Who We Are

Museum Staff

Lauren Berry
Museum Attendant

 

Lauren grew up locally in the Soquel Mountains above Aptos.  Her family operated an old dairy farm, so she developed an appreciation for nature early in life.   Raising chickens and working in the garden with her family, Lauren developed a keen interest in understanding the tinkering of nature.  While on the farm, she drove a tractor with her dad and thoroughly enjoyed “playing in the dirt.”  Lauren has had a life-long connection to the museum; she visited it while on field trips with her elementary school, and her mother was an active docent at the time.  The museum is where Lauren had her first volunteer experience: she was a docent at the Dinosaurs at the Beach exhibit when she was nine years old.  Lauren is currently waitlisted for the nursing program at Cabrillo College. She hopes to become a nurse in the future, but in the meantime, “Tide pooling rules!!!!”

Shauna Casey
Educational Programs Manager

Shauna grew up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate NY.   She graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Environmental Studies.  As a student, Shauna worked in the campus' Natural History Collections and the Arboretum.  Her interest in natural history and ecology eventually led her to the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon, where she worked as field assistant studying pollination biology. She also worked as a naturalist for the Sempervirens Outdoor School in Boulder Creek and as a farm educator at The Farm School in western Massachusetts.  Shauna coordinates our school and public programs, and brings to the Museum a passion for creating programs that foster relationships between people and nature.

Garrett McCown
Administrative Assistant

. Garrett grew up near the warm waters in Southern California. He graduated from UCSC with a degree in Environmental Studies, specializing in plant science. As a student, he was an intern at the Arboretum and an independent researcher at the Greenhouses on UCSC campus. He has helped in the research about the morphology of clovers, and has also studied the art of grafting trees. He fuses his knowledge about the natural world and his passion for teaching, which makes the museum the perfect place for him. When not at the SCMNH, he works at the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, goes surfing, creates music, or pursues his new hobby of becoming a master woodworker.

Mary Goldman
Volunteer Coordinator

Mary graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Ecology and Evolution.  Since then she has worked as a field technician in Montana studying predator-prey relationships, acted as house manager for Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and coordinated the summer program for Gateway School.  She combines her love of natural history, working with people, and organizing here at the museum.  Prior to joining the staff, she served as a volunteer and docent.

 

Tremain Jones
Museum Associate

Tremain helps in the preparation, installation and maintenance of exhibits.  This includes assisting in managing the museum collections.  Tremain is also responsible for promotions and planning special events. Tremain grew up just a few blocks away from the San Francisco Bay in East Palo Alto.  From a young age, he had a keen interest in science and nature.  He was a frequent visitor of the Baylands Preserve in Palo Alto and possessed an avid insight into the microscopic worlds of bacteria and algae, worlds unseen by the naked eye.  He later studied Chemistry and Anthropology at Foothill College where he earned an Associates Degree and then transferred to UC Santa Cruz, where he received a BA in Biological Anthropology.  After Santa Cruz, Tremain traveled to the forests of Borneo, Indonesia, where he studied Orangutans in their native habitat.  When not at the museum, Tremain spends his time at the Santa Cruz Teen Center and working on independent film projects.

Lise Peterson
Operations Manager

 

Lise is the operations manager for the Santa Cruz Museum Association.  She manages the business aspects of the museum association: buying for the gift stores, corresponding with members, and maintaining financial records.   Lise was raised in Calaveras County, where her family operated a weekly newspaper--- a community institution.   After many years of working at a name-brand corporation, Lise elected to join another community institution, the Museum of Natural History..  Outside her work at the Museum, Lise volunteers for the California Native Plant Society, has served on the board of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, and is a dilettante birder. 

Sarah Underwood
Neary Lagoon Program Coordinator

Sarah is the program coordinator for the Neary Lagoon Wetland Walk, a unique opportunity for 3rd and 4th grade students to learn about wetland ecology. Sarah trains docent volunteers to lead tours at the lagoon in addition to giving tours herself.  Sarah grew up in wine country.  She is an avid bicyclist and once took a trip across the country where she saw the great expanse of conventional agriculture.  The experience of that trip sparked her interest in agriculture and the environment.  Later at UC Davis, she majored in agricultural systems and learned to appreciate gardens and plants.  After graduating, she worked as a naturalist in the Sierra foothills at Foothill Horizons Outdoor School, where she got her first taste of teaching.  Sarah spent a year in Spain, teaching English and improving her Spanish; when she came back to California, she earned a K-8th teaching credential and was fortunate to do her student teaching in a bilingual classroom at Bayview Elementary in Santa Cruz. The natural beauty and community of Santa Cruz has captivated Sarah, and she savors every day that she gets to work, live and play here.  Working towards a Masters in Pubic Health, Sarah hopes to one day work with issues of childhood health and wellness.