Jim Felton was born in 1945 in San Francisco, California. His father had close connections at the University of California, Berkeley, where Felton went on to study zoology as an undergraduate. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1967, he attended SUNY Buffalo where he received his PhD in 1973, worked at the National Institute of Health from 1973 until 1976, and then moved back to the Bay Area to work at Lawrence Livermore Lab. He became involved with Save Mount Diablo and served as a land steward, chair of the development committee, and later board president. In this interview, Felton discusses his early life, interest in the outdoors, education and career, raising two daughters, involvement in Save Mount Diablo, experience as a land steward, importance of the development committee, wife’s involvement with Moonlight on the Mountain, relationship with Save Mount Diablo staff members, the importance of board diversity, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the organization, and the significance of engaging with the environment.