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Merel Kennedy

  • Born and raised on the East Coast, Merel attended The Madeira School and Bowdoin College before heading west to study graphic design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She found her passion for gardening, landscape design, and horticulture while living in West Marin County among the Douglas Firs, Bishop Pines, and Tanoaks.

Merlin Sclumberger

  • Merlin is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist (WE-7670B), ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor (TRAQ), Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA #687), and holds Prescription Pruning (PPQ) and Tree and Plant Appraisal (TPAQ) qualifications. He teaches Arboriculture at Santa Rosa Junior College and volunteers to renest raptors with the Bird Rescue Center.

Nicole Sclumberger

  • Nicole Schlumberger is associate faculty in SRJC’s Horticulture and Natural Resources programs, teaching propagation, ecology, and plant identification. She works as a botanist to monitor rare plants and with local agencies to increase native seed availability. She is collaborating with WHG to create educational opportunities and support propagation systems, honoring the nursery’s rich legacy.

RG Turner

  • RG Turner (BArch, MLA) has devoted much of his career to the world of public gardens. As editor of the West’s most respected garden magazine (Pacific Horticulture), he helped to spread the message of climate appropriate horticulture to gardeners in California and the West.

Sean Hogan

  • Sean is the principle designer, author, owner and founder of Cistus Design Nursery near Portland, OR. An avid plant hunter and collector, Sean's passion has been the introduction of new and appropriate plants to Western North America, and specifically, the popularization of under-used and unknown plants for summer-dry climates. Sean has a long history with Western Hills, beginning in his teenage years.

Stew Winchester

  • Stew has taught horticulture and field identification of California native plants courses at Merritt and Diablo Valley Colleges for over 20 years. He can often be found exploring the native plant communities of California and points west with his students.