NCI’s board is made up of scientists, academics, and entrepreneurs who bring a high level of commitment to the conservation of our planet’s biological and cultural diversity.

Ivan Gayler, Founder and Chair
Ivan is the founding President and Chairman of the Board of Nature and Culture International. Since 1997, NCI has led efforts to establish millions of acres of tropical forest reserves in Ecuador, Peru, and Mexico; including the creation of a 2.5 million acre UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the tropical Andes, 4.5 million acres of Regional Reserves in the Amazon rainforests, and over 100,000 acres of tropical dry forest.
Ivan has served as President of the San Diego Museum of Man and as a Member of the Director’s Cabinet of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

David Welborn, Vice-Chair
David is a retired clinical psychologist who has done much to support NCI’s private land conservation, particularly in Mexico and South America. He has also helped the environment through his work within The San Diego Foundation’s Environment Working Group, where he and his wife manage a donor advised fund. Furthermore, David is president of San Diego Coastkeepers, an organization dedicated to cleaner water in San Diego’s bays and beaches. He has been with NCI since  it’s inception and has been involved in governance, project oversight, and strategic direction.  He also serves on the board of directors of a family company, Hunter Industries. David received his PhD in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego. He is an avid outdoor enthusiast, kayaker and traveler.

Sally F. Davidson
Sally is the Chairman of the Board of Clyde’s Restaurant Group of Washington DC, where she has provided significant support through sponsored benefits and meals to benefit many of Washington’s conservation organizations. She has lifelong interest in river conservation, currently serving on the Board of Potomac Riverkeeper, and in the past for many years on the Board of American Rivers. She is a member of Rachel’s Network.

John Gartman
John Gartman is a committed environmentalist with a longtime love of rainforests, ecosystem preservation, and the oceans. He is Chairman of the Foundation Board of San Diego Zoo Global. He is also a lawyer, electrical engineer, and business entrepreneur. He is Chair of Gartman Law Group and in 2009 California Lawyer Magazine awarded him the prestigious California Lawyer of the Year Award.

David Neill
David has resided in Ecuador since 1985, where he has been carrying out floristic projects, providing technical training for Ecuadorian botanists, and assisting in the institutional development of the National Herbarium of Ecuador (QCNE). In the past David has served as director of the Jatun Sacha Foundation, a private non-profit Ecuadorian organization engaged in conservation of natural habitats, biological research, and environmental education. Neill’s taxonomic interest is in the bean family, Fabaceae. During the first half of 1997, Neill resided in St.Louis to work on the treatment of Fabacae for the Catalog of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. In the past year he has carried out field work jointly with Ecuadorian botanists from QCNE in various parts of the country and taught a course in biodiversity at the public university in Quito.

Doug Sheres
Doug is a partner in the investment firm Rice Hall James & Associates. He is a former mayor of Solana Beach and is active in a variety of community organizations. As a committed environmentalist, Doug has contributed his vision and expertise to the strategic direction and success of NCI for many years.

Charles J. Smith
Charles is a serial entrepreneur having founded four companies and one foundation. He is perhaps best known for developing the royalty-free licensing model for digital images which today accounts for over 95% of worldwide image sales. Charles also started Knowledge Factor, a company that pioneered the instructional model called Confidence-Based Learning, which demonstrably accelerates learning and enhances long-term retention. He has served on the Director’s Cabinet at Scripps Institution, the world’s oldest and largest organization devoted to understanding the dynamic between land, ocean, and atmosphere. Charles co-founded the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, a charitable organization based on the principles of America’s distinguished biologist, Edward O. Wilson, and dedicated to global conservation and biological understanding.

Ann Hunter Welborn
Ann is a native Californian who has spent most of her life in Southern California near her beloved ocean, to which she claims a “pathological attachment” nearly as deep as that for her  granddaughters, Harper and Kampbell. Since 1981, Ann has been involved in the family business, Hunter Industries, a leader in irrigation control products, taking one break to raise three daughters, and to earn a PhD in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology. She has been deeply involved in several local community organizations, including Nature and Culture Intl., the Lux Art Institute, Cal State San Marcos, and several national organizations, including Rachel’s Network and the Sonoran Institute. Ann can often be found outdoors, hiking or biking in exotic places and paddling on the bay with her husband of more than 30 years.

David J. Winkler
David J. Winkler is the CEO of Del Mar Partnership, Inc. He is a lawyer, real estate broker, and a graduate of Tufts University and the University of San Diego School of Law. David serves as the Chair of the Pediatric Diabetes Research Center at the University of California, San Diego, which he founded. He is on the boards of the UCSD Foundation, the Melvin Garb Foundation, and the Scripps Whittier Institute for Diabetes. David was Volunteer of the Year for the Combined Health Agencies Drive (CHAD). In 2011, the San Diego Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) honored him, Del Mar Partnership, Inc., and the PDRC for his work in diabetes. Mr. Winkler serves or has previously served on the Coastal Community Foundation, the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy and several other non-profit and government committees. He is a lifetime member of the Sierra Club.