Mary E. Gerritsen, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

San Mateo, CA. Former Chief Financial Officer, Orchid Conservation Alliance. Former Chair, San Francisco. Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Former President, Peninsula Orchid Society. Board Member, Orchid Digest. Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN. Consulting Professor of Vascular Surgery, Stanford. Independent consultant to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Formerly in senior management at Exelixis, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Author of several orchid books (Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World; Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species (1st and 2nd editions), A Bay Area Guide to Orchids and Their Culture, The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and Their Culture) with co-author and photographer, Ron Parsons. Orchid interests: cool and intermediate growing miniature orchids, preservation of orchid habitats.

Peter Tobias, Ph.D.

Director

Encintas, CA. Former president and CEO, Orchid Conservation Alliance, Former chair, San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee; Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN; Former Board Member, Orchid Digest; Recipient Orchid Digest Medal of Honor, 2018. Retired Associate Professor of Biochemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA. Orchid interests: Conservation, landscaping with orchids, orchid focused ecotourism.

Ron Kaufmann, Ph.D.

Director and Secretary

San Diego, CA. Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Environmental and Ocean Sciences, University of San Diego. Member, American Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Chair, San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Board Member, The Orchid Digest. Board Member, Fundación EcoMinga. Co-Author, Orchids of Tropical America (with Joe Meisel and Franco Pupulin). Orchid interests: habitat protection, Cattleya Alliance.

Our Team

Steve Beckendorf, PH.D.

Director Emeritus

Berkeley, CA. Member, Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN. Former Member, American Orchid Society Conservation Committee. Former Board Member, The Orchid Digest Corporation. Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley. Orchid interests: Orchids of the Andes, especially Odontoglossums, Cyrtochilums, Masdevallias; preservation of orchid-rich cloud forests.

Roberta Fox

Chief Financial Officer and Membership Chair

Costa Mesa CA. Fascination of Orchids International Show co-chair 1995-current. Active board member and officer of multiple orchid societies. Retired database administrator and business systems analyst. Orchid interests: Growing orchids, particularly species, with an emphasis on identifying and studying those that can grow outdoors in coastal southern California.

Candace Hollinger

Social Media Coordinator

Gainesville, FL. Member Gainesville Orchid Society. Member American Orchid Society. Member American Orchid Society Affiliated Societies Committee. Member Membership and Marketing Committee, American Orchid Society. Retired graphic designer/scientific illustrator at University of Georgia, University of Minnesota Hospitals, Gillette Children’s Hospital, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, and University of Florida‘s IFAS and TREEO Center. Orchid interests: Cattleya species and hybrids, as well as many other species and hybrids.

Jack Lothrop

Newsletter Editor

San Francisco, CA. Member, San Francisco Orchid Society. Private equity investor at Lateral Investment Management, former venture capital and growth equity investor at GSV Ventures and BlackRock. Graduate of Emory University, studying finance and physics. Orchid interests: Cattleya Alliance, miniature orchids that can grow in an apartment.