California Academy of Sciences Welcomes Five New Members to its Board of Trustees

SAN FRANCISCO (September 5, 2024)— Executive Director Scott Sampson and Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Janney are pleased to announce the election of five new members to the California Academy of Sciences Board of Trustees. This cohort includes a first for the Academy: Two college students join in the newly created role of Youth Trustee. All new Trustees began their three-year terms on July 1, 2024.

“We are thrilled to welcome five new Trustees to the Academy’s board. It’s especially exciting to bring the fresh perspectives and enthusiasm of two new Youth Trustees to our Board,” Sampson said. “The new cohort also brings deep expertise in media and communications that will further support our efforts sharing the amazing stories about research and regeneration work being carried out by the Academy across the globe and right here in San Francisco.”

The only place in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum under one living roof, the Academy is also home to world-class biodiversity science, environmental education, and community engagement programs that aim to reimagine the relationship between people and the planet.

New Trustees

Priya David Clemens is an experienced media executive and broadcast television journalist who currently serves as communications director for the climate change philanthropy organization Waverley Street Foundation.

She has a storied career in journalism, having worked for several top U.S. media organizations, including CBS News and NBC News, and several local news stations, including KQED, KTVU, KOIN, WVTM, and the Orange County NewsChannel. She has also provided communications guidance for CEOs, politicians, and nonprofit leaders in times of crisis and abundance.

Clemens’ on-camera journalism career began in 2003 as an embedded presidential campaign reporter for NBC/MSNBC Network News. In 2008, she joined CBS Network News in New York as a correspondent and anchor, where she covered lead stories for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and the CBS Early Show, including: the 2008 financial crisis, hurricane devastation, and a series of reports from Malawi, Africa. Clemens later anchored KQED Newsroom for the PBS affiliate in San Francisco. She has received several awards and honors, including Emmy Award nominations and an Edward R. Murrow Award.

In 2012, Clemens founded Seasons Productions, which produced content for local and national commercial, nonprofit, and government clients. From 2014 to 2019, she served as the public affairs director for the Golden Gate Bridge District in San Francisco, managing communications strategy and high-profile public information campaigns. In 2023, Clemens founded Bridge Media Company, which tells the stories of how emerging technology is impacting our lives.

Clemens holds an MA in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California and a BA in anthropology from Westmont College. She loves to hike with her family and dog and is always eager to learn about the natural world.

Will Evers is a managing director at AlTi Tiedemann Global, where he works with clients to understand their objectives and manage their wealth and investment-related matters.

Evers worked at Tiedemann Advisors prior to the transaction that created AlTi and, before that, Presidio Capital Advisors, where he was a partner and managing director since 2009. Earlier in his career, he worked at Bernstein Global Wealth Management in their private client business, and at the investment banking firms Alex Brown & Sons and L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg and Towbin, in the institutional taxable fixed income arena.

Evers serves as chairman of the board of The League to Save Lake Tahoe and co-chairs the Presidents’ Council at The Gladstone Institutes. He holds a BA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Staci Slaughter served as executive vice president, communications and senior advisor to the CEO for the San Francisco Giants, where she oversaw media relations, public affairs, marketing communications programs, crisis communications, and community outreach activities. During her 27-year tenure, she was also responsible for the club’s charitable endeavors, including the 100% Player Participation program and the Giants Community Fund. In 2022, she became a part-time senior executive advisor, overseeing branding and marketing communications for the club’s Mission Rock development—a new $1.5 billion mixed-use urban neighborhood located on a 25-acre site next to Oracle Park.

In 2012, Slaughter received Major League Baseball’s Robert O. Fishel Award for ethics, professionalism and humanitarianism, and was named a Sports Business Journal Game Changer. In 2017, she received a Most Influential Women in Business award from the San Francisco Business Times and was named a Sports Business Journal Power Player.

Prior to joining the Giants in 1996, Slaughter was press secretary to former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan, where she served as his primary spokesperson, media liaison, and speechwriter, and served as the communications advisor to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and California State Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti.

Slaughter currently serves as the chair of the board of trustees of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and joined the board of Bay FC in January 2023. She holds a BS in social sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.

Youth Trustees

Enkhush Amarbal is a fourth-year student at the University of California, Davis, where she is pursuing a BS in ecology, evolution, and biodiversity. In 2023 Amarbal served as a hydrology intern at Yosemite National Park. She is a graduate of San Francisco public schools and an alumna of the California Academy of Sciences’s Careers in Science internship program (2017-2020).

Ahmed Muhammad is a fourth-year student at Stanford University, where he is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computer Sciences. Muhammad has a particular interest in product design and robotics. He is a mentor in Stanford’s EHJ Scholars Program and is Dean for Community Engagement and Diversity. In 2021, Muhammad made history as the first Black male valedictorian in the 106-year history of Oakland Technical High School. He is passionate about equalizing STEM education through social entrepreneurship, community organizing, and volunteerism. He was named a 2021 National Geographic Young Explorer and is the Founder and CEO of Kits Cubed, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to introduce youth to the wonders of science through fun, affordable, and accessible means.