Carmel Owls' Parliament

Paul Falworth

Founding Member,
Chief Owl Officer (COO)

Paul is a founding member of Carmel Owls, a community volunteer, and a former Silicon Valley tech marketing executive now based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He is known for his leadership in local environmental and civic initiatives across the Monterey Peninsula.

At Carmel Owls, Paul personally designs and builds each owl platform, intentionally over-engineering them to withstand decades of coastal wind, rain, and sun—ideally lasting 30 years or more in all weather conditions. With a steady backlog of adoption requests, he visits every prospective site to evaluate the tree’s structural suitability, surrounding habitat conditions, and the homeowner’s commitment to long-term stewardship.

Aside from Carmel Owls, Paul leads a volunteer Tag Team for Carmel Cares dedicated to maintaining the town’s aesthetic by removing graffiti and unauthorized stickers from public and private signs. He operates under the motto: “No stickers, no flyers, no graffiti — no exceptions.”

He is a member of Carmel-by-the-Sea VIPS (Volunteers in Police Service), where he typically serves in uniform at the Thursday Farmers Market. Paul also leads the Radio Communications team for Carmel CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), responding to storm, flood, fire, and missing-person callouts across the Monterey Peninsula.

Beyond Carmel, Paul has organized environmental cleanup efforts worldwide. He has coordinated the removal of washed-up fishing nets from beaches in the Andaman Islands (India) and Gili Air (Indonesia), cleared truckloads of plastic debris from island shores in Utila and Roatán (Honduras), and supported cleanup initiatives in the Himalayan village of Malana, India — hiring local crews, porters, and transport teams to amplify the impact of each project.

During his Silicon Valley career, Paul worked at eight high-tech startups implementing the Marketing and Sales tech stacks. He was part of the business team that delivered broadband to Earth through @Home Network; supported Molecular Dynamics in advancing automated DNA sequencing technologies; and worked with Navio, a rights-based commerce company whose technology later evolved into platforms that deliver streaming content such as Spotify.

An avid adventure traveler, Paul has visited more than 70 countries, from Tibet to Madagascar to Papua New Guinea and to the Amazon rainforests. He has completed over 120 skydives from military and civilian aircraft, more than a dozen bungee jumps worldwide, including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, flown as a hang glider pilot (including teaching cliff launches at Lake Pillsbury, California), ridden high-performance sport motorcycles at the Laguna Seca racetrack in California, and taught triple-wick, fire staff spinning from Burning Man, Nevada, to Sri Lanka to Cambodia.

Paul holds a B.Sc. Honours degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Southampton, England, and has held jobs with IBM Sales in England and California.

As Creative Director, Paul founded Quest Assignments, a Silicon Valley brand agency delivering award-winning campaigns for clients including Verizon, NFL television commercials, and Times Square interactive digital billboards for Lexus.

The dedicated volunteers who power Carmel Owls are known collectively as our “Parliament.” In the world of owls, a group is traditionally called a parliament—a term rooted in mythology and literature that reflects the owl’s long association with wisdom. The phrase traces back to ancient Greek connections between owls and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and later to 15th-century traditions of colorful collective animal names.

While owls are usually solitary hunters, when several gather to roost it can look as though they are convening a quiet meeting—much like a parliament. In that same spirit, the Carmel Owls Parliament brings together volunteers with diverse skills who work behind the scenes to support owl habitat, education, and conservation across the Monterey Peninsula.

David Bee

David is a member of the original Carmel Owls parliament. He’s helped expand safe nesting habitat for great horned owls across the Monterey Peninsula. His work centers on connecting people, places, and practical conservation — helping communities see how small, thoughtful actions can support local wildlife.

David brings a steady, hands-on approach to the organization’s field efforts and enjoys the mix of observation, problem-solving, and collaboration that the work requires. Serving as Foreman for Carmel Owls, David oversees the precise setup and safe operation of the organization’s 22-foot towed lift during owl platform installations. He supervises the extension of the hydraulic outrigger legs and confirms the machine is properly auto-leveled on uneven terrain. Only after the lift is fully stabilized does David transfer boom controls to the bucket operator in a deliberate, safety-first sequence.

Prior to each installation, David reviews proposed sites to evaluate ground conditions, tree access, overhead clearance, and safe ingress and egress. Particular care is taken when staging near busy corridors such as California State Route 1, where equipment placement and exit strategy must account for active traffic.

David is particularly drawn to the quiet intersection of human neighborhoods and wild places, where a single well-placed effort can create lasting habitat. When not working with Carmel Owls, David spends much of his time outdoors on the Peninsula, exploring the landscapes and ecosystems that make the region unique.

Founding Member,
Foreman

Terry Dahl

Terry serves as the Safety Officer for Carmel Owls, overseeing all on-site safety protocols during owl platform installations that often take place 35 feet above ground using a cherry picker. She carefully monitors the surrounding environment to protect nearby homeowners, passing traffic, parked vehicles, and curious neighborhood pedestrians who inevitably stop to watch the lift in action. Terry remains alert to the reality that bark, small branches, tools, or debris can fall — or even be carried 20 to 30 feet by coastal winds. She manages perimeter control with fluorescent traffic cones, STOP and SLOW signage, and a whistle at the ready, ensuring the boom arm does not swing into active traffic lanes. Her vigilance keeps both volunteers and the public safe during installations.

Terry is a retired first-grade teacher who dedicated nearly 30 years to nurturing young learners in the early elementary grades. Known for patience, creativity, and an unwavering belief in every child’s potential, Terry built classrooms filled with curiosity, structure, and joy. Generations of students benefited from a foundation rooted not only in reading and arithmetic, but in kindness, confidence, and character.

A resident of Carmel-by-the-Sea for over 50 years, Terry, along with her husband Roger, raised two children in their Carmel home and remains deeply rooted in the community. In retirement, she is also an active advocate with Power Over Parkinson's, supporting awareness and outreach efforts for those living with Parkinson’s disease. At home, she enjoys the companionship of her beloved pug, Rocky.

Through decades of service in education, dedicated volunteer safety leadership, and ongoing advocacy, Terry continues to exemplify quiet strength, responsibility, and commitment to the community.

Founding Member,
Safety Officer

Nicole Parker

Nicole serves as Carmel Owls’ Drone Operator, capturing dynamic aerial footage that transforms each owl platform installation into a cinematic experience. Her low coastal flights skim above crashing waves before sweeping upward into the treetops, where platforms perch high above the landscape. From dramatic shoreline vistas to precise approaches into coastal pines and cypress, Nicole’s perspective is anything but ground-bound — her drone moves freely through air and light, revealing angles impossible from below.

She documents the full choreography of installation day: the cherry picker being carefully towed into position, the steady beeping as hydraulic auto-leveling legs deploy, and the long boom arm extending skyward toward the canopy. From 35 feet above ground, her lens captures close-up moments as the bucket operator secures each owl platform to the tree. The result is immersive storytelling — sweeping, technical, and intimate all at once — that vividly brings the precision, height, and excitement of every Carmel Owls installation to life.

Beyond her aerial artistry, Nicole is a devoted nature enthusiast who feels most at home in the mountains, along the ocean, and across open valleys. She has traveled extensively, lived in Europe, and spent significant time catamaraning and snorkeling among the islands of French Polynesia. Her connection to wild places informs both her creative work and her volunteer spirit.

Professionally experienced in finance, Nicole also serves as a practicing minister who performs outdoor weddings throughout the Monterey Peninsula and in iconic landscapes such as Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe. An avid hiker, skier, and backpacker, she is also PADI-certified in scuba diving. Whether in the air, on the trail, or at the water’s edge, Nicole brings a deep reverence for nature and a spirit of adventure to everything she does.

Founding Member,
Drone Operator

Brandi Gerteis

Brandi brings craftsmanship and precision to Carmel Owls by laser-engraving the Carmel Owls insignia and corporate sponsor logos onto each owl platform’s cedar shingles, creating a lasting and professional mark of stewardship. Her expertise ensures every platform carries a durable, beautifully finished identifier that recognizes both conservation efforts and community support. With a sharp editorial eye, Brandi also reviews website content, newsletters, and press releases—catching typos and refining language with exacting standards.

Brandi’s cherry picker experience comes from airplane de-icing operations in Nebraska during snowstorms, freezing rain, and sleet. Working at heights of around 45 feet—high enough to reach the top of the vertical stabilizer on Boeing 737 narrow-body aircraft—she operated from a bucket lift spraying heated glycol under pressure onto critical flight surfaces. The work required precision, calm under pressure, and endurance in freezing temperatures and strong winds, ensuring aircraft, passengers, and crews could depart safely. With that background, Brandi is more than ready for cherry picker bucket duty, installing owl platforms.

Brandi runs her own design business, Nonsense and Co., through Etsy.com where she creates and personalizes home décor and custom art. She previously served as Executive Secretary to the Deputy Chief of the Omaha Police Department, where she managed administrative duties, documentation, and departmental coordination—experience reflects her strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and commitment to public service.

Team Member

As Communications Advisor, Peter drives accuracy and production quality across Carmel Owls’ web, press, and video outreach, finessing AI-powered text-to-speech and lifelike animal video PSAs to educate Monterey County residents about the dangers of rodenticide use.

A Los Angeles–based, multi-Emmy Award–winning re-recording mixer, Peter operates his own studio, Before Noon Post, where he integrates advanced loudness and compliance workflows—meeting stringent standards such as the CALM Act—using tools including Nugen Audio. His distinguished credits include work on the TV shows Futurama, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Northern Exposure, and Max Headroom, where he has been recognized for precision mixing and broadcast-compliant loudness mastery.

Peter also supports Carmel Owls’ future 24/7 live owl nest webcam initiative, bringing his technical expertise to the design of a reliable remote streaming system. The project incorporates modern IP video protocols such as RTSP, enabling continuous live streaming of nest activity directly to online platforms. The system is designed to capture true-color nighttime video, allowing viewers to observe owl behavior even after dark rather than relying on traditional infrared black-and-white imagery.

To ensure reliable connectivity in remote habitats, the camera system will use compact satellite internet links, such as Starlink Mini units, to transmit the live stream to the internet. Cameras will be carefully mounted above and to the side of the nest platform, providing a clear viewing angle while minimizing disturbance to the owls. The result will be a 24/7 window into Great Horned Owl life, giving the community and local classrooms a rare opportunity to watch nesting, feeding, and fledging behavior in real time.

Peter Cole

Founding Member,
Communications Advisor

Diana Wahler

Diana serves as the Traffic Crew Officer for Carmel Owls, ensuring traffic flows safely around owl platform installations while the cherry picker and crew work roadside. She monitors approaching vehicles from both directions—typically at least 150 feet depending on vehicle speeds, and significantly farther when operating near Highway 1 or while towing the picker between sites. Diana also wears a second safety hat as the Boom Bucket Observer, carefully watching the bucket's movement to help the operator avoid overhanging branches or hidden limbs that could pose hazards during installation. Her vigilance on the ground and eyes on the boom help keep both the crew and passing motorists safe during each platform deployment.

Diana also serves as a Volunteer in Police Service (VIPS) with the Carmel-by-the-Sea Police Department, walking her beat weekly in uniform through the Village, down to Carmel Beach, and along Scenic Road beside its stunning white-sand shoreline. In this role, she meets and greets visitors and residents alike, answering questions and helping people find their way around town. Her favorite question is, “Which way is the beach?”—to which she sometimes replies with a smile, “Just up this hill a little ways.”

As an active Median Minder with Carmel Cares, Diana and her wife maintain a roadside median by removing debris and planting flowers and shrubs, ensuring they flourish year-round—even while competing with determined gophers. In addition, Diana is a member of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and is always ready to assist during severe storms, firefighter rehabilitation operations, missing-person searches, and beach closures related to shark activity or tsunami warnings in neighboring communities.

Diana also enjoys traveling, hiking, and geocaching, with upcoming plans for a trip to Alaska to help a friend clear brush (and look for moose calves) and a trip to Iceland, where there will be more daylight hours to play.

Traffic Crew Officer, Boom Bucket Observer