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Our Board of Directors

Please click on a name to read the biography.

President

Tina Thomas

Vice President

Michelle Johnson Cobb

Treasurer

Ryan McDermott

Secretary

Ayelette Robinson

Director

Kevin Arrigo

Director

Maria Perno Goldie

Director

Bharath Shashikumar

Director

Susan Walsh

Biographies

Tina Thomas
Tina has been actively involved in educating the public about their role in the preservation of wildlife for most of her life. She has been a docent at Ano Nuevo for the past 22 years and recently returned from South Africa where she worked in a Baboon sanctuary. She has spent time at Heifer International in Arkansas, learning about helping people out of poverty through the gifting of animals. Currently, she also volunteers at the Oakland Zoo, educating the public on the preservation of wildlife. Tina began her relationship with Wildlife Rescue as a volunteer in 2005 after her investment firm was sold. She believed so strongly in the mission of Wildlife Rescue, that she joined the Board shortly after.
With her corporate skills, Tina’s goals are to continue to strengthen and fine tune WRI as a professional organization and help build the Clinic as a resource to both local and out-to-state wildlife organizations.

Michelle Johnson Cobb
Michelle is currently Senior Director of Product Marketing at LogLogic, and has held marketing director positions at three other technology companies. Ms. Cobb has over 15 years of experience evaluating new business opportunities, developing market introduction strategies, and leading teams to launch successful high-tech products and services. Ms. Cobb received her MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and a B.S. Computer Science from University of Michigan.

Ms. Cobb has been a volunteer mentor at BUILD, a non-profit organization that uses real-world entrepreneurial experiences to encourage youths from under-resourced communities to excel in education and succeed professionally. Ms. Cobb is also a strong supporter of the Sierra Club and over the past 10 years has actively participated in local grass-roots efforts to preserve threatened wilderness areas. In her spare time, Ms. Cobb is an outdoor enthusiast and photographer who loves to capture nature and landscape scenes during hiking and climbing excursions.

Ryan McDermott
Ryan has been a lifelong advocate for animal well-being and environmental conservation. He has volunteered with such groups as the Humane Society, the San Francisco SPCA and the Washington Animal Rescue League. Ryan currently works at Goldman Sachs, which he joined in 2004. Ryan holds an MBA in Investment Management from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Arts with high honors and distinction in Art History and Religion Studies from Kenyon College in Ohio. Ryan is married to Dr. Margaret McDermott DVM, and together they have one wonderful son.

Ayelette Robinson
Ayelette became a Clinic and Education Team Volunteer for Wildlife Rescue in 2006. Recognizing the organization’s invaluable contribution to the community, Ayelette joined the Board soon thereafter to help Wildlife Rescue accomplish its mission.

Ayelette has an A.B. in Ethnomusicology from Brown University and a J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School. After spending some time in private legal practice, she is now part of the knowledge management group at an international law firm. Ayelette grew up near Boston, Massachusetts with several birds, dogs, guinea pigs, and fish, and now lives in the Bay area with four rescued cats.

Kevin Arrigo
Kevin moved to Palo Alto in 1999 to take a job as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University as a biological oceanographer. Now that he has been awarded tenure, he would like to devote some of his free time to work with organizations dedicated to helping wildlife.

An animal lover all his life, Kevin attended the University of Michigan, where he received his B.S. degree in Natural Resources. After graduation, he worked for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as a fisheries biologist studying native fish populations in the lower Great Lakes. After a few years, he decided to continue his education, so he moved his family out west to attend the University of Southern California, earning a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences. For his dissertation, he studied the ecosystem that resides within Antarctic sea ice. After graduation, he moved back east to Maryland, where he worked as a biological oceanographer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, focusing on Antarctic marine ecology.

Since arriving at Stanford, he has continued to study Antarctic marine ecosystems, including the population dynamics of Adele and Emperor penguins, and has expanded the scope of the research to include the Arctic and the Red Sea. Currently, he is the Director of the new Graduate Program in Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences.

Maria Perno Godlie
As a health care professional, my career has been spent helping humans attain and maintain health, while developing my professional skills. I am a dental hygienist, speaker, educator, researcher, and Editor-in-Chief of a dental hygiene publication, Modern Hygienist. I have held many leadership positions in various organizations, and am currently the Vice President of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists (IFDH). I have been a board member of the Dental Health Foundation for 10 years, the organization that helps the dentally underserved.

My love of animals prompted me to respond to the request for board members of Wildlife Rescue, Inc. As a graduate of the Leadership Fellowship of the California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF), I have developed competencies beyond clinical proficiency. The CHCF Health Care Leadership Program is an intensive two-year fellowship that offers clinically trained health care professionals the experiences, competencies, and skills necessary for effective vision and leadership of our health care system. I believe I can use these skills to assist Wildlife Rescue, Inc in its future goals.

In addition, I have had the good fortune of meeting and working with numerous individuals in various walks of life. I believe that I can be of service in the area of public relations and fundraising for Wildlife Rescue, Inc. My goals would be to increase the visibility of Wildlife Rescue, Inc and ensure its successful future.

Barath Shashikumar
Bharath is seeking his first time board membership and is driven by a love of animals and passion for their cause. He possesses extensive experience working in various leadership roles for large-scale technology corporations. He is adept at addressing strategic as well as tactical issues associated with people, process and technology. Previously Barath has worked as a volunteer for various non-profit charitable organizations in the bay area. He also possesses leadership experience in variety of functional roles and can effectively apply his experience and expertise to a broad set of leadership issues.

Susan Walsh
Susan has been a Board Member since April of 2005. Before coming to Wildlife Rescue, Susan taught environmental education with the Marine Science Institute in Redwood City. Susan attended University of Oregon and received a B.S. in both Biology and Environmental Studies. She also has a Master’s in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. While Susan was in college she volunteered with the Willamette Wildlife Center rehabilitating local wildlife in Eugene, OR. As the Director of Education for the Board, Susan would like to update the curriculum to meet with California State Science Standards. This will allow teachers to use the Wildlife Rescue presentation as part of their science curriculum.