Malinda Blustain is a retired museum professional and archaeologist. Her research includes analysis of archaeological basketry and cordage at Qasr Ibrim, Egypt, analysis of the American Indian basketry collections at the Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and ethnoarchaeological investigation of proto-Maya ceramics in Honduras. Her museum work was mostly centered on aspects of collections management at three very different institutions, the most significant being collections manager, curator and finally director of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology at Phillips Academy, Andover. After retirement, Malinda and her husband Harvey spent two years in Nepal, teaching in a rural government school and working with the Government of Nepal Department of Archaeology and the local community on a cultural preservation plan for Liglig Kot, an important historic fort nearby. Malinda’s family has deep ties to Eugene, the University of Oregon, and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History – her great grandfather and grandfather were faculty members at UO and her father Howard Stafford was a geologist who worked with Luther Cressman in the 1930s – and she likes to think he would be pleased at her service on the Museum Advisory Council.

Cheryl Crumbley retired in 2017 from her position as Director of Development at KLCC Public Radio. Before that, her career in nonprofit communications and development allowed her to serve the missions of a variety of organizations including FOOD for Lane County, the United Way of Lane County, HIV Alliance, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Cheryl has served on the boards of Tamarack Wellness Center, Oregon Truffle Festival, and the Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene, and she managed the John Crumbley Youth Support Fund, providing funds to minority and at-risk youth for educational purposes. Cheryl joined the Museum Advisory Council in 2019 and looks forward to the opportunity to help in some small way to preserve our past in hopes that it might save our future.

Deana Dartt, PhD is Coastal Chumash and Mestiza, descending from the indigenous people of the Californias. Dartt is the Founding Director of Live Oak Consulting. Her life experience, and professional work has led her to her commitment to confront the incongruities between public understanding, representation and true acknowledgement of Native peoples, their cultures, histories and contemporary lives.

She earned her MA and PhD from the University of Oregon (go Ducks) and has held curatorial positions at the Burke Museum and the Portland Art Museum as well as teaching appointments at the University of Oregon, University of Washington, and Northwest Indian College. She recently completed a writing fellowship at the School for Advanced Research where she revised her book manuscript for publication titled: Subverting the Master Narrative: Museums, Power and Native Life in California. Deana also serves on the board of the Native Coast Action Network.

Sylvia was born and raised in Eugene, and she received her M.A. in Italian and Spanish from the University of Oregon. She is a retired instructor of Italian (UO Department of Romance Languages). She was first introduced to the museum in the mid-1980s by a former student, Patricia Krier, former Director of Public Programs at the MNCH. Sylvia spent six years in Rome working for the U.S. government and studying Italian. She says her involvement with the MNCH has changed her focus from foreign to Native cultures, both within and outside the United States. Reflecting on her years of involvement with the museum, Sylvia says, “I can hardly believe the ascent the museum has made over the years, from the time when the current building was just being built, to the present, when articles on MNCH research regularly appear in major publications.”

Dennis has worked as a professional archaeologist and land use historian throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska over the past 44 years. During that time he has worked for a number of federal and state land managing agencies, private cultural resource management firms, and tribal nations. Dennis earned his MA in Anthropology from Oregon State University in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon in 1999. He served as Oregon’s State Archaeologist from 2002-2020. Since 2020, he has continued his career as Owner/Principal Investigator for Cultural Horizons, an Oregon-based archaeological contracting company. Dennis’s professional interests have focused on ethnoarchaeology and the importance of integrating oral history into archaeology. In his spare time, Dennis is working to document Oregon’s past military history. A passionate photographer, Dennis travels extensively around the globe.

Bill was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in Washington DC, England and Pakistan. He attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington graduating with a BA in History (1967). He went on to earn an MA in Asian Studies. Bill then entered the Navy, receiving language training in Chinese and serving as an officer for four years in the Western Pacific. Following his naval service Bill returned to graduate school, completing an MBA degree and began a career in business – including twenty-one years with NIKE – managing international operations in Italy, Mexico and the Asia/Pacific region. Now retired, Bill spends considerable time in Wallowa County where his extended family is involved with managing a ranch, and where he supports several of the local conservation and cultural organizations. He has been an active supporter of the Kam Wah Chung & Co. Museum and the development of its interpretive center in John Day. He served on the board of directors of Sustainable Northwest from 2006 to 2010. As a member of the MAC, Bill hopes to contribute to increasing awareness and membership of MNCH.

A history scholar with a background in museum and archival studies, Patty came to work at the MNCH in the late 1970s. Over the years, Patty shaped the museum’s Public Programs division into the educational powerhouse it is today, and helped to establish its development program in partnership with University Advancement. As she neared retirement, Patty focused on museum accreditation, helping the MNCH gain full accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums in 2016—a landmark achievement that distinguishes the MNCH as among the very best museums in the nation. Patty has been working with Sylvia Giustina and the Museum Advisory Council since 1989 when it was founded. 

Andy received his bachelor of science in rhetoric and communication from the University of Oregon in 1981. He has worked in financial services since that time and is currently Vice President - Investments at Wells Fargo Advisors, in Eugene. Andy and his wife, Liz, own the Wayfarer Resort in Vida, Oregon, on the beautiful McKenzie River. Andy has been actively involved in his community, formerly serving as board chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters Eugene/Springfield and as president of the Eugene Metropolitan Rotary. Andy is currently a member of the Rotary as well as the McKenzie Watershed Council.  In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing, river trips, hiking, tennis and golf. As a MAC member, Andy seeks to learn more about Northwest natural and cultural history - and especially about the role of rivers in that history. He also looks forward to facilitating river field trips for MAC and museum members.

Lee is a neuroradiologist, trained at the University of Washington and at UCLA.  Before retirement, he was President of Radiology Associates, CEO of Oregon Imaging Centers, and Sacred Heart Hospital Chief of Staff. He has been on the Leadership Council at the UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art for nine years and recently received its Gertrude Bass Warner Award for Service. Lee collects Japanese wood block prints, an interest that began during his service in the U.S. Navy, which included combat action as a medical officer. For fun, and to get outside, he enjoys fly fishing and working in his garden. Lee states that his curiosity about science and museums began in high school, when he spent two summer sessions at the OMSI-sponsored Camp Hancock (in what would become the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument). As a MAC member, he hopes to foster similar Oregon-based experiences for students. 

Marli is a professor, author, photographer, and researcher with a passion for geology. She has been a faculty member of the UO Department of Earth Sciences since 1997. Her research focuses on structural geology, and much of her work is in Death Valley, CA, where she is also involved with tectonic interpretations. She has published numerous papers, designed geologic maps, and is the author of Roadside Geology of Oregon—a book that was the basis of a 2014 exhibit she curated at the MNCH. She is also a geology photographer and writes regularly on her blog, geologictimepics. Marli earned her B.A. in 1982 at Colorado College, and her M.S. (1987) and Ph.D. (1992) at University of Washington (Seattle).

Steve Mital is the founding director of the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Office. He is responsible for the institution’s emissions reduction plan and helping faculty, staff, and students engage productively with social and environmental sustainability issues. Prior to this position, Steve was an instructor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Oregon. While there, he founded and directed the Environmental Leadership Program, which provides undergraduate and graduate students practical experience as consultants to area businesses, agencies, and NGOs.  

Steve spent eight years (2013-21) as one of five Commissioners elected to govern the Eugene Water and Electric Board. In 2021, he was elected to Lane Community College’s Board of Trustees. Steve holds two masters degrees from the University of Oregon.

Steve loves skiing, climbing, rafting, sailing, and biking with his wife and two children.

A retired university professor and corporate executive, Mike Moratto has devoted his career to studies of past environments and peoples in the American West. He is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and past president of both regional and national archaeological societies. He has served on the (California) State Historical Resources Commission, National Science Foundation’s Advisory Panel for Archaeology, and a national panel on museum/Native American relations. He has also directed hundreds of projects involving archaeology and cultural resource management, and has consulted with nearly 30 Indian tribes, throughout the Far West. Since the 1960s Mike has worked with several anthropology and natural science museums—twice as director. Among his numerous publications, California Archaeology (1984, 2004) is perhaps the best known. His latest research has focused on the prehistory of Ancient Lake Cahuilla as well as on early Holocene peoples of California. Mike has approvingly followed the MNCH’s growth since 1966 and has known most of the previous directors, including Luther Cressman and Don Dumond, both of whom served on his Ph.D. committee eons ago.

Christian earned his BS in Public Policy, Planning, and Management from the University of Oregon (2019). He is a Director of Development at the University of Colorado: Anschutz Medical Campus where he fundraises for Cancer Research, Student Tuition, and many other areas impacted by philanthropy. His experience with the museum started with the MNCH Student Club, acting as their Vice President for 4 years encouraging UO Students to explore all that MNCH has to offer and as a student employee interacting with the public and our volunteers.

Martin Pernoll, a native of Summer Lake, Oregon, received his undergraduate education at the University of Oregon and his graduate degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston. His Internship and Residency were completed at the Oregon Health Sciences Center prior to military duty (Major, United States Air Force). He served as the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. After also serving as Chief of Staff for the Tulane University Hospital, he served as Executive Dean at Kansas University’s School of Medicine. After a career of patient care, research, teaching, and administration, Dr. Pernoll retired from medicine in 2000.

In addition to his medical career, Martin’s business background spans commercial real estate, investment and financial planning, cattle and timber ranching in Lake County, Oregon, and consulting.

As a biological anthropologist and behavioral ecologist, Dr. White’s research interests examine the evolution of human sociality using comparative studies of non-human primates. Her research focuses on the complex interplay between ecology, female sociality, and sex-based social and mating strategies in the evolution of social systems. Dr. White conducts research with bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and free-ranging lemurs on St. Catherine’s Island, GA. She directs the UO Primate Osteology Lab which houses the UO Primate Osteology Collection along with the Primate Data Lab.