OuR TEAM

Sharon Gies
Chairman

Sharon Gies joined the Lassen Association in 2009. She became board chairman in 2012. Sharon is a retired school teacher and taught 1st through 8th grades, including Science, History, as well as a program for the gifted. She has spent summers at her family’s cabin in Mineral near Lassen Volcanic National Park since her childhood. She loves the park and considers it her “backyard”. Over the years, she has hiked all the trails in the park, and some non-trails as well! One of her many favorites is Mt. Harkness with the beautiful view of Juniper Lake from the top. Paradise Meadows is another of her favorites, especially when the flowers are in bloom. The whole park holds a very special place in her heart.

Bruce “RB” Wadlington
Vice Chairman

RB Wadlington has served 20 years on the Lassen Association Board. RB was raised in Chico, frequently visiting Lassen and enjoying the family cabin in Mineral. He graduated from Chico State (1969) with a degree in Parks and Recreation and enjoyed working summers for Lassen National Forest and Lassen Volcanic National Park. He began a 34-year career with the National Park Service at North Cascades National Park and as well as Denali, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon ending up at a central office in Denver. RB built a home in Mineral and retired there in 2002 with his lovely wife Carol of 53 years.

Jennifer Starkweather
Member

Jennifer Starkweather recalls the days at the Lassen Ski Resort when she tried to stay upright on the poma lift or keep her mittens intact while holding on to rope tow. Since then, she has explored the park on skis and foot sometimes sticking to the trails, and other times not.  Her favorite summer adventure is a lung-busting run (with lots of walking) up the Brokeoff trail just after the sun rises.  She lives in San Francisco where she is an art teacher and practicing artist, collaborating on private and public art commissions. As the newest member of the Lassen Association, she is excited to help promote this hidden gem.

Jon Hooper, Ph.D.
Member

Jon is a retired wildlife biologist and environmental educator whose professional mission has been to help dispel myths and misconceptions people have about the ecological functioning of natural systems. He joined the Lassen Association Board of Directors primarily to help with the development of the Association’s educational projects as related to his expertise as a professor of environmental interpretation and education at California State University, Chico.  

Jon holds a Ph.D. in Ecology with an emphasis in Environmental Communication from the U.C. Davis, a M.S. in Natural Resources Administration/Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from U.C. Davis. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist (CWB) via The Wildlife Society and both a Certified Interpretive Trainer (CIT) and Interpretive Fellow via the National Association for Interpretation. Jon was awarded “Professor Emeritus” status from California State University, Chico upon his retirement. Jon’s favorite feature in Lassen Volcanic National Park is Lake Helen, especially in the spring when some ice and snow remains on the lake’s surface and the water has a gorgeous turquoise tint in spots. He loves snow skiing, sailing, playing piano, photography, home fix-it projects, cats, and computers (when the darn things work!).  

Vikki Bettman
Member

Vikki is a native of northern California and enjoyed growing up in the Mineral area and in Red Bluff. She is a retired elementary school teacher currently making her home in Red Bluff and enjoys a summer home in Mineral. She enjoys hiking and photography in Lassen Volcanic National Park, with the Kings Creek area being her favorite. 

Vikki joined the Lassen Association Board in 2009. She was instrumental in the initiation and development of the current membership program and held the title of Membership Chair for 10 years. “I think of Lassen Volcanic as my backyard and I’m proud to be a part of the work the Association does to help visitors enjoy my amazing backyard as much as I do.”

Pamela M. Begrin
Member

Pam was born and raised in Chester, attended Chester Elementary and Chester Jr/Sr High schools and had a very basic small town youth. She moved to Mineral, located in Tehama County in 1972. This is where her husband was working for the United States Forest Service and their two sons Bert and Luke were raised there. Pam and her husband, Gary, started a small water truck business in 2000 and are currently still in business as a “vehicle with driver” for the USFS.

Pam worked at Lassen Volcanic National Park for 13 years, from May 1990 to June 2003. She started as a Fire Clerk, then as Accounting Support, Purchasing Clerk and worked her way up to Accounting Technician.

Pam was appointed the Postmaster of the Mineral Post Office in June 0f 2003. She served in the Postal Service for 17 years and retired in May of 2018. Pam feels she was fortunate to have had a wonderful career all the while enjoying the mountain style of living most of her life.

She is currently serving on two boards, The Tehama County Board of Education and the Lassen Association board. She served on the Mineral Elementary school board from 1983 until closing in 2013, when Mineral School joined the Antelope District. During her time on the School Board they started the EScholar Academy Charter School (TELA) and had the two schools in our district. They were a successful progressive district and she is very proud of her time there.

Tracy Salcedo
Member

Tracy has written more than 25 guidebooks to destinations in California and Colorado, including Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park, which won the 2020 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. She attributes the award to her love of Lassen Volcanic National Park, which she has been exploring for decades. She has also written books of essays focused on adventure, natural and cultural history, and national parks. She also works as an editor and an elementary school librarian. The mountains are Tracy’s inspiration, and she’s honored to work toward their preservation and resilience and to share their power and beauty through storytelling. In addition to serving on the Lassen Association board, she is on the board of directors of Sonoma Mountain Preservation and has served on other place-centered conservation and education boards over the years. She holds a degree in Anthropology from UC Berkeley and makes her home in Glen Ellen, California.

Melanie Ramelli Allen
Executive Director

Melanie first joined the Lassen Association as the first Store Manager at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center in 2008.  After leaving for a few years to work for other Public Land Agencies she came back to the Lassen Association in 2012 to become the Executive Director.  

Melanie graduated from California State University, Chico with a Bachelors of Science in Recreation Administration.  Growing up locally, vacationing every summer in Lassen Volcanic National Park made a career choice in Public Lands an easy and obvious choice.  Melanie’s favorite places in LVNP are Bumpass Hell, Cinder Cone, Lake Helen and Summit Lake where she was married to Cody Allen in 2008.  Cody and Melanie have 2 boys who are growing up with the same love for the outdoors and as a family enjoy the wild and wonderful variety of wonders Lassen Volcanic National Park has to offer.

Catherine Gasper
Operations Manager

Catherine joined our team in 2017. Catherine worked at the Lassen Chalet Ski Resort and at Childs Meadows when she was a teenager. She spent many years in the retail business starting at 12 years old working at the family’s Christian Bookstore in Red Bluff. She graduated college at the top of her class, Majoring in Accounting and a minor in Computer Programing. Catherine and her husband, Rick, have had several businesses over the years, the last of which is Nature’s Remede. Nature’s Remede is sold all over the world but is in stores mostly in Northern California.

Growing up in Red Bluff, she spent many a weekend visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park prior to moving up to Mineral full time in 1976. In spite of life taking her to Southern California and to Nebraska for many years, Lassen has always been home. Rick and Catherine now reside full-time in Mineral in her family home. She loves living in the mountains and sharing her love for the outdoors with her two daughters and their husbands as well as her granddaughter, Gracelyn.

Joel Jefferson
Loomis Store Manager

Joel joined the Lassen Association in 2020 as a clerk at the Loomis Museum bookstore. He received a promotion to manager of the Loomis Museum store in 2021. Joel has been a resident of Shingletown since 1995 and lives in the Lake McCumber area. Joel has a BS in Accounting and retired as an IT Manager from Shasta County in 2020. His interests in astronomy take him at night to the parking lots for Lassen Peak or Bumpass Hell where he finds the night skies to be AMAZING!