Staff

  • a woman with brown hair wearing a white shirt standing in front of a mountain view

    Maria Mircheva

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Maria Mircheva has been the Executive Director of the Sugar Pine Foundation since July 2007. She first volunteered for the Sugar Pine Foundation during the 2006 field season, and took over the day to day operations of the organization after the Angora Fire in 2007.

    Maria holds a Masters in Environmental Science and Management, with a focus on Conservation Policy, from UC Santa Barbara. Her undergraduate degree is in Business Economics, and she worked as a business consultant in the Silicon Valley before discovering her passion for environmental work. Maria currently juggles the demands of being a mom with those of the organization and her need to play outside as much as possible!

  • A woman with brown hair wearing a flannel shirt and a headband

    Tressa Gibbard

    PROGRAM MANAGER

    Tressa Gibbard has been working for the Sugar Pine Foundation since January 2010 in the capacity of grant-writer, editor, design guru, events and planting organizer. Tressa holds a Bachelors degree from Penn State University, where she majored in Environmental Studies.

    She has over a decade of experience working as a field biologist throughout California and many other western states. She was introduced to the Sugar Pine Foundation as a participant in the 2006 Tahoe-Baikal Institute Summer Environmental Exchange program, and was previously a seasonal volunteer with SPF. When she’s not saving the sugar pines, Tressa can generally be found playing in the mountains.

  • A man with blond hair and a beard wearing a blue shirt standing in front of a photo of swirling green and white water

    Tim Briggs

    WEB DESIGNER

    Tim started working with Sugar Pine Foundation through Catchafire in 2019 to redesign our website. Tim specializes in creating compelling visuals and websites for research and non-profit organizations. Based on the East Coast, Tim works with Sugar Pine Foundation remotely and constantly wishes he was in Tahoe. Tim holds a B.S. in Marine Biology from Northeastern University.

  • Edric Alvarez

    FIELD TECHNICIAN

    Edric joined the Sugar Pine Foundation as a field technician out of his pure love of nature. He has a background in tree trimming and is excellent at planting and caring for plants and trees. Edric helps with plantings, cone collections and a variety of administrative tasks. Outside of work, he is a master snowboarder, wake boarder and fly fisherman based in South Lake Tahoe.