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

Oak Teaching Specialist

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

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

Kylie Schubert

Educator

Kylie spent her childhood exploring the desert in rural southern Arizona where she grew up. She earned her B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in wildlife management and ecology at Northern Arizona University, where she discovered her passion for teaching other about science and nature. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco and then eventually made her way down to the central coast and decided it was the place for her.

Since living in San Luis Obispo County, Kylie has taken advantage of kayaking at all the beautiful beaches and exploring the local hiking trails. She also enjoys crafting, concerts, and traveling with friends.

Email: kylies@lcslo.org