Board of Directors

Liz Shoemaker

BOARD CHAIR

Liz began volunteering with Camp Omni in 2012, and has served on the board since 2013. She teaches science to 7th, 8th, and 9th graders in the Sacramento area, and especially loves astronomy and biology.

Max Podowski

Vice Chair

Ross Blocher

Secretary

Ross Blocher has been a Program Staffer and now Program Director at Camp Omni SoCal, and a regular member of the Curriculum Development Task Force. Ross is co-host of the popular investigations podcast Oh No, Ross and Carrie! in which he investigates fringe religious groups, alternative medicine, and spirituality – all so you don’t have to. He has been an investigator since 2006 with the Independent Investigations Group in Los Angeles, examining and testing paranormal claims. You’ll find him at a number of secular and skeptical groups around the greater Los Angeles area, including Sunday Assembly and CFI-West.

Professionally, Ross works at Disney Animation Studios as a Training Project Manager, and loves that atmosphere of creativity and inspiration. He’s also a fan of reading, running, hacky sacking, movie watching, and the number 47. His son, Andrew, joins him each year for camp, now as a counselor!

Monica Waggoner

Treasurer

Jess Witchley

Board Member

Jessica Witchley began volunteering at Camp Omni in 2013. Over the years she has had various roles, including curriculum development in the off season and Program Director during camp. One of her primary goals in life is to foster a sense of scientific enthusiasm in people of all ages.

Outside of camp, Jess is a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Gregory Barton’s laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a transplant from upstate New York who moved to the Bay Area for her PhD and decided to set down roots. She received her bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from MIT and her PhD in Genetics from University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on understanding the dynamics of host-pathogen interactions.

Megan Pike

BOARD MEMBER

Joel Layton

Board Member

Former President of Atheists of Utah and Salt Lake Valley Atheists and co-founder of Utah Coalition of Reason (UCORE). Atheist since three hours after conception and an Atheist-in-a-foxhole veteran who grew up in a Freethinking household. Now retired and writing unpublished novels with his son and three stepdaughters, and wife.

Art Markarian

BOARD MEMBER

Sitar Harel

Board Member

Erin Borland

BOARD MEMBER

Rachel Falk

BOARD MEMBER

Arelle Taylor

BOARD MEMBER

Kathryn Paez

BOARD MEMBER