Biographies of Save Mount Diablo Founders, Executive Director and Director of Land Programs
Mary L. Bowerman Dr. Bowerman was co-founder of Save Mount Diablo in 1971, was Vice President for Resources until 1995, and continued to serve on the Land Acquisition Committee until her death in August of 2005. Dr. Bowerman has been a botanist and a student of the flora and vegetation of Mount Diablo for over seventy years. She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and is author of The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, California; Their Distribution and Association into Plant Communities, The Gillick Press, 1944. Her book has been updated and is being republished in 2002 by the University of California at Berkeley’s Jepson Herbarium. She has received many awards--including a State of California Golden Bear award, the Chevron Times Mirror Magazine National Conservation Award, Diablo Magazine’s Threads of Hope Award and the Daughters of the American Revolution’s National Conservation Medal--for her work with the group. Mt. Diablo State Park's Fire Interpretive Trail is named in her honor. She was further honored by East Bay Regional Park District in 2001 when the crest of Highland Ridge, in Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, was renamed “Founders Ridge” in honor of Save Mount Diablo’s founders. Dr. Bowerman has been a resident of the Bay area since 1928 and lived in Lafayette for her last 50 years.
Arthur Bonwell was co-founder of Save Mount Diablo in 1971, is a past-president and a current vice-president, and serves on the Executive and Land Use Committees. He is retired from Dupont-Antioch Works where he was a Process Control Engineer, and received his B.S.E.E. from Purdue University. He has received many awards--including a State of California Golden Bear award, the Chevron Times Mirror Magazine National Conservation Award, Diablo Magazine’s Threads of Hope Award, the Daughters of the American Revolution’s National Conservation Medal, and Save Mount Diablo’s first Mountain Star award--for his work with the group. He was further honored by East Bay Regional Park District in 2001 when the crest of Highland Ridge, in Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, was renamed “Founders Ridge” in honor of Save Mount Diablo’s founders. A resident of California since 1956, Mr. Bonwell lives in Concord.
Seth M. Adams is Director of Land
Programs for Save Mount Diablo, a Contra Costa conservation organization founded
in 1971. Hired in 1988, he was SMD’s first professional staff. His work
includes responsibilities related to land acquisition, land use planning, land
stewardship, grassroots activism, and legislation and public policy. Among his
proudest accomplishments are the preservation of threatened areas throughout the
East Bay through acquisition and grassroots advocacy, and the reintroduction of
endangered peregrine falcons to Mt. Diablo.
Adams was founder and vice-president of the California Water
Policy Group and a founding member of the Buckhorn Canyon Preservation Council.
He is a former member of the East Bay Regional Park District Park Advisory
Committee and of the PAC's Budget subcommittee; a former Political Committee
member of the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club; an Advisory Board
member of the Muir Heritage Land Trust, the Green Media Alliance, and
BayAreaSprawl.Com; a member of the Northern California Land Trust Council and
the Bay Area Open Space Council and is a governing member of the Bob Walker
Archives subcommittee of the Independent Documentary Film Group. He has
conducted or been involved in a variety of political campaigns, referendums,
etc. throughout Contra Costa County and the East Bay.
Adams is a recipient of the the Year 2000 John Muir
Conservation Award, awarded by the John Muir Memorial Association to an
individual “who emulates the principles and ideals of John Muir, one of the
Founders of the American Conservation movement and of the Sierra Club,” of the
Greenbelt Alliance's Stars of the Greenbelt award; of a 2001
Conservation Medal of The National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, for his distinguished conservation record; and of Save Mount
Diablo’s 2001 Mountain Saver Award.
Adams lives in Martinez and is an avid hiker, runner, cyclist
and weight lifter.
Ronald F. Brown has been Executive Director of Save Mount Diablo since July of 2000.
He has been a resident of Central Contra Costa since 1974 and lives in the shadow of Shell Ridge Open Space with his wife, Sharon. He and Sharon have two daughters, Jordana and Rebecca. Ron brings over thirty years of professional non-profit organization management and fundraising experience to Save Mount Diablo. He holds a Masters Degree in Management, specializing in Non-Profit Organizations, from the University of Redlands and a Bachelors degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from San Francisco State University.
Prior to coming to Save Mount Diablo, Ron completed a ten-year stint as the Executive Director of the Diabetic Youth Foundation that enhances the quality of life for children and families who are living with diabetes. For over 60 years the Foundation has provided camping, recreational and educational services, including the operation of Bearskin Meadow Camp in Sequoia National Forest.
From 1974-1988 Ron served as the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center in Walnut Creek. Starting as an outreach worker from the Oakland JCC, he was instrumental in developing a full service community center in Contra Costa County.
Organizations and Associations:
· Currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce (Two time chair of the Civic Affairs Committee)
· Currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Community Benefit Organizations and is the current President of the Board)
· Currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Bay Area Open Space Council is the current Chair of the Board
· Current member of the Advisory Board of Camp Kesem (a camp for children whose parents are diagnosed with cancer)
· Accreditation visitor for the American Camping Association.
· Current Treasurer of Kids to Camp Scholarship
· Former Board member and first President of the International Diabetes Camping Association.
· Former Board of Directors of the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center
· Co-Chairperson of the of the 2004 campaign for the Contra Costa County’s Open Space Funding measure
· Served as a member of the Contra Costa Transit Authority’s Expenditure Plan Advisory Committee.
Ron enjoys fly-fishing, playing softball and basketball, and the outdoor activities.