Susan Sorrells grew up in Shoshone, California as a member of the Fairbanks Brown pioneer family. She graduated from Smith College and after college worked for Senator Kuchel in Washington, DC under the direction of Leon Panetta. This position led to a job as a community worker for the Cornerstone Project in Atlanta, Georgia. She left Georgia for the Peace Corps and worked as a school teacher and community worker in Liberia, West Africa. She then attended UCLA where she got a Master’s Degree in African Studies. After living in Europe for several years she returned to her home in Shoshone. She has been involved in many conservation groups and was the founding member and president of the Amargosa Conservancy. She also was the founding member and wrote the grant for the establishment of Death Valley Health Center. In addition, she was the founding member and president of the Death Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Shoshone Museum. She, and her husband, own and operate the town of Shoshone. Their goals are to integrate nature and wildlife into the “development” of the village. Their strategy for economic sustainability is developing and promoting ecotourism.

Lee Adams is a founding member of the Lake Tecopa Yacht Club and a lifetime member of the Death Valley Natural History Association.  With a seasonal cabin outside Shoshone, Lee lives in the Sierra County gold rush era community Downieville and currently serves on the Sierra County Board of Supervisors.  He previously served as the Sierra County Sheriff from 1988 to 2007.   In June of 2018 he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown as a member of the State Historical Resources Commission.  His husband, Stuart Lauters, serves on the board of the Shoshone Museum.

Janet Foley is a veterinarian and researcher at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine. She was one of the original members of the Amargosa vole ad hoc team and has been working closely with agencies, local residents, non-profits, and other stakeholders in the Mojave region who are committed to conserving the amazing biological and cultural local resources. She grew up in Maine in a very rural community and some of her most formative experiences were shared time in the wilderness with her father who was an avid hunter and fisherman. As a mom and a citizen of the world, she is laser-focused on helping craft a healthy planet that next generations can inherit and love. In the Mojave, she finds much magic. She is enormously fond of Ash Meadows, the China Ranch date farm, the Shoshone swimming pool, the pass through the Nopahs on the Old Spanish Trail, the coyotes on the playa in Tecopa Hot Springs, the Amargosa niterwort, and the little rodents out in our local marshes.

For Thirty-five years, Matt was employed as a Federal Wildland Fire Fighter. He served as Fire Staff Officer for the Inyo National Forest and Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office. Most recently, Matt was elected to three terms as Inyo County 5th District Supervisor, retiring in 2024.

Matt has worked as a direct supervisor, manager, administrator, and elected official, working with a diverse workforce in a variety of situations.

Matt had this to say as far as what he brings to the FAB Board of Directors: “My background serving as staff level management for the United States Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as a local elected official in a county that is influenced and important to five National parks and Monuments, gives me a unique perspective in how public policy influences gateway communities as well as other jurisdictions.”