Museum Open Daily • 10am – 4pm
Museum Open Sat & Sun • 10am – 4pm

Advancing the CIC Mission

The Guides of our Mission

Our board members bring diverse expertise and a shared passion for preserving and sharing the natural and cultural heritage of the Washington coast.

Our Dedicated Directors

Each CIC Board member serves a two-year term renewed at our annual October membership meeting. If you're interested in advancing the mission of the CIC, you can express interest any time by emailing our Board President.

Jean Stevens

Jean Stevens

President

jstevens@interpretivecenter.org

Jean Stevens is currently the president for the Coastal Interpretive Center’s Board of Directors. Jean’s professional background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, 40 years as a Registered Nurse, a Master’s degree in Business Administration and 28 of her professional years in administration of hospital nursing, critical care and kidney dialysis. Jean and her husband Vince began coming to Ocean Shores in 1981. As time moved on, they were living and working in Spokane, but bought their second home in 1984 in Ocean Shores. Through their work and relocations to Alaska and Portland, Ocean Shores has always been their consistent home center of beach and local social enjoyment. This included many visits to the Center to learn and understand some of the wealth of information available. Jean joined the board in 2014 and has served as treasurer for 7 years. She is pleased to give volunteer hours to the treasurer’s position and any other Center needs.

Bruce Rittenhouse

Bruce Rittenhouse

Vice President

brittenhouse@interpretivecenter.org

After retiring from over 30 years of service with the federal government Bruce moved to Ocean Shores to enjoy the natural resources of the Olympic Peninsula and Washington Coast.  Bruce was raised in Oregon and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Oregon State University in Botany and Plant Pathology and a Master’s Degree from Idaho State University in Plant Ecology and Zoology. During Bruce’s career with the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service in Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and finally Washington D.C. where he was a manager for the wildlife, fisheries, and wild horses and burros. Now that Bruce is retired he enjoys gardening, fishing, hiking, birdwatching, and camping while doing volunteer work for several organizations.  

Beth Olszak

Beth Olszak

Treasurer

bolszak@interpretivecenter.org

Beth was a huge fan of the TV series Here Come The Brides. This devotion contributed to her relocation to the Great Northwest after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. Beth has worked as a restaurant manager, domestic violence advocate, payroll & HR manager. She retired from corporate life as an employee benefits account manager specializing in complex self-funded clients. Beth’s Third Act began when she moved with her mother to Ocean Shores in 2021. She started volunteering at the Coastal Interpretive Center in 2022. She loves being a cheerleader for the center. She hopes her curiosity, passion, whimsy will help advance the goals of this wonderful organization.

CJ Griffiths

CJ Griffiths

Secretary

cjgriffiths@interpretivecenter.org

C.J. grew up in the Puget Sound area, learning from an early age about the beauty and value of environmental diversity of the Pacific Northwest. After leaving to pursue educational and professional goals, graduating from Carleton College and Mitchell Hamline School of Law, he and his husband eventually returned to the area, joining the Ocean Shores community in 2021. A regulatory attorney by profession, he loves living in the relaxing atmosphere of the Washington Coast while continually learning more about the plants, animals, and environmental forces that make it so unique.

Susan Wright

Susan Wright

Board Member

swright@interpretivecenter.org

I am a retired Kindergarten teacher.  We came to Ocean Shores as weekenders in 2007 and I became a nearly full time resident in 2014 when I retired.  I have always wanted to live by the sea, and developed a strong interest in Marine Biology during my teaching career.  I volunteered at the elementary school for two years. We had visited the CIC as adults and have toured it with our grandchildren.  Education, Marine Biology, and taking care of the amazing environment we have in Ocean Shores are very important to me.

Nancy Eldridge

Nancy Eldridge

Board Member

neldridge@interpretivecenter.org

Nancy moved to the North Beach area in 1999 to take on a Forestry position with the Quinault Indian Nation.  She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the University of Washington in Silviculture and Forest Management. As a life-long nature and outdoors lover, she joined the CIC Board in 2010 to help promote the education mission and work with our local kids to “get their hands on nature.” She is most interested in seeing the Center grow into a world class interpretive center and a targeted destination for visitors from all over. Nancy retired from her Forestry Manager job in April 2016 and now plans to devote much more time to the Center’s long term mission and vision.

Cathey Peterson

Cathey Peterson

Board Member

cpeterson@interpretivecenter.org

Cathey and her husband, Bob, moved to Ocean Shores after retiring 10 years ago. They both found Ocean Shores to be “a great little town by the sea” and wanted to do their part as community servants, so they jumped into volunteering “pretty much on day one,” according to Cathey. Cathey and Bob both value education and believe it is the key to success, so she volunteered at the Elementary school as a reading tutor, with the Kiwanis to help provide scholarships to local seniors continuing education, and as a member of the North Beach School Board. “I have always felt the Coastal Interpretive Center is an undervalued asset to our community, so when the opportunity came up to join the team, I felt it was a great fit for me,” Cathey said of her decision to join the Board. She added, “I look forward to a partnership with the schools to teach our kids the importance of the whole region historically, environmentally, and ecologically.”

Gill Cambers

Gill Cambers

Board Member

gcambers@interpretivecenter.org

Educated in the UK, Gill has a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in environmental sciences. She has worked to apply her environmental science background to international sustainable development, working and living in countries around the world, mainly small islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean. In 2011 she moved her attention to climate change issues, living in the Fiji Islands and working with other Pacific Islands to help them adapt to the challenges of climate change. Moving to Ocean Shores in January 2024 to be nearer her family in Tacoma, she finds a true home in CIC, where she can share her passion for environmental education and conservation with youth and communities in this region.

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Discovery

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Community

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Our Sponsors

Too Cool Sports
4th Grey Gull
Foreset Service Department of Agriculture
Unmatched Reliability Vaughan
Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union
Sierra Pacific Industries
Bank of the Pacific
Seabrook Washington
Foss
Timberland Bank
Coast Communications
Friends of Nisqually
Oyhut Bay Seaside Resort
SeaBrook Community Foundation
1st Security Bank
KeyBank
Maritime Washington National Heritage Area
Grays Harbor Community Foundation
Weyerhauser
Unforgettable Grays Harbor
Grays Harbor County Marine Resource Committee
Rose Foundation
National Forest Foundation
State of Washington Tourism
City of Ocean Shores Washington
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Too Cool Sports
4th Grey Gull
Foreset Service Department of Agriculture
Unmatched Reliability Vaughan
Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union
Sierra Pacific Industries
Bank of the Pacific
Seabrook Washington
Foss
Timberland Bank
Coast Communications
Friends of Nisqually
Oyhut Bay Seaside Resort
SeaBrook Community Foundation
1st Security Bank
KeyBank
Maritime Washington National Heritage Area
Grays Harbor Community Foundation
Weyerhauser
Unforgettable Grays Harbor
Grays Harbor County Marine Resource Committee
Rose Foundation
National Forest Foundation
State of Washington Tourism
City of Ocean Shores Washington
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Too Cool Sports
4th Grey Gull
Foreset Service Department of Agriculture
Unmatched Reliability Vaughan
Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union
Sierra Pacific Industries
Bank of the Pacific
Seabrook Washington
Foss
Timberland Bank
Coast Communications
Friends of Nisqually
Oyhut Bay Seaside Resort
SeaBrook Community Foundation
1st Security Bank
KeyBank
Maritime Washington National Heritage Area
Grays Harbor Community Foundation
Weyerhauser
Unforgettable Grays Harbor
Grays Harbor County Marine Resource Committee
Rose Foundation
National Forest Foundation
State of Washington Tourism
City of Ocean Shores Washington
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Too Cool Sports
4th Grey Gull
Foreset Service Department of Agriculture
Unmatched Reliability Vaughan
Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union
Sierra Pacific Industries
Bank of the Pacific
Seabrook Washington
Foss
Timberland Bank
Coast Communications
Friends of Nisqually
Oyhut Bay Seaside Resort
SeaBrook Community Foundation
1st Security Bank
KeyBank
Maritime Washington National Heritage Area
Grays Harbor Community Foundation
Weyerhauser
Unforgettable Grays Harbor
Grays Harbor County Marine Resource Committee
Rose Foundation
National Forest Foundation
State of Washington Tourism
City of Ocean Shores Washington
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office

Name

Executive Director
email@interpretivecenter.org