Jo Kitz, Co-Executive Director
Working with MRT since 1989, Ms. Kitz manages and protects resources within the Cold Creek Preserves and oversees Commemorative Oaks, a long-term restoration project conducted in Malibu Creek State Park. She has 25 years of naturalist experience within the Santa Monica Mountains. She assisted the Sierra Club group that worked for the establishment of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in 1978, and reactivated the Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. She has been active with the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force, and served as chairperson of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Committee and as secretary of the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. She received a Sierra Club Conservation Award in 1990 and was named “Woman of the Year” in 2004 by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley.
Debra Bruschaber, Co-Executive Director
Mrs. Bruschaber, a Los Angeles native, has over 30 years of experience in the real estate industry ranging from acquisition for master planned developments to natural resource protection, financing and appraisal, and construction. Deb has spent the last 16 years focusing on improving water quality, habitat restoration and acquisitions, eight of which were volunteer status and the balance as staff of MRT. She joined MRT January 8, 2001. She has been the spearhead for the Headwaters Corner at Calabasas project, an environmental interpretive center where MRT is headquartered. In 2007, she headed the restoration of Dry Canyon Creek at Headwaters Corner where over 900 linear feet of restored stream now support numerous aquatic plants and animals. Deb is president of the Calabasas Historical Society. Passionate in her work, she enjoys working with the community towards a more sustainable future.
Susan Haugland, Youth Naturalist Program Director
Susan Haugland has been teaching environmental education to children and adults for 17 years. She holds an AS degree in Resource Conservation Management from Pierce College. Much of her spare time is spent making her own discoveries of native flora and fauna. Her students learn by sensory and hands-on learning and guided self-discovery. "The more dirty they get, the more they learn." She especially likes to work with children because they ask questions that sometimes she can't answer, thereby learning from the children’s innocent perspective. Her goal is to try to increase environmental awareness, which in turn, provides increased stewardship of the Earth. Since 2003, Ms. Haugland has developed and led the Mountains Restoration Trust’s Youth Naturalist Program teaching a wide range of environmental topics to children and adults.