Taylor Kellerman, Chair
Taylor Kellerman is the Director of Diversified Agriculture and Land Stewardship at Kualoa Ranch on O‘ahu and has his hand in land stewardship every day. Fittingly, he is the Chair of the Hawai‘i Cattlemen’s Council’s Land and Water Committee, as well as a board member of Ponoholo Ranch. He also currently serves at the President of the O‘ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council and previously served as President of the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i, and now serves as a board member. In the past, Taylor has also served as a member of the West O‘ahu Soil and Water Conservation District.
Mark Fox, Vice Chair
Raised on Hawaiʻi island, Mark’s background includes Honolulu law practice, staff for U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye working on agricultural and environmental issues, handling government affairs for The Nature Conservancy’s Hawaiʻi program, and, most recently, working on Pacific fisheries management for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Alan Gottlieb, Secretary Treasurer
Alan is the Vice President of Finance & Administration for Ponoholo Ranch Limited, a Big-Island cattle ranch, ranked in the 23th largest cow/calf ranch in the United States, managing their business affairs in Hawaii and for its Mainland Subsidiaries. Alan also manages Second City Property Management which operates agricultural water systems in West Oahu on over 8,000 acres for a number of diversified farmers. Along with several partners, Alan founded and later sold Hawaiian Earth Products, Ltd, an industry leader which recycles yard trimmings, manures and other organics into high quality compost under the Menehune MAGIC brand name. Alan is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he majored in Business Administration and Accounting. Alan served on the Hawaii State Board of Agriculture from 2004 through 2012. He participated in Class IV of the Agricultural Leadership Foundation and served as a Board member of the Foundation from 1992 through 2009, including 2 terms as Board Chairman. In 2001/2002 Alan participated in the Pacific Century Fellows Program. He is a founder of the Paniolo Hall of Fame, to help preserve the Paniolo Culture in Hawaii and induct and honor notable Hawaiian Cowboys into the Hall of Fame. Alan is a Past President of the Statewide Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council and currently serves as its treasurer, serves as the treasurer of the Hawaii Beef Industry Council, and serves on the board of the West Oahu Soil & Water Conservation District, and the board of the Hawaii Employers Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC). Alan has been married to Annabel for 41 years and has 2 children; Bonnie 32 and Michael, 20 and 3 grandchildren.
Doug Beaton, Board Member
J. Douglas Beaton is the owner and operator of Puuwai Ranch and Nursery and a seed stock producer of Red Angus cattle focusing on intensive grazing to minimize impact on native ecosystems. Doug has severed as Hamakua Soil and Water Conservation District chair, Hawaii Grazing Land Coalition chair, Hawaii Cattlemen’s Association president, and Hawaii Beef Industry Council vice president. Doug works as a real estate agent and land management consultant. Helping people obtain agricultural land and managing those lands is a passion of his.
Leah Bremer, Board Member
Leah was born and raised on Oʻahu, and returned to work at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2017 after a decade of working on watershed management and conservation in the Andes. She has a interdisciplinary research position with the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization and the Water Resources Research Center and is also cooperating faculty with the Departments of Geography and Environment and Natural Resources and Environmental Management and the Biocultural Initiative of the Pacific. As a Geographer by training, she views environmental and social issues as intricately connected and her current work focuses on on a variety of collaborative projects focused on sustainable land and water management in Hawaiʻi. She has a BA in Psychology, and MS in Conservation Biology, and a PhD in Geography. In her free time she loves trail running, swimming, surfing, yoga, and exploring with her rapidly growing 9-month old.
Steph Dunbar-Co, Board Member
Born on Kaua‘i and raised on the east end of Molokai, Steph’s upbringing fostered a love of Hawai‘i’s natural places and native species. Her background and interests led her to receive MS and PhD degrees in Botany and a career focused on caring for Hawaiʻi’s native ecosystems. As a fifth-generation landowner, Steph has spent a lifetime in land management, having worked on ecosystem restoration, conservation easements, fishpond restoration, ranching and forestry. She has held fellowships with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, worked for the State’s Plant Extinction Prevention Program, and operated an environmental consulting company. Steph joined The Nature Conservancy in 2014 to lead the expansion of watershed protection and community engagement in East Molokai. Between 2020-2022, she led the Hawaiʻi and Palmyra chapter’s Climate and Protection programs, responsible for managing land acquisitions, developing the chapter’s Climate strategy, and managing their first forest carbon project. She, her husband, and their two children split time between O’ahu and Molokai.
Jordan Jokiel, Board Member
Jordan Jokiel, Vice President and Land Manager for Haleakalā Ranch Company, oversees the company’s Conservation, Invasive species, and Forestry programs. Jokiel has more than 20 years of experience in land and wildlife conservation. He most recently served as program manager for the Leeward Haleakalā Restoration Partnership, a coalition of 11 major landowners, including Haleakalā Ranch. There, he managed more than 40,000 acres of watershed lands on the leeward side of Haleakalā. Prior to that, Jokiel served as access and acquisitions program coordinator for the State of Hawaiʻi’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. He is also the former director of the Palmyra Program for The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i and program manager for East Maui Watershed Partnership. Jokiel grew up in Kaneohe, and attended Kaleaheo Highschool. Jokiel graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a degree in Environmental Studies. He is married to Maui-born Abigail Romanchak, and is the proud father of two beautiful young children, Kaniau and Kawena.
Jimmy Greenwell, Immediate Past Chair
Jimmy Greenwell is a respected member of the cattle industry and the community at large and has served in several leadership roles, including President of the Hawaiʻi Cattlemen’s Council and the Hawaiʻi Cattle Producer’s Cooperative. He also served as President of the Hawaiʻi Leeward Planning Conference. He retired in 2012 as the President of Lanihau Properties LLC and Palani Ranch Company, Inc, and remains active on both boards today. Jimmy has been a member of the Parker Ranch Board of Directors, Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy Board of Trustees, and the Seabury Hall Board of Trustees. His vision for the Hawaiʻi Rangeland Stewardship Foundation as a means to include the wider community in rangeland management guides the organization forward.
Nicole Galase, Supporting Staff
Nicole is the Managing Director of the Hawaii Rangeland Stewardship Foundation, Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, and Hawaii Beef Industry Council. In 2021, she was nominated by her organization's board members and recognized as a Pacific Business News 40 Under 40 Honoree. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from UH Manoa's Shidler College of Business, and a Master of Marine Conservation from Victoria University of Wellington. Nicole started her career working for various agencies on Midway Atoll, Kure Atoll, and French Frigate Shoals, then went on to study the endangered Band-rumped on the Island of Hawaii. She is a founding member and current Chair of the Friends of Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Her goal is to highlight the overlapping goals of cattlemen and conservation to foster closer collaboration between the communities.
Angel Melone, Supporting Staff
Angel is the Project Coordinator with the Hawaii Rangeland Stewardship Foundation, Hawaiʻi Cattlemen's Council, and Hawaii Beef Industry Council. From Kula, Maui, Angel has interacted with ranchers and has been exposed to large-scale farming efforts throughout her life. Such experiences have maintained a growing sense of curiosity, respect, and kuleana (responsibility) to commit and contribute to the stewardship and management of these natural resources. Angel has a background in environmental science with a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Resource Management and a Master of Environmental Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She was a Graduate Research Assistant with the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) and characterized baseline ecosystem carbon to support biocultural restoration efforts in Heʻeia, Oʻahu at Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi. Initiating her career, Angel worked with an Archaeological Company for 3 years engaging in archaeological monitoring plans, archaeological reconnaissance studies as well as cultural impact studies on Maui. Angel is passionate about her work with ranchers in Hawaiʻi to facilitate and support more climate-smart projects within the Hawaiʻi Climate Smart Commodities project portfolio. She is a founding member and Secretary of Hui Nehu, a non-profit with the mission to educate and perpetuate the importance of the nehu (Encrasicholina purpurea), the endemic anchovy, a prized baitfish in the Hawaiian Islands. In her free time, she enjoys diving and fishing and engaging with environments mauka (mountain) to makai (sea).