Leadership and Faculty
Dr. Mari Talkin
Head of School, English
M.A. in English, Brigham Young University; MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts; PhD in Literature and Creative Writing; University of Houston
A career educator, Mari has spent her adult life either being a student, teaching students, or mentoring other teachers. Having grown up in Washington State, she's also lived and worked in Idaho, Utah, Florida, Texas, Maine, and Belgium. Upon moving to California in 2010 to take a position teaching English at Cate School, she fell in love with both Santa Barbara and secondary education, so she's here to stay. A writer and podcaster herself, Mari believes in the power of storytelling to create community and spark ideas and empathy that can shape and heal the world. She's worked as a volunteer tutor for SOLA (School of Leadership, Afghanistan), the only Afghan-led boarding school for Afghan girls, and she's published stories and essays in various periodicals. In her spare time, she enjoys DIY home projects, cooking, reading, and going on long bike rides with her 12-year-old daughter.
mari@anacapaschool.org
Dr. Vicki Collins
Director of Activities, History
Ph.D. History, University of Southern California; MA History, University of Southern California; BA Anthropology, University of Chicago.
A recipient of a NASA Aerospace history fellowship and a Smithsonian Institution Fellowship, Vicki earned her MA and PhD in History from the University of Southern California with specialties in 20th century U.S history; sex and gender; pop culture; and medical history. In addition to her background as a historian, she’s also a journalist focused on lifestyle, culture, and travel. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, and The Los Angeles Times. Vicki is passionate about outdoor adventure, urban exploration, antiquated typewriters, and libraries. She recently moved to Santa Barbara.
vicki@anacapaschool.org
Chris Eckert
Director of Alumni Relations
B.A. History, Westmont College; CA Teaching Credential in Social Science
Chris spent five exciting years as a student at Anacapa, and has returned to Anacapa to teach social sciences and journalism. Chris founded our hiking class, an engineering class, and a BBQ club, in addition to serving as the liaison for Anacapas yearly camping trips. Raised in Goleta for most of his life, Chris chose to stay local for higher education and attend Westmont College. While at Westmont, Chris served as editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper, The Horizon, and went on to work as a sports reporter for local news outlet Noozhawk. Chris completed Westmont College's Teacher Credential Program in 2018, having student taught at both San Marcos Senior High and La Colina Junior High. He is passionate about nature, and one major life goal of his is to visit all 59 United States National Parks.
chris@anacapaschool.org
Samantha Eve
Admissions Director, Performing Arts
Anacapa School Class of ‘03, B.F.A. Drama and Dramatics/Theater Arts, New York University
Samantha, an Anacapa alumna, founded Out of the Box Theatre Company in 2010 with its inaugural production of Reefer Madness. Since then, she has gone on to produce six seasons of contemporary musicals with Out of the Box, receiving Indy Theater Awards for her direction of Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, and The Wild Party. She continues to perform with other companies in the Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles areas, including Color and Light Theatre Ensemble, Elite Theater Company, and SBCC Theater Group. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. When she's not in a theater, Samantha channels her creative energy into cupcake baking for special events through Violette Bakeshop.
samantha@anacapaschool.org
Elyse Grossman
English, Yoga
M.A. Education, University of California Santa Cruz; B.A. English, University of Southern California Santa Cruz
Elyse moved to Santa Barbara in March 2014 from the Bay Area; however, she is a Southern California native. She holds a B.A. in Literature and an M.A. in Education. She has been teaching English for over 15 years and feels grateful to have what she believes is one of the best jobs in the world. When she's not teaching English, you can find her teaching or practicing yoga, hiking or running on one of Santa Barbara's many amazing trails or beaches, reading, or spending time with her beloved family and friends.
elyse@anacapaschool.org
Vera Long
Studio Art, Stop Motion Film
The Ojai Studio Artists' Board Director of Education & Outreach, Fine Arts at Marie Walsh-sharpe Institute, Colorado
Vera Long is a Southern Californian painter, muralist, film blogger and art teacher. She is known for her vibrant figurative work, bold use of color and palpable dynamism. In the past decade, she’s taught sculpture, large scale painting and assemblage, stop motion film production and drawing at over 20 public and private boarding schools, the Besant Hill School of Ojai, and the Putney School of Vermont. She’s travelled extensively through the nomadic territory of Karamoja, Uganda and also through Kyoto, Japan. She’s worked jazz cafés, years as a wild land firefighter, an EMT and truly the most heroic endeavor: raising a family! Long’s art practice is inclusive, interactive and pays homage to both the quietly subtle energies and the unabashedly bold. Her creative empowerment programs support both inner explorations and tactile engagements with societal reference, deep inner history and spontaneous expressive verve. Besides designing large scale murals, doing live painting at concerts and coordinating community wide interactive art events, she's had the pleasure to be the lead painter and set constructor for a stop motion music video for the Shins, “The Rifle's Spiral”.
vera@anacapaschool.org
Brian Lunardi
Dean of Faculty, Mathematics, Science
B.S. Biochemistry, Boston College; M.A. Environmental Science and Management, U.C. Santa Barbara (Bren)
Brian grew up in Massachusetts and received a BS in Biochemistry from Boston College. After spending countless hours in the science lab, Brian found his true interest in the great outdoors. He has worked as a park ranger at several national parks, including Yosemite, Denali, and Glacier. He has also worked as a researcher on wildlife projects with mountain lions in Canada, sea turtles in Texas, and hyenas in Kenya. Brian's passion for the natural world brought him to Santa Barbara to earn a Master's in Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School at UCSB. For the past six years he has shared that passion with students as a science and math teacher at a local private school. In his free time, Brian enjoys getting outside to hike, backpack, kayak, and bike.
brian@anacapaschool.org
Dr. Dylan Minor
Chairman of the Board, Entrepreneurship, Economics
B.A. in Mathematics/ Economics, U.C. Santa Barbara; PhD and Master of Science in Business Administration, U.C. Berkeley (Haas)
Dr. Minor has taught MBA students at Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management. His research has been featured in a variety of media, including: ABC, Academic minute, CBS, Chicago Tribune, CNBC, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, Harvard Gazette, Human Resource Executive, INC.com, NPR (All Things Considered), Quartz, USA Today, Wired, WSJ, and Washington Post. He earned his PhD and Masters of Science in business administration at UC Berkeley (Haas). He graduated Summa Cum Laude from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Mathematics/ Economics. In 2009, he founded Omega Financial Group, a wealth management firm, in Santa Barbara that he still manages today. In 2017, he also founded Argos Global Advisors, a hedge fund based in Santa Barbara. Additionally, he engages in expert consulting for companies, including both large companies and startups. Dylan served as Chairman of the Anacapa Board from 2017-2018 then stepped in to lead Anacapa as Head of School from 2017 - 2022. He returned to the role of Chairman of the Board in 2022. Dylan teaches several course for Anacapa, sharing business economics and entrepreneurship classes he taught while at Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
dylan@anacapaschool.org
Matt Molloy
Music
B.A. in Psychology/Minor in History, U.C. San Diego; Degrees in Composition and Guitar Performance, LA College of Music; Certificate of Completion in Beginning and Advanced Sound Recording and Electronic Music, SBCC
Matt Molloy is a Santa Barbara native, with close to 30 years of solid musical experience. His main instrument is the guitar, but he also has experience playing and teaching the bass and drums. He has worked with numerous bands, helping them with songwriting, stage presence, promotion, booking, recording, producing, and more. Matt is a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers) and has played guitar, bass, and percussion and done songwriting for a variety of projects, including nationally run TV commercials, film trailers, and independent film scoring. He loves to perform and has done so with many different bands. He has toured the country multiple times and played for crowds as small as 15 to as large as 15,000. Matt currently sings lead vocals and plays guitar for his band, People as Machines.
matt@anacapaschool.org
Pedro Pastor
Spanish, Math, Athletics
Pedro is a native Spanish speaker with a passion for math and science. After earning a degree in Biology with a minor in Spanish, he went on to teach high school and junior high school students across the science, math and language departments. Pedro is also an active soccer player and coach and has coached both men's and women's soccer for schools and private soccer organizations.
pedro@anacapaschool.org
Jacob Pepper
Dean of Students, Director of Outdoor Education
B.A. Environmental Science, U.C. Santa Barbara
A native of the Sonoran Desert, Jacob moved to Santa Barbara to pursue his education in Environmental Science and follow his passion for the ocean. For several years, he directed the after-school enrichment program for Monroe Elementary School and additionally spent time in the Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department with youth athletics. In 2006, Jacob opened Full Count Fundamentals, a company focused on supporting youth baseball development for local players. In 2014 Jacob moved on to become the head coach for the varsity baseball team at San Marcos High School. This move and his passion for teaching ultimately guided him to earn his teaching credential in Science, Chemistry, Health and Physical Education. After completing his credential program, he spent two years teaching in the Santa Barbara Unified School District and is excited to be a faculty member of Anacapa. Jacob lives in Goleta with his wife of 14 years, Alisa a local realtor, and their two sons, Jonah and Alex.
jacob@anacapaschool.org
Marine Revel
Administrator, Registrar
In 2011, Marine decided she wanted to see what was beyond the mountains outside her bedroom window in the French Alps. That’s when she discovered Santa Barbara and fell in love with the city. After teaching French to children and adults from California to Australia, her positive attitude and unique experiences have shaped her into someone with whom people can readily connect. Marine’s vibrant energy, reliability, and French charisma are key to the way she treats all members of the Anacapa community.
marine@anacapaschool.org
Diego Villarreal
Spanish, Human Development
Anacapa School Class of ‘15, B.A. Linguistics and B.S. Anthropology, University of California, Riverside
A native Spanish speaker, Diego attended Anacapa School for six years, graduating in 2015. Afterwards, he attended the University of California, Riverside, where he studied Anthropology before discovering his passion for languages and choosing to also pursue a degree in Linguistics. In college, he focused heavily on language learning, taking courses in Italian, French, and Arabic and eventually acting as Vice President for the Student Association for Latino-Spanish Affairs. He’s excited to take what he’s learned about language learning to inspire students to become multilingual. Diego is also passionate about the environment and our local ecosystems. You can often find him hiking, birding, and mushroom hunting on the Channel Islands or our local backcountry.
diego@anacapaschool.org