Meet Malcolm
How long has he lived in the Bay Area?
He is a lifelong resident of Contra Costa County, raised in El Cerrito and a Moraga resident since 1986.
How did he learn about Save Mount Diablo?
Though he had known about Save Mount Diablo since he was young, even having a Save Mount Diablo bumper sticker in high school, it was when he moved from Berkeley and began advocating on behalf of the state parks that he decided to join Save Mount Diablo.
He met Bob Doyle at a hearing that the California State Parks put on in 1988 to discuss expanding to the southeast of Mount Diablo State Park and that was when his involvement with Save Mount Diablo really began.
When did he start volunteering with Save Mount Diablo, and why did he get involved?
Malcolm began volunteering with Save Mount Diablo in 1988 and has been on Save Mount Diablo’s Board of Directors for 32 years, acting as Board President twice, for 15 of those 32 years.
He is the current Chair of the Mary Bowerman Science and Research Committee.
Which Save Mount Diablo programs is he involved in?
Not only has Malcolm served on the Board for 32 years, he has also served on many committees, especially the Executive Committee, Land Committee, and Mary Bowerman Science and Research Committee.
Because of his expertise, Malcolm is involved in every land acquisition and our response to every land use project. He’s brought extensive financial and management expertise to the organization, including the hiring of three different Executive Directors.
What does he enjoy about the volunteer work he does?
“There’s no other organization in Contra Costa County that’s as influential as we are, and I say that with a lot of pride, because we have built that,” Malcolm says.
What is the most challenging project he has worked on as a Save Mount Diablo volunteer?
As Board President, Malcolm was a part of significant organizational change within Save Mount Diablo, helping to guide the organization through several expansions over the decades.
“So organizationally, there were real changes during that period of 15 years. Staff grew, our capacity grew, the number of events we did grew— everything grew,” he said. Moonlight on the Mountain, Save Mount Diablo’s largest fundraising event, started while Malcolm was President.
Is there a memorable experience he has had as a Save Mount Diablo volunteer?
Save Mount Diablo sponsored a project, with Doug Bell (Wildlife Program Manager at East Bay Regional Park District) as lead, to put transmitters on nesting prairie falcons to see what they are doing.
We learned a lot about their foraging habits from these transmitters, and that was information no one else had at the time.
It was very satisfying for Malcolm to get involved with a research project that told us something about not only what’s on the mountain, but its relationship to the other lands that we are interested in.
How does he spend his time beyond his volunteer work with us?
He is an experienced field naturalist who spends his time exploring the parks and open spaces of the East Bay. In the summer, his interests shift to the High Sierra west of Lake Tahoe.
