San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy welcomes new conservation manager

Jonathan Appelbaum recently joined the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC) as the Conservancy’s new Conservation Manager. As Conservation Manager, Appelbaum is responsible for the coordination and implementation of conservation programs for the SDRVC. He leads habitat-restoration projects in the San Dieguito River watershed and takes an active role in SDRVC’s efforts to improve water quality, including through participation in projects that implement regional water-quality programs.

Appelbaum also works with SDRVC’s partners to bring the most effective scientific methods and tools to bear on conservation and field research projects and leads the San Dieguito Citizen Science Monitoring Program, according to a press release.

“I’m really passionate about being in the nonprofit conservancy side of things. I’m passionate because I believe in the mission of the nonprofit as opposed to the for-profit side of the business,” said Appelbaum.

Appelbaum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, (UCSB) where he studied environmental studies with an emphasis in biology. He moved to San Diego in the spring of 2000 and began working in the environmental consulting field. Eight years later he returned to UCSB to earn his master’s in environmental sciences at the Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management. His dual emphases at Bren were conservation planning and coastal and marine resources management.

Appelbaum previously worked for the following organizations: Channel Islands Restoration (Santa Barbara, CA); Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (Marin County/Point Reyes Seashore); Santa Barbara Audubon Society; Endangered Habitats Conservancy (San Diego) and San Diego Canyonlands (San Diego).

He is also affiliated as a volunteer with San Diego Children and Nature (SDCAN) as vice president from 2017 to the present; San Diego River Park Foundation; San Diego Audubon Society Conservation Committee; ReWild Mission Bay Wetland Working Group; I Love a Clean San Diego Clean Committee; California Native Plant Society and is a Volunteer of the Year award-recipient.

Not only does Appelbaum love being a volunteer, he loves working with them.

“I love working with volunteers. I love working with students, especially students from under-served communities and Title One schools that may have limited resources. I love working with the community doing outreach, getting people involved in the stewardship of their own resources and the landscapes in which they live and work,” said Appelbaum.

Appelbaum strongly believes that the SDRVC has a great opportunity to work with the community and school groups to train and educate them into the next generation of land stewards, and passionate environmentalists.

Said Trish Boaz, executive director of SDRVC, “We are thrilled to have Jonathan a part of Team SDRVC. If his first week with SDRVC is any indication, the San Dieguito River Valley is going to benefit greatly from his presence.”