Senior Staff

Deborah L. Rogers, Ph.D., Acting Executive Director & Director of Conservation Science and Stewardship

As the Acting Executive Director, Dr. Rogers has leadership responsibilities for CNLM including the strategic acquisition of conservation properties, improving resilience at all levels of the organization, connecting on matters of mutual interest with government agencies and other partners, and providing direction and support for staff who implement the conservation work that serves our mission. She has a distinguished 30-year career in natural resources conservation—working in private, government, academic, and non-profit sectors. Her career began as a leader in a provincial technology development program in Canada delivering innovative projects aimed at improving the sustainability of Ontario’s vast landscape of natural resources—an area encompassing 350,000 square miles (larger than the states of California, Washington, and Oregon combined).

While conducting applied conservation research at the University of California, Davis, she founded and directed the Monterey Pine Forest Ecology Cooperative, a nonpolitical forum for transferring scientific information to management and regulation of coastal California forest ecosystems. She initiated and co-led a summer internship for graduate students in conservation biology across University of California campuses at a time when that multidisciplinary field was just beginning to coalesce. She has continued that leadership and support to the conservation community with conference presentations and workshops—featuring such topics as climate change adaptation strategies and building robust endowments for conservation properties—at gatherings of the Society for Conservation Biology, California Council of Land Trusts, national Land Trust Alliance, National Park Service, and the Australian Land Conservation Alliance. She currently serves on the Executive Leadership Group for the Washington Sentinel Landscapes program, as a Research Associate at the University of California, Davis, and as an associate editor of the Native Plants Journal.

During her research career at the University of California, she focused on the genetic diversity of native plant species and better understanding how to conserve that diversity to support adaptation and species longevity. Her expertise on these topics, particularly genetic diversity of Pinus radiata and Sequoia sempervirens, has been valued internationally through research collaborations and invited keynote presentations.

Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Queen’s University, a Master of Science degree from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley. During her graduate studies, she was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship. Deborah joined CNLM in 2006.

Heather Thomson, Chief Financial Officer

Heather’s professional experience began in service to our Country in the United States Navy managing procurement and logistical resources. In service to others, she has continued for the past 30 years in a variety of Financial and Risk Management leadership positions in non-profit, private and public sectors. She was born in Iowa and currently lives outside of Boise, Idaho. Heather is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California and a graduate of California State University, Sacramento.

During her career, she has obtained Executive financial leadership experience in entities providing risk management services to public agencies in California, a publicly traded international company in the building maintenance arena, as well as non-profits serving Veterans, cancer patients and foster children. She has a passion for helping others to the greatest magnitude possible.

Heather as an Executive, has taught at financial professional association conferences, participated with Board of Directors strategic multi-year planning sessions, instituted insurance review and renewals, authored several process and procedure manuals, and ensured federal and state grant reporting compliance. Heather has obtained technical expertise in system conversions, advanced database and reporting design, automation of previous manual processes and various third-party application integrations. In addition, she has extensive experience in all aspects of fiscal processing: purchasing, billing and collections, payroll, HR onboarding, financial reporting, planning and analysis, tax filings, budget preparation and forecasting.

As CNLM’s Chief Financial Officer, Heather manages all aspects of financial and human resources operations for CNLM.

In her spare time, you are likely to find Heather with her nose in a book, out on a hiking trail or spending time with her close family and friends.

Isabella Gelmi, Director of Administration

As the longest serving member of CNLM’s senior staff, Isabella’s position has evolved with the growing needs of the organization. Joining CNLM in 2002, she initially had responsibilities that spanned administration, acquisitions, and many operations tasks. She came well prepared for these challenges, with a strong background in administration and commercial, industrial, and residential property management (California and Hawaii). And her interest in serving CNLM’s mission—then and now—was genuine and deep, inspired by her family’s love of the outdoors that lead to a profound respect and appreciation of nature. With family roots in the mountainous region of northern Italy, she found a resonance in California with its mountain ranges, endless biodiversity, and culture of respect for the natural environment.

Today, Isabella’s responsibilities have evolved to include supervision of administrative staff, oversight of all information systems and formal communications, and management of contracts and facilities interests. She continues to have a significant role in property acquisitions, along with a team that now includes an Acquisitions Manager and General Counsel.  Isabella also serves as the Secretary for the organization, supporting the Board officer position. As one of four senior staff, she participates in discussions and decisions that inform the expression of CNLM’s mission at its highest level.

Sarah Mueller, General Counsel

As CNLM’s General Counsel, Sarah provides leadership for all legal matters, including CNLM’s role in acquiring fee properties and conservation easements, easement enforcement and defense, organizational foundation documents, and support and counsel to the Board of Directors.

Sarah served as Assistant Regional Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, for 18 years.  She counseled the agency on compliance and enforcement matters arising under a variety of federal statutes.  She has extensive experience working with stakeholders at all levels of government, as well as the private sector, landowners, non-profit organizations, and local communities.  Through her role as the Institutional Controls coordinator for Region IX, she focused on long-term stewardship issues for contaminated properties throughout the Pacific Southwest.  Prior to joining EPA, Sarah was in private practice in San Francisco as a commercial and environmental litigator.  She began her career in the environmental and conservation sector at the National Audubon Society in its government affairs office in Washington, DC.

Sarah earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her law degree at the University of California, Berkeley.  Sarah joined CNLM in 2022.