Lauren Booth
New trustees on the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History board are Lauren Booth, Melissa Fassett, Tim Kochis, Corinne Laverty, Keith Reichel, Sarah Sheshunoff and Lotus Vermeer.
A fifth-generation Californian, Ms. Booth is president of Booth Ranches, a family-run company that farms oranges from Fresno to Maricopa. She attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly in Pomona, where she participated in the California Agricultural Leadership Program.
Ms. Fassett is a partner with the law firm of Price, Postel & Parma. Her practice emphasizes advising and representing management in all aspects of labor and employment law and intellectual property.
Melissa Fassett 
Tim Kochis
Ms. Fassett has advised many nonprofits in the Santa Barbara area, and she has been an active board member/volunteer for local nonprofits.
Mr. Kochis is CEO of Kochis Global, a financial services consultancy, and the former CEO and chairman of Aspiriant.
Mr. Kochis, who has nearly 50 years of experience in personal financial and investment planning, earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago, his law degree from the University of Michigan and his undergraduate degree from Marquette University.
While serving in the U.S. Army during a tour of duty in Vietnam, he received a Purple Heart for wounds received in action.
Ms. Laverty is a research associate and fellow at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, an associate of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation and a member of the All Eight Club, an organization that tracks the people who have visited all eight Channel Islands.
She holds undergraduate and graduate business degrees from the University of Virginia and USC, respectively. She retired from MUFG Union Bank, where she spent most of her professional career as a lender and in risk management and treasury.
Ms. Laverty is the bestselling author of “North America’s Galapagos: The Historic Channel Islands Biological Survey.”
A Santa Barbara native, Mr. Reichel was introduced to the natural sciences while attending after-school and summer classes at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, which sparked a lifelong passion that led to a bachelor of science degree in zoology from UC Davis.
Keith Reichel 
Sarah Sheshunoff
He returned to Santa Barbara to begin his career at a local start-up that develops and manufactures medical and aerospace grade specialty silicones and retired as part of the executive team 28 years later.
Originally from San Diego, Ms. Sheshunoff received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and geography from UC Berkeley and a juris doctor degree from UC Berkeley School of Law.
In Anchorage, Alaska, she clerked for the superior and appellate courts and practiced criminal defense.
Eight years ago, Ms. Sheshunoff, her husband and two sons moved to Ojai and then to Santa Barbara. Most recently, she has served as an interim executive director for a small rare disease nonprofit called RUNX1 Research Program, performed contract legal work and helped support local nonprofits with meeting facilitation and program evaluation.
Dr. Vermeer, a marine biologist and primatologist by training, was the marine director of the Global Sustainable Fisheries Program at The Nature Conservancy, director of TNC’s Channel Islands Program and led successful island restoration and endangered species recovery.
She spent three years at Earthwatch Institute in Boston and 10-plus years in the eastern Caribbean leading conservation efforts and educational outreach campaigns to provide protection for endangered sea turtles and other at-risk marine species.
Dr. Vermeer is the assistant dean for partnerships and development for the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB.
Dr. Vermeer has a doctorate in marine ecology from Dalhousie University, a master’s degree in marine resource and environmental management from the University of the West Indies and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in behavioral ecology and primatology from McGill University.
For a full listing of the trustees and their biographies, visit sbnature.org/about/board.
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
