Preserve Wild Santee has been an all volunteer organization since being founded in 1994. Our accomplishments demonstrate what a group of determined citizens can achieve acting together against powerful financial interests. Here are some of our volunteers that don’t mind sharing the spotlight. To the many volunteers too modest for the spotlight – thank you, your contributions make our success!
Van K. Collinsworth – Founder, Geographer and Director
Van is a geographer with a passion for wildlife, natural lands, intelligent land use and the public interest. Van is the product of a public service family that includes fire, police and military service. Van loves team sports and has played at the collegiate level. Van was a firefighter for the US-Forest Service and does fire prevention work for Cal Fire. He has called Santee home since the 1960’s. He is the founder and director of Preserve Wild Santee.
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Dr. Margaret Field, Professor of American Indian Studies, SDSU
Margaret is a Professor of American Indian Studies at San Diego State University. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include language socialization, language ideology, language documentation and the sociolinguistics and pragmatics of American Indian languages. Her current research focuses on documenting the various dialects of Kumeyaay spoken in Baja California as well as the Ko’alh language (spoken in Santa Catarina, BCN). Margaret was a grassroots campaigner in the successful 2016 Houlahan for City Council election.
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