Board & Governance

Pepper Trail (He/Him), President, Ashland, OR.

Pepper is an ornithologist, conservationist, writer, and photographer. He began watching birds as a boy in upstate New York and traces his incurable love of travel to a family trip to Mexico when he was twelve. He earned his Ph.D. in ornithology from Cornell University, and has studied birds around the world, from the rainforests of Suriname to the islands of Polynesia. He lives in Ashland, where he served for over 20 years as the ornithologist at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory until his retirement in 2021. He is involved in many regional environmental issues, especially the establishment and protection of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Pepper received one of the first awarded residences at Playa, and has been a member of the Playa Board since 2012. He is a regular contributor to Jefferson Public Radio, the Jefferson Journal, and the Writers on the Range syndicated series. His poetry has appeared in Catamaran, Rattle, the Atlanta Review, and many other journals. He is the author of three poetry collections: Flight Time; Cascade-Siskiyou; and An Empty Bowl.

Carolyn Law (She/Her), Vice-President, Seattle, WA, Carolyn’s public art projects range widely ­­ from design team collaborations with designers and/or engineers coupled with extensive interface with agencies and community groups, to artworks integrated into a specific project area. Her award­-winning projects involve a myriad of places – ­ civic plazas, parks, and infrastructure (such as bridges, public transit, wastewater treatment and streetscapes). Her art planning efforts include conceptual and practical outlines for incorporating public art into a wide variety of sites and locations. Civic engagement with a focus on the public arena has also been a priority. Carolyn’s studio work has been shown regionally and nationally. Currently her focus is on drawings as a visual journal of her thinking, interests and research, and temporary sculptural installations in outdoor settings. Finally, she writes on the creative process and public art.

Gayle Erbe-Hamlin (She/Her),, Treasurer, Applegate Valley, OR.
Born on the 100th Meridian, Gayle is deeply connected to western spaces. For many years she has traveled and backpacked all over the Southwest, Great Basin, and Sierra Nevada mountains. She has a deep affinity for the PLAYA landscape and mission. As a director she brings an eclectic background in public service as an administrator in county government and many years working in hospitality as a restaurateur/caterer and innkeeper. She has also worked in R&D as a scientist in forest products. Currently, she is an active member of the Fiber Arts Collective in Ashland, Oregon where she teaches and shows her mixed media work.

Karen Shimamoto (She/Her), Alturas, CA and Reno, NV                          Karen is a fiber enthusiast and follower of natural resources and agriculture in the eastern Sierra Nevada, eastside Cascades, and the High Desert of California, Nevada, and Oregon.  She is a member of the Reno Fiber Guild. The connection of art and science that Playa facilitates for rural, urban and Tribal perspectives will be an exciting new venture for her. The science of landscape, water, wildlife and fire within “the eastside ecosystems” is special and unique. Playa is part of the community within the Fremont-Winema National Forest, where Karen enjoyed her past role as Forest Supervisor. Karen also brings an agriculture perspective to the desert landscape from her family’s organic beef and hay ranch in Modoc County.

Kristin Berger (She/Her), Secretary, Portland, OR                                                        Kristin is the author of six poetry collections and the recipient of residencies from Playa, OSU’s Spring Creek Project (Shotpouch, 2016, and H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, 2012), and Starkey Experimental Forest and Range .She was a member of the nonprofit VoiceCatcher Editorial Collective, which empowers women writers and artists in the greater Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA, and co-edited VoiceCatcher 6 (2011) with Toni Partington. Kristin co-hosted The Lents Farmers Market Poetry Series, bringing over 50 local and regional poets to the Lents neighborhood in Portland. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she received a BA in Creative Writing from Western Michigan University. Kristin has lived in the Portland, OR area, for nearly thirty years, and works as the Executive Assistant for Education Northwest, an educational research and services nonprofit. She is the mother to two children and loves to explore the Pacific Northwest’s wild and interconnected landscapes. She currently contributes poetry for the Writing the Land Project, which pairs poets with nature preserves and wilderness areas. More at kristinbergerpoet.com