Steve Smallcombe – Board Member  

Steve got his first taste of politics in the Sierra Nevada when his wife Rosemarie ran for Mariposa County Supervisor in 2014 and Steve served as her campaign manager. Rosemarie is now serving her 3rd 4-year term in that position after being reelected in 2022.

       Leadership

A native of Chicago, IL, moved to Three Rivers, MI, at the advanced age of six months! The family settled there, and Steve graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1961. He enrolled at Michigan’s Alma College, from which he graduated with Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry in 1965.

He went from there to graduate school at UC-Irvine, which was brand new when he enrolled. There he received his PhD in Chemistry with an emphasis in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The next stop, first as a post-doctoral student and then as a Senior Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech). From there he moved to Palo Alto, where he worked for thirty-three years for a major manufacturer of scientific instruments.

In late 2006, after decades in Silicon Valley, Steve and his wife, Rosemarie, retired and made the move to the Sierra foothills—first to their vacation home in Pollock Pines and then to their dream “green” home in Mariposa, not far from Yosemite National Park. There they have become active in several community organizations.

Steve got his first taste of politics in the Sierra Nevada when Rosemarie ran for Mariposa County Supervisor in 2014 and Steve served as her campaign manager. Rosemarie is now serving her 3rd 4-year term in that position after being reelected in 2022.

Steve recently served as the President of the the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and currently serves as the Chair of the Upper Merced River Watershed Council, and the Chief Technical Officer of the Mariposa Biomass Project. He is also the Chair of the Mariposa County Democratic Central Committee. 

Steve has supported Sierra Forward for many years as he appreciates Sierra Forward’s sensible policies and support for candidates for political and non-political offices who avoid extreme or divisive political positions. We all work together to support our communities in the Sierra.