Staff

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Maria Mircheva has been the Executive Director of the Sugar Pine Foundation since July 2007. She first volunteered for the Sugar Pine Foundation during the 2006 field season, and took over the day to day operations of the organization after the Angora Fire in 2007.

Maria holds a Masters in Environmental Science and Management, with a focus on Conservation Policy, from UC Santa Barbara. Her undergraduate degree is in Business Economics, and she worked as a business consultant in the Silicon Valley before discovering her passion for environmental work. Maria currently juggles the demands of being a mom with those of the organization and her need to play outside as much as possible!

PROGRAM MANAGER

Tressa Gibbard has been working for the Sugar Pine Foundation since January 2010 in the capacity of grant-writer, editor, design guru, events and planting organizer. Tressa holds a Bachelors degree from Penn State University, where she majored in Environmental Studies.

She has over a decade of experience working as a field biologist throughout California and many other western states. She was introduced to the Sugar Pine Foundation as a participant in the 2006 Tahoe-Baikal Institute Summer Environmental Exchange program, and was previously a seasonal volunteer with SPF. When she’s not saving the sugar pines, Tressa can generally be found playing in the mountains.

OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Carly started working with the Sugar Pine Foundation in early 2023 as our outreach coordinator. Motivated by a love of nature and its flora and fauna, Carly went to school at the University of Vermont to pursue a degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in Conservation Biology and Biodiversity. While studying at UVM, she worked as a research assistant studying the anthropogenic impacts on vulnerable marine populations in Belize. Carly is excited to get back to her environmentalist roots by supporting the outreach efforts of the Sugar Pine Foundation and helping Tahoe’s forest ecosystems flourish for years to come. When not working, Carly can be found skiing, hiking, and climbing in the forests around Lake Tahoe.

WEB DESIGNER

Tim started working with Sugar Pine Foundation through Catchafire in 2019 to redesign our website. Tim specializes in creating compelling visuals and websites for research and non-profit organizations. Based on the East Coast, Tim works with Sugar Pine Foundation remotely and constantly wishes he was in Tahoe. Tim holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from Northeastern University.

FIELD TECHNICIAN

Edric joined the Sugar Pine Foundation as a field technician out of his pure love of nature. He has a background in tree trimming and is excellent at planting and caring for plants and trees. Edric helps with plantings, cone collections and a variety of administrative tasks. Outside of work, he is a master snowboarder, wake boarder and fly fisherman based in South Lake Tahoe.