Meet the Board
Michael Nelson - Club President
I started in bonsai several decades ago with a gift from my parents of a young pine tree, a pot for it and a bonsai book. I didn’t know the first thing about bonsai; had never seen one, never had heard the word, but my folks knew I liked to grow things.
They were right! I immediately joined the local bonsai club so as to get personalized help, and I’ve never looked back. I have taught bonsai basics for years, now, and have a fondness for maples and for California natives.
Gareth Shepherd - Vice President
I was one of the founding members of the club and the second president. I helped organize our first annual bonsai exhibit as co-chair in 1989 (the year of the Loma Prieta earthquake). Between 1987 to present day, I have held several board positions. I am currently the Vice President of the club for 2023-2025. SCBK became a member of the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF), and I was a member of the Board of Trustees for many years. I became chairperson of the GSBF convention in 2010 and 1st and 2nd VP and eventually President of GSBF from 2011-13. I am also a member of the Watsonville and the Monterey Bonsai Clubs. I continue to work on my bonsai trees, offer my assistance to the local bonsai clubs, and help whenever my bonsai experiences are needed.
Elaine Sugasawara - Club Secretary
I started my bonsai journey in October 2019 when I purchased 2 trees from the Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai. I proceeded to kill one of them and decided I better join the club in 2021. I became the assistant editor of the newsletter in 2022 and then the editor in 2023. I joined the SCBK board in 2023 as the secretary. I realized early on that I should have started my journey many years ago, but you start when you start and am enjoying my journey and continuing to learn.
Robert Potts - Program Director
(@roughcutpottery)
I've been "doing bonsai" since 2000 after my wife got me my first tree. I fairly promptly killed it, but started taking classes with Ivan Waters in Chicago, joined the Midwest Bonsai Society and became an officer a year or so later. In 2005 I moved to California and began a part-time apprenticeship with Brent Walston at www.evergreengardenworks.com and was a member of REBS. In 2008 I moved to Santa Cruz and joined SCBK. I was a finalist in the Joshua Roth New Talent in Bonsai Competition in 2010. In 2019 I became an at large officer with SCBK, in addition to being Program Chair, Show Co-Chair and Newsletter Editor.
Marc Shaw - Past President
I first saw a bonsai as a teenager when my Dad took me to his friend’s in Costa Mesa who had a beautiful Chinese Elm on his front porch. Didn’t try it much myself until my work schedule allowed attending our meetings about 25 years ago. I had worked in nurseries before and thru college and had a good basis in horticulture and no background in art at all.
Our club has taught me so much about bonsai and I find there is still so much to learn! I now have 50 trees and as many questions as answers about them. I hope to help the club to continue to grow and look forward to assisting new members with their “bonsai journey.”
Jack Brain - Director at Large
I started bonsai by taking a course with John Uchida in Castro Valley, CA in 2015. I went to the Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai annual show at the Museum of Art & History (MAH) in 2016 and met Robert Stroll. He mentored me in bonsai until the present.
I have enjoyed working on my bonsai trees!
Thomas Rolf - Club Treasurer
I started my bonsai journey when my family and I attended the 2019 Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai (SCBK) Annual Show at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH). We purchased two trees and later won a third at a raffle at the SCBK Annual show.
Over the next few years, I noticed that my trees, while still alive, were not thriving. In 2023, I joined the club and immediately went on a bus trip to the Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) garden at Lake Merritt, and Bay Area Bonsai Nurseries where I purchased my fourth tree. I have now taken several classes offered by the club, and my trees, all twenty of them, are flourishing. After helping out with the Club's By-laws last year, I became Treasurer in January 2026.
Tyler Bailey - Director at Large | Chair of Social Media Committee
I discovered my passion for bonsai in 2022 after attending a class with Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai (SCBK). I joined the club in 2023 and received the SCBK "Power of One" Scholarship to attend workshops at the Golden State Bonsai Federation Rendezvous..
In 2025, I founded BENT, specializing in annealed copper bonsai wire, and now supply bonsai enthusiasts nationwide through GetBentBonsai.com. That same year, I became Bay Area Director for Bonsai Bar, teaching beginner bonsai classes to more than 120 students each month.
