Meet the Staff
Zarah Wyly
Program Manager
Oak woodlands are Zarah’s favorite ecological community so she is naturally overjoyed to serve as Program Manager for Learning Among the Oaks, The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County‘s nature education and youth environmental leadership program. Over the past twenty years, Zarah has developed and managed multiple oak-centered projects, mostly through her work with the Sacramento Tree Foundation. These projects have included the annual acorn harvest, a citizen-science based program covering six Sacramento area counties, and a native tree propagation program growing 7,000 native trees for reforestation projects. Zarah is excited to use her extensive knowledge and skills in oak restoration ecology, youth education programming and community building to grow LATO’s positive impacts for our shared natural world and co-inhabitants.
Email: zarahw@lcslo.org
Anna Barr
Education Coordinator
Anna grew up in Southern California, made her way up to Northern California, and is now excited to be living on the Central Coast. She first experienced the beauty of the area while at UC Santa Barbara, where she double majored in anthropology and English. She started her career as a newspaper editor. After discovering that nature topics were what excited her most, she landed at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. She spent nearly 15 years at the museum, mainly in the Naturalist Center. Anna left to pursue a graduate degree in ecology and biodiversity at Stockholm University. It was here that she developed an appreciation for oaks, focusing on them for her master’s thesis and an outreach project. Besides exploring the outdoors, she loves traveling — having visited almost 25 countries — and trying all sorts of new food.
Email: annab@lcslo.org
Emily Rose Friedman
LATO Bilingual Educator
Emily Rose is a lifelong Los Osos local and spent her childhood exploring the Los Osos oak woodlands, making nature forts and kayaking across the back bay. Emily Rose grew up in an English/Spanish household and is excited to share her spanish skills with LATO. Emily Rose is a recent grad from UC Santa Cruz where she studied politics and sustainable agriculture. She worked on the UCSC Farm and Chadwick Garden. During her time at UCSC she co-led a student activist organization called Rightlivlihood College, where she educated her peers about non violent protest. Upon returning home she found herself drawn to the world of outdoor education, she taught a youth empowerment summer camp with San Luis Obispo City Farm. Now she is ecstatic to be a part of the Land Conservancy and share her passion and knowledge about our beautiful central coast oak woodlands with local kids!
Emily Rose es una residente de toda la vida de Los Osos y pasó su infancia explorando los bosques de robles de Los Osos, construyendo fuertes de naturaleza y haciendo kayak en la bahía trasera. Emily Rose creció en un hogar bilingüe en inglés y español y está emocionada de compartir sus habilidades en español con LATO. Es graduada reciente de UC Santa Cruz, donde estudió política y agricultura sostenible. Trabajó en la Granja UCSC y en el Jardín Chadwick. Durante su tiempo en UCSC, co-lideró una organización estudiantil activista llamada Rightlivlihood College, donde educó a sus compañeros sobre protestas no violentas. Al regresar a casa, se sintió atraída por el mundo de la educación al aire libre; enseñó un campamento de empoderamiento juvenil con San Luis Obispo City Farm. ¡Ahora está emocionada de ser parte de la Conservación de Tierras y de compartir su pasión y conocimiento sobre nuestros hermosos bosques de robles de la costa central con los niños locales!
Email: emilyrosef@lcslo.org
Jen Lannon
Program Coordinator
Born in the Midwest, Jen grew up moving from state to state, eventually settling in Northern California as a preteen. After a weekend visiting her older brother at Cal Poly, she fell in love with the area and its seemingly endless opportunities for outdoor adventures. She became inspired to also study at Cal Poly, with her business degree taking her down to Southern California and beyond. Serendipitously, she and her husband returned to the Central Coast, settling in the quaint town of Santa Margarita to raise their children. Through community events and school field trips, Jen was introduced to LATO. It spoke to her soul, and she eagerly became a volunteer and Nature Docent. Both of her daughters shared the same sentiment and proudly became Oak Ambassadors for Santa Margarita Elementary School. Five years later, she joined LATO as staff to raise awareness of this amazing and unique program.
Email: jenniferl@lcslo.org