Common Ground Principals
Jeff Loux, Ph.D., is chair of the Science, Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, UC Davis Extension, and adjunct faculty in Environmental Design, UC Davis. He co-directs UC Davis Extension’s Land Use and Natural Resources program and is responsible for more than 120 courses, seminars and conferences each year. He has worked in the public, private and academic sectors for nearly 30 years addressing sustainable planning, urban design, natural resource management, public policy dispute resolution and mediation, and water resources policy. Loux also facilitates and mediates environmental, land use and water policy disputes. He has 10 years of experience as the mediator for the award-winning Sacramento Regional Water Forum as an affiliate of the Center for Collaborative Policy in Sacramento. Other recent facilitation projects include the American River Flood Management Program, Sacramento Riverfront Improvement Project and the Yolo County Water Resources Policy. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters and books, including The Open Space and Land Conservation Handbook.
Carolyn Penny holds a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University and J.D. from the University of San Diego. She has an extensive background in conflict resolution, issue-framing, meeting design, faciliation of multi-stakeholder decision making, organizational planning, mediation, facilitation of public engagement processes, training, analysis and writing. Her clients have included private-sector companies, community grassroots efforts, nonprofit organizations and public-sector agencies. With a certificate in Land Use and Environmental Planning from UC Davis Extension, Penny has facilitated problem-solving on a variety of issues including species recovery, climate change, transportation, education, public health and land use. She was also co-chair of the Environment and Public Policy Section of the Association of Conflict Resolution from 2007 - 2009.
Sharon Hunstman, M.S., has 10 years of experience facilitating and mediating complex natural resource, transportation and land use projects. Her accomplishments include managing the Silicon Valley 2010 visioning project and launching the Sustainable Communities Leadership Program. She has facilitated numerous community change efforts through forums, strategic planning workshops and capacity building initiatives. Huntsman is also an experienced trainer in collaborative problem solving. Her research has centered on evaluating the impact of training civic leaders in collaboration skills.
Julia Lave Johnston is co-director of Land Use and Natural Resources at UC Davis Extension. Her focus areas are in Land Use and Environmental Planning, Green Building and Sustainable Design, Sustainability and the Built Environment, and Conflict Resolution. She also manages the new Sustainability Studies program. Previously she was deputy director for planning policy in the State Clearinghouse and Planning unit of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, where she focused on land use, regional and community planning policy, climate change and interagency coordination. Johnston has also served as a project manager with the Local Government Commission where she worked extensively with local governments and community organizations.
