From all of us at Pepperwood, THANK YOU!

As we reflect on the incredible support from our community in the wake of the fires, there is a new depth to our gratitude. So many people have stepped forward to help in so many ways. From housing displaced staff, to helping us navigate the emergency response, to the rapid rebuilding of key infrastructure, to simply sending warm thoughts, we are deeply appreciative of all that you have done to help get Pepperwood back on firm footing in the Dwight Center!

Special thanks to our friends at Sonoma Land Trust and Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation for sharing your offices (and camaraderie!) while we waited to get back to Pepperwood and the Dwight Center. You provided the space for our team to come together at a trying time, a venue for time-sensitive collaborations, and a cubicle for our newest staff person (Kelly Kohrs, our Program Associate whose start date was October 15). We are very grateful!

Thank you to our many university and agency science affiliates who put their immediate tasks and priorities aside to join us onsite and help chart the future of the Pepperwood Sentinel Site so we can best capture the impacts of fire on our watersheds and biodiversity. And thank you to our partner land and water managers for collaborating on a comprehensive approach to evaluate the impacts of our land management on fire severity. This is something we are already moving on at Pepperwood—and we are seeking resources to expand this approach to partner properties, including parks and other open spaces, to get as meaningful a picture as possible of what made a difference on fire behavior.

And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to Pepperwood in support of our recovery. Your support has been critical to the restoration of many of our core operations, the launch of important post-fire field research, and our participation in the North Bay’s collaborative emergency response and recovery effort that began the day of the fires! Our strong partnerships paid off in this time of our community’s greatest need.

With gratitude, Lisa Micheli, PhD President & CEO