Directors and Officers

The Western Cave Conservancy is governed by an eight-director board, with day-to-day business conducted by the four officers and various committee chairs. The directors bring to the board professional cave management experience as well as scientific expertise in the disciplines of archaeology, entomology, geology and hydrology, as well as professional cave resource management skills and cave rescue teaching credentials. All the directors and officers are longtime cavers, whose enjoyment of the underground has gone beyond recreational caving to become a major avocation and even a profession.

 Martin Haye, President and Stewardship Director 
mhaye@westerncaves.org
Since early childhood Martin has been a caver at heart, building tiny spaces of blankets and boxes and then crawling into them. In 1990 he discovered the existence of other claustrophiles and has been a caver ever since. Martin spends most of his time as a software engineer for the California Digital Library, and brings years of project management and people skills to the board. While non-profit accounting is a new hobby, he has discovered a natural talent and (possibly unnatural) interest in balancing books, developing financial procedures, and memorizing labyrinthine tax codes. As WCC s Stewardship Director, Martin recently re-started the effort to open Windeler Cave.

 Marianne Russo, Vice President, Public Relations Director, and Weller Preserve Manager 
mrusso@westerncaves.org
Marianne has been an active caver for over 20 years. Professionally she is an archaeologist, and managed the Sacramento regional office of the California Archeological and Historical Resources Inventory for 25 years. She has participated in numerous field surveys and excavations and has taught summer field schools. Marianne has also served as Chairman and Secretary of the Mother Lode Grotto and Vice-chair of the Western Region of the National Speleological Society. She has assisted in training novice cavers and teaching vertical techniques. Marianne is a National Cave Rescue Commission instructor who has helped conduct several cave rescue training seminars.

 Rolf Aalbu PhD, Land Research Director 
raalbu@westerncaves.org
Rolf Aalbu owns a database consulting business, working primarily for California State Parks. He is also a Research Associate in the Entomology Department at the California Academy of Sciences and an adjunct professor at Sacramento City College. After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon, Africa and receiving a Ph.D. in Entomology at Ohio State University, Columbus, Rolf conducted post-doctoral research at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge in Database Designs for Biological Sciences. His research and consulting positions have taken him to many parts of the world including Peru, Tunisia, India, Panama, Morocco, Egypt, Mexico and France. Rolf has over 30 publications in refereed journals including the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies (formerly the NSS Bulletin). Rolf currently presides over the Pacific Coast Entomological Society. Rolf also serves WCC our Research Director.

 Mike Spiess, Public Relations Director 
mspiess@westerncaves.org
Mike has been caving in California since the late 1960s. He has a long interest in conservation and has served as founding Board member and treasurer of the Sierra Foothill Conservancy and as a Board member and treasurer of the Northern California Regional Land Trust. Mike is a member of the Cave Research Foundation and has worked for many years at Lilburn and Lava Beds. He is an avid backpacker and fly fisherman. Mike is currently a Professor of agricultural education at California State University, Chico where he teaches and manages a number of water conservation projects.

 Jerald Johnson PhD, Human Resources Director 
jjohnson@westerncaves.org
Jerry is professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Sacramento, and was chairman of the department from 1996-2002. He is also a director of the Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Studies at CSUS. Jerry was co-director of the excavations in Pinnacle Point Cave in 1964. In addition, he belongs to numerous professional organizations in the fields of Archeology and Anthropology. In 2001, Jerry received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for California Archaeology. He has taught upper division courses in cave archeology and presented professional papers at NSS National Conventions and at two International Congress of Speleology meetings. In addition, he is currently Vice-Chair of the International Commission of Cave Archeology. Jerry is WCC s Human Resources Director.

 Bruce Rogers, Acquisitions Director  
brogers@westerncaves.org
Bruce Rogers began cave exploring in the wilds of New England in the 1950’s. Since then he has explored the basements of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Alaska to Mesoamerica in addition to many of the island nations of the Pacific Basin. His wide-ranging spelean interests encompass mineralogy, geology & geography, paleontology, cartography, and history. He is the author of numerous publications on caves and related subjects, usually illustrated with his own photographs and drawings. His current interests are lava tubes, littoral caves, cave fossils, and pre-historic cave utilization in the Americas.

In the early 1970s, increasingly restricted access to caves prompted his interest in conservation. As long-time supporter of conservation efforts, he brings a nation-wide perspective to the Western Cave Conservancy board.

His interest in caves led to a formal education in geology and a position as a field geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA. He now indulges both artistic and scientific bents as a scientific illustrator and outreach specialist at the USGS as well as working part time in earth science programs with the National Park Service and with science education at NASA.

 Eileen Belan, Secretary and Director 
ebelan@westerncaves.org
Eileen has always loved to hike and explore, entering wild caves as a teenager. Professionally, Eileen was a Project Manager for AT&T, supervising managers responsible for the installation and smooth operation of the 9-1-1 system, retiring in May 2008. Eileen has been Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson for the Mother Lode Grotto. Also in 2008, Eileen received a Fellowship from the National Speleological Society.