PRBO Science, Outreach, Administration, and Development Staff (listed alphabetically by last name)

David Adams, Executive Assistant, (707) 781-2555 ext. 321
David came to PRBO in 2011 after migrating to Marin from the Mission district of San Francisco.  His work with PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), the Sierra Club, and Earthjustice helped him prepare for life at PRBO.  Originally from the Chicago area, he spent many a childhood afternoon perched on a shed in the corner of his woodsy suburban yard with binoculars glued to his face, looking for resident and migrant birds.  David tries to be as minimalist as possible but does love collecting bird books and travels as much as possible to have an excuse to bird here and abroad—and to acquire more field guides.  He has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois, has lived in San Diego, Berkeley, and Osaka, Japan.  David enjoys gardening, cycling, hiking, and keeping track of the various birds and other critters around his home in Novato, which he shares with his husband, Michael, their daughter, Eliana, and two rambunctious pups, Rascal and Pogo.  He is delighted to have seen the rare African Finfoot—twice—while traveling in The Gambia.

Emily Allen, Assistant STRAW Restoration Manager, (707) 781-2555 ext. 360
Emily has spent many of her early and subsequent years exploring the creeks of Sonoma County. Her interest in environmental restoration was sparked while mapping an invasive tree species in dense thickets of Himalayan blackberry. Distressed by the lack of native vegetation and tangle of invasive species, Emily sought a path that would allow her easier access to explore and to help heal riparian habitats. This path led to an internship with the STRAW Project in 2004, which which morphed into her current position as Assistant Restoration Manager. Emily joined PRBO in 2011 with STRAW.  She has also worked as a literacy tutor with AmeriCorps, and a UC Reserve System Steward intern. Emily earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University in 2004.

Lishka Arata, Conservation Outreach and Field Station Education Coordinator, (707) 781-2555 ext.354
Lishka is a native of San Francisco and grew up mostly in Northern California, enjoying its outdoor wonders at a young age.  She graduated from Humboldt State University in 2003 with a B.S. in Biology and joined the PRBO team in 2004 as a bird banding intern at the Palomarin Field Station in Bolinas, CA.  She has worked as a field biologist in PRBO's San Francisco Bay Tidal Marsh, Central Valley Riparian, and Northern Sierra Forest projects.  Outside of her work with PRBO, she has conducted Marbled Murrelet surveys in Southwest Oregon, Yellow-billed Cuckoo monitoring in Southeast Arizona, and plant (tropical liverwort) research on the Island of Trinidad.  In 2007 Lishka migrated from field biology to conservation education to disseminate PRBO's science to various audiences and help inspire the current and next generation of conservation scientists and environmental stewards.  

Melany Aten, Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist, 530-934-4601 Ext: 121
Melany is the Partner Biologist located in the Willows Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office. She obtained her degree in Wildlife Management Ecology and Conservation with a strong background in Rangeland and Forest Management and Conservation from University of Nevada Reno. She has always held jobs which keep her working in the outdoors. She previously worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service collecting information on small mammals and invasive species throughout the Great Basin in Nevada. She has worked in laboratories, greenhouses and in remote field locations. Melany has also assisted on projects for Black bear capture and relocation, Mountain Lion tagging and prey identification, Wood duck tagging and many other wildlife inventory and land use studies. She also has a strong background in livestock management and handling and has worked and lived on working cattle ranches in Nevada and California. She lives and works in Glenn County, CA.

Regina Ball, Coastal Program Biologist

Regina joined PRBO in 2011 to lead the Snowy Plover research on Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Grant Ballard, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer  (707) 781-2555 ext.340, gballard at prbo dot org 
Originally from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Grant joined PRBO as a volunteer at the Palomarin Field Station in 1991 and has worked on a wide array of PRBO projects in many roles since then. As Chief Science Officer, Grant is responsible for overall leadership and coordination of PRBO’s scientific activities. Grant has a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Auckland and a BA in English from Cornell University. With more than 50 scientific publications, his research primarily explores the effects of landscape-scale environmental stressors on ecosystems in western North America and the Ross Sea, Antarctica. 

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Kerri Beeker, Major and Planned Gifts Officer
Kerri joined PRBO in 2012.  She brings valuable perspectives from 10 years of experience working with non-profits and consulting firms in Boston and Washington DC.  Kerri has developed transformational fundraising events and programs for non-profits that build relationships with funders to expand support of mission and awareness of vision.   Her experience in leading diverse teams that expand outreach, ignite business and impact sustainable growth is substantial. Kerri, her husband and two young sons live in Napa County.  In her spare time Kerri enjoys gardening, traveling and spending time with her family.

Ryan Berger, Farallon Program Biologist 
Ryan joined PRBO in 2010 to be the lead winter biologist responsible for monitoring northern elephant seals and other important wildlife on the Farallon Islands. 

Russell Bradley, Senior Scientist, Farallon Program Manager, (707) 781-2555 ext.314
Russ Bradley grew up in British Columbia, Canada and graduated with a BSc in Biology from Simon Fraser University in 1998. After conducting seabird ecology field work at the Farallon Islands, Nova Scotia, and the northwest Hawaiian islands, he returned to SFU's Centre of Wildlife Ecology for his MSc with Fred Cooke. His thesis work focused on the breeding ecology of radio marked Marbled Murrelets in coastal British Columbia. Russ joined PRBO in January 2002 and his research interests include the effects of life history strategies and environmental variability on seabird population ecology.

Kathleen Brown, STRAW Faculty Manager
Kathleen was an elementary classroom teacher for 15 years before becoming an Assistant Principal and Principal.  She has a Masters in Curriculum Development from SSU. She was a Special Education Director and has coordinated a district program for the gifted. Kathleen has served as a district mentor to new teachers and was involved in the Teacher Learning Cooperative in Marin as well at the Critical Thinking Project.  She joined the STRAW Project in 2006 and joined PRBO with STRAW in 2011.  Her main responsibility is to coordinate the STRAW Faculty in the development and implementation of classroom presentations and activities to support watershed restoration work. She also works with the Youth Watershed Challenge Project as a curriculum specialist and evaluator. In addition to working with STRAW, Kathleen is a ceramic artist and runs her own home business.

Ryan Burnett, Sierra Nevada Group Director
Ryan came to PRBO in 1997 as an intern and has studied birds on the Farallon Islands, San Clemente Island, Midway Atoll, and throughout Northern California. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of California, Davis. His current projects include studying the ecology and conservation of birds on actively managed National Forest lands in the Sierra Nevada. Specific projects are designed to help guide management of chaparral, aspen, hardwood, and meadow habitats in an adaptive management framework. Additional, projects include monitoring songbird response to riparian restoration and the conservation of Blue Oak Woodland birds in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.
 

Lee Callero, Payroll/Accounts Payable/HR, (707) 781-2555 ext.332

Brent Campos, Northern Sierra Nevada Project Leader
Brent received a B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology in 2005 from the University of California, Davis, and is on track to obtain his M.Sc. in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University in late 2011. His Masters focuses on the habitat relationships and movements of Black-throated Blue Warblers on Jamaican coffee farms with respect to biological control of coffee pests. Post UC Davis, Brent worked as a technician across the lower 48 acquiring skills in telemetry, bird banding, and surveying for sensitive and elusive species. While in graduate school, he worked seasonally as a crew leader for PRBO, as a point count technician for the U.S. Forest Service and Humboldt State, and for the Klamath Bird Observatory creating data visualization tools in program R. Brent has keen interests in bird and wildlife habitat ecology, avian migration ecology, population connectivity, Yellow-billed Cuckoo ecology, the intersection of water policy and habitat management, and using ecosystem services as a tool for conservation. Brent is currently working on projects that monitor avian response to forest management in the California Cascades and Sierra Nevada.

Karen Carlson, Staff Accountant, Grants and Contracts Specialist 707-781-2555 ext 350.  
Karen’s BA from Mills College in History /Philosophy did nothing to dampen her lifelong ardor for the dependable elegance of accounting.  She joined PRBO in 2011 after a varied career, most recently devoted to the fiscal side of non-profit social service.  An avid hiker and wave rider, she is particularly delighted to support PRBO’s conservation mission.  She moonlights as the coach of the Wildcats, a wiffleball team composed of adults with developmental disabilities, and spends her free time coaxing her friends and her three grown children to join her in the ocean, and on the trails of West Marin. 

Renée Cormier , Avian Ecologist, (415) 868-0655 ext.316
Renée joined PRBO in 2002 working on several terrestrial and education/outreach projects throughout California. Recently she has been working on riparian landbird projects in the Central Valley, and on the Northern Spotted Owl project in Marin County. Originally from eastern Canada, Renée received a B.Sc. from Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

Mark Dettling, Ecologist, (mdettling at prbo dot org)
Mark first came to PRBO in 2006 as an intern for the Tidal Marsh project. After a couple of internships at the Palomarin Field Station, he began his current work on the Least Bell’s Vireo project in California’s San Joaquin Valley. He has also volunteered out on Southeast Farallon Island during the fall season. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, then decided to change his focus and earned an M.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University. Mark developed his passion for birding in Michigan, where he was born and raised.

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Ryan DiGaudio, California Partners In Flight Coordinator, Ecologist
Ryan first came to PRBO in 1996 as a saltmarsh project intern in the terrestrial program.  Since then, he has worked on a variety of PRBO research projects, including songbird monitoring in the Central Valley, Snowy Plover monitoring in Monterey Bay, and fall banding on SE Farallon Island.  He graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Studies/Biology in 1995 from the University of California, Santa Cruz and later earned an M.S. in Resource Ecology and Management in 2003 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  Ryan is currently a terrestrial ecologist and the California Partners in Flight coordinator.  He is particularly interested in restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat on private lands throughout California.

Dave Dixon, Snowy Plover Biologist
Dave received a B.S. in Biology from San Jose State University in 1976.  He Became a California State Park Ranger in 1975 and worked in Santa Cruz Mountains then on Monterey Bay State Beaches. There in 1979 he met PRBO biologists studying snowy plovers. Since 1993 he led State Park staff with PRBO biologists to protect snowy plover. In 2007 he retired from State Parks, joined PRBO and has continued with intensive monitoring and management efforts to protect breeding Snowy Plovers in Monterey Bay.

Meredith Elliott , Senior Scientist, ACCESS Program Biologist and Lab Manager, (707) 781-2555 ext.304
Meredith Elliott came to PRBO in 1999 as a volunteer on the Farallon Islands. She earned a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of California, Davis in 1996 and an M.S. degree in biology (concentration in marine biology) from San Francisco State University in 2005. She has investigated the Double-crested Cormorant colonies inhabiting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. She has also monitored the California Least Tern colony at Alameda Point, Alameda (the former Naval Air Station) and investigated Least Tern diet and prey availability in the San Francisco Bay.  She is currently researching zooplankton communities (particularly krill) in the Gulf of the Farallones and examining the effects of varying oceanographic conditions on krill and other important zooplankton taxa.

Megan Elrod, PRBO Librarian; Biologist
Megan first came to PRBO in 2009 and spent a year as an intern at the Palomarin Field Station. She returned in 2011 as the Librarian and to conduct surveys on the state-endangered California Clapper Rail in the tidal marshes of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. Besides work at PRBO, Megan has spent quality time in the field conducting research on Phylloscopus warblers in Siberia, Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens in Western Australia, and Rusty Blackbirds in Alaska. Megan grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and received her B.S. in Biology from Milligan College in East Tennessee.

Jenny Erbes,  Biologist
Jenny first started working for PRBO full time in 2003 on the Monterey Bay Snowy Plover Project. In 2002, in her joint position with California State Parks and the US Fish and Wildlife Service Salinas River Refuge, Jenny assisted with habitat management and plover monitoring in collaboration with PRBO. Prior to that, Jenny conducted internships at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory and the Alaska SeaLife Center.

Ken Etzel, Eastern Sierra Project Leader
Ken received his B.S in Natural Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2000 and received his Masters in Biology from Northern Arizona University in 2010.  His Masters research explored the affects of an exotic crayfish on the diet and productivity of Common Black Hawks.  His career began as a nest searching and banding intern with the Klamath Bird Observatory in 2002, where he became a certified NABC trainer.  He has since worked on various projects throughout the western states including extensive research on Yellow-Billed Cuckoo ecology in Arizona.  During his time in the Southwest he developed a passion for desert riparian ecosystems.  This passion combined with his lifelong love for mountains led Ken to the Eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley.  He joined PRBO in 2011 as a project leader in this area of the Sierras.

Carleton Eyster, Snowy Plover Biologist

Michael Fitzgibbon, Chief Technology Officer, (707) 781-2555 ext.309
Since joining PRBO in late 2007, Michael has built the California Avian Data Center website (http://www.prbo.org/cadc), as well as a suite of applications for managing and accessing avian data at PRBO and their partners.  Prior to coming to PRBO, Michael spent over 20 years in software development, working most recently at Intuit on the new Quicken online products.  He also helped form Autodesk's GIS Market Group, and worked at ESRI as a member of the Arc/Info development team and developing custom applications.  Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and a Masters of Landscape Architecture from University of California at Berkeley.

Alissa Fogg, Biologist, (530) 903-4830
Alissa is a biologist with PRBO’s Sierra Nevada program and helps coordinate the Sierra Nevada Management Indicator Species project in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service in addition to advising Sierra meadow restoration projects. She first came to PRBO in 2005 as an intern with the Tidal Marsh project and spent a season exploring dry washes with PRBO’s Sonoran desert program. Alissa received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Guilford College in 2001 and M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Humboldt State University in 2009. She has spent the last 7 years studying landbirds in the Sierra Nevada with an interest in montane meadows, fire ecology and conifer forest management. Alissa lives in Placerville and is busy developing partnerships focused on Sierra oak-associated birds and conserving their habitats.

Nancy Gamble, Director of Individual Giving (707) 781-2555 ext.324
Nancy came to PRBO in May of 2005 with over 20 years of development experience. Nancy was the Director of Donor Development for the Northern California Division of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she raised significant funds for cancer research, and launched a new fundraising program that raised over $2 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Nancy worked closely with the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Chapter and recruited the first Board of Directors for the San Jose Chapter. In 2002 Nancy relocated to California from Chicago, Illinois. While in Chicago Nancy worked for a medical center where she was instrumental in raising funds for a new digital cardiac catheterization laboratory, a new emergency room, new oncology center, and several other projects.  At PRBO Nancy currently works with individuals and family foundations to raise funds for PRBO’s priority science initiatives. Nancy also assists donors with estate planning and oversees membership and events.

Thomas Gardali, Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group Director, (415) 868-0655 ext.381
Tom grew up in California's Great Central Valley. He earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1992 and has been an ecologist for PRBO since 1993. His research interests are conservation oriented and range from natural history to restoration to the effects of habitat succession and climate patterns on birds.

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Doug George, Snowy Plover Biologist
Doug received a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.  After volunteering for several years on PRBO’s Monterey Bay Snowy Plover Project he joined PRBO in 1989 to continue working on this long-term study.  Since 2002 he has been involved with an intensive monitoring and management effort to protect breeding Snowy Plovers and California Least Terns within a state park in San Luis Obispo County.  Focused interests include development of adaptive management strategies to support sustained recovery of the federally threatened Snowy Plover and endangered California Least Tern in central coastal California. 

Geoffrey R. Geupel, Emerging Programs and Partnerships Group Director (415) 868-0655 ext.301
Geoff has over 23 years of experience in ornithological monitoring and conservation research. Geoff has a B.S. in Biology from Lewis and Clark College and has authored over 30 publications, many which have helped define bird-monitoring protocols throughout North America and Mexico. He has worked closely with private, state and federal agencies in California and other Western states to assess the impact of land management practices and restoration efforts on landbird populations. Geoff has taught numerous technical workshops on bird monitoring and conservation planning. He oversees 8 program areas including projects in The Great Valley, Eastern Sierra, Intermountain west shrub steppe, the Sierra Nevada, Latin America, and oak woodland and desert regions of California, that employ over 40 field biologists annually. He is currently co-Chair of California Partners in Flight, head of the Science Committee of the Riparian Habitat Joint Venture, member of the California State Steering Committee of the Intermountain West Joint Venture, technical committee member of the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, board member of the Sonora Joint Venture and member of the National Cowbird Advisory Council and International Important Bird Area Technical Committee. Geoff currently lives in Bolinas with his wife of 20 years Janet Kjelmyr and his two daughters and is a director on the Mesa Park Board.

Leia Giambastiani, Native Plant Restoration Specialist, STRAW Project, Outreach and Education Group, (707) 781-2555 ext 363
Leia grew up in the Sonoma County countryside and was fascinated by plants and wildlife from a young age. She graduated in 2000 with an Environmental Science degree from Humboldt State University and has a varied background including working on an organic farm in Italy, insect trapping, working as a naturalist and performing waste audits.   Leia has focused on native plant restoration and environmental education since 2002. She joined PRBO in 2011 with STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed).  Through a partnership between PRBO Conservation Science and the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge she has been working to restore salt marsh to upland transition zone vegetation around the bay. She participates collaboratively in Bay Area Early Detection Network, Ecotone Vegetators Group, and the Native Nursery Network. 

Michelle Gilbert, San Joaquin Valley Avian Ecologist, Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group, mgilbert at prbo dot org
Michelle joined PRBO in January 2011.  Prior to her arrival, she received her BS in Biology from the University of Central Florida and her MS at the University of Wyoming, where her thesis work focused on sagebrush songbird responses to energy development.  She has worked on research projects in a variety of ecosystems, from the Caribbean to the Intermountain West.  Here at PRBO, her work focuses on the protection, restoration, and enhancement of an array of priority conservation areas for migratory and resident birds in California’s Central Valley, through the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership.

Wendell Gilgert, Working Landscape Program Director, (530) 592-3380
Wendell is a Great Valley native and comes to PRBO from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) where he had a 34-year career and most recently served as the Western Region Wildlife Biologist and NRCS Partners in Flight (PIF) representative based in Portland, OR.   Wendell brings to PRBO an incredible wealth of knowledge on wildlife issues, habitat conditions and how to promote conservation with private landowners (also known as producers). He is leading the new Rangeland Watershed Initiative that intends to help re-water California watersheds. He works out of his home office in Chico, California. 

Carlie Henneman, Ecologist
Carlie is the lead scientist at PRBO's new TomKat Ranch Field Station.  She obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology from Whitman College in Washington State and holds a master's degree from University of Minnesota where she studied habitat associations of Red-shouldered Hawks. She has had numerous positions in various parts of the country that focused on wildlife, conservation, and the outdoors.  These include an AmeriCorps position in Portland, OR, studying forest birds and avian malaria in Hawaii, and environmental education in Alaska.  Prior to working with PRBO Conservation Science, she was studying the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the Kern River Valley of CA.  Carlie continues to pursue her interest in using science to inform conservation efforts.

Catherine Hickey, Program Director, Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group, (415) 868-0371 ext.307
Catherine first came to PRBO from the University of California Santa Cruz as an intern in spring 1993. In winter 1993/94 she began working as a biologist on the Pacific Flyway Project, surveying shorebirds throughout the west. She has led Snowy Plover monitoring projects at multiple inland and coastal sites. After completing her M.S. in Conservation Ecology at the University of California Davis and working at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences on the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, she returned to PRBO as the Southern Pacific Shorebird Conservation Coordinator. Catherine currently is an active leader at the national level with the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, serves as Chair of the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Council, and represents the shorebird initiative on the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Committee.

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Julie Howar, Coastal Program Biologist and GIS Specialist, (jhowar at prbo.org), (805) 735-7300
Julie Howar, Seabird Biologist and GIS Specialist, joined PRBO's seabird program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2004. She received her bachelor's degrees in Aquatic Biology and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara, and her master's in Applied Geography with a minor in Wildlife Science from New Mexico State University. Prior to coming to PRBO, Julie worked on Marbled Murrelet habitat use and radio telemetry projects, created a GIS-based habitat suitability model for Aplomado Falcons, and volunteered for the California Raptor Center, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, and Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.

Diana Humple, Avian Ecologist and PRBO Banding Coordinator, (415) 868-0655 ext.386
Diana started as an intern with PRBO in 1996 working with Loggerhead Shrikes in shrubsteppe habitat in Oregon. She has since been involved in a variety of projects, predominantly focused on landbird monitoring and with an emphasis in intern training. Her main roles today include: 1) project lead for various Bay Area landbird projects, including the Palomarin Field Station; 2) banding coordinator, managing banding data and permits for the organization; and 3) coordinator of PRBO's oil spill response and preparedness efforts. In 2009 she received a Master's Degree in Biology at Sonoma State University studying genetics and oil spill demographics of Western and Clark's Grebes. 

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Jaime Jahncke, PhD, California Current Group Director, (jjahncke at prbo dot org), (707) 781-2555 ext.335
Dr. Jaime Jahncke joined PRBO in 2004. He received his B.S. in Biology from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru (1992) and his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of California Irvine (2004). Jaime's doctorate research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. George L. Hunt Jr. studying how physical processes associated with coastal waters affect the abundance and distribution of marine birds in Peru and Alaska. Previous work included 5 years as lead seabird research biologist at the Peruvian Marine Research Institute (IMARPE) where he focused on using seabirds as indicators of fish abundance and distribution. Jaime's current research focuses on the spatial and temporal relationships between oceanographic processes, zooplankton, and marine birds and mammals in the region surrounding Cordell Bank and the Gulf of the Farallones to better understand food web dynamics, identify predictable hotspots, and improve ocean zoning in support of Ecosystem Based Management in the region. Jaime is the lead Principal Investigator for the Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) Partnership between PRBO, NOAA’s Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries and several agencies and academic institutions. He currently participates on both Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries Sanctuary Advisory Councils (Primary for Cordell Bank and alternate for Gulf of the Farallones). Jaime lives in Rohnert Park with his wife Carolina and his son Keanu.

Scott Jennings, Avian Ecologist, (415) 868-0655 ext.302
Scott joined PRBO in 2005 after finishing an Environmental Studies and Biology degree at UC Santa Cruz. He began as a songbird nest monitoring intern at the Palomarin Field Station. Continuing to work with passerines, in 2009 he also began working with Spotted Owls in Marin County, and with Adelie Penguins on Ross Island, Antarctica. Scott grew up amongst the redwoods and wild coasts of southern Humboldt County, in northern California. There he spent his summers going to work with his park ranger father in the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, developing a love for all things outdoors. Scott lives in Bolinas, and spends his free time surfing, hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, reading, and observing nature. 

Dennis Jongsomjit, GIS Specialist
Dennis escaped from the jungles of Los Angeles to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Conservation Biology from the University of California, Davis. He came to PRBO in 2001 as an intern nest searcher at the Palomarin field station. At Palomarin he worked on the creation of a guide to aging altricial nestlings to help better our understanding of factors affecting nest success. He is now a GIS specialist and biologist, focusing his efforts on landscape and climate change factors affecting bird distributions.

Marilyn Kihara, Controller (707) 781-2555 ext.352

Heather Kurland, Office and Facilities Manager, (707) 781-2555 ext.311
Heather's propensity towards facilities management came at a young age.  At four she alphabetized her mother's spice cabinet, and by six she had color coded her father's filing cabinet.  A long history of dotting i's and crossing t's, she is pleased to be part of the extraordinary PRBO team.  Prior to joining PRBO, Heather worked as the business manager for an ecological cabinetry design firm, a union carpenter and the Facilities Manager for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  Over the years, she has been actively involved in conservation, volunteering with such organizations as the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory and the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance.  And, it must be noted that she has exceptional handwriting.    

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Chris McCreedy, Biologist
Altered forever by the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, he has since worked in the Chihuahuan, Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran, and Antarctic deserts. Chris leads PRBO’s  projects in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, as well as the Mono Basin Willow Flycatcher project at Mono Lake.  Chris led the effort to create the California Partners In Flight Desert Bird Conservation Plan.

Sherie Michaile, PhD, Programmer, (707) 781-2555 ext. 336
Sherie came to PRBO in 2010 to embark on a new career in web development and programming after sojourns into the worlds of pharmaceutical development and chemistry education.  Sherie holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a doctorate in Chemistry.  She enjoys swimming in the bay, surfing, painting, and playing with her dog.

Jamie Miller, Coastal Program Biologist
Jamie joined PRBO in 2011 to participate in Snowy Plover research on Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Doug Moody, Web Specialist

Stella Moss, Biologist
Stella came to PRBO in 2005 to work as a nest searcher on Mono Lake’s tributary streams. She has returned to the Eastern Sierra every season since and now leads PRBO’s Eastern Sierra projects. She coordinates studies in Sagebrush, Aspen, Pinion Pine and Riparian habitats. Stella has a B.A. in Outdoor Experiential Education and Natural History from Prescott College.

Kriss Neuman, Biologist
Kriss Neuman has been a Biologist with PRBO since 1996. She received her B.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1993. Prior to joining PRBO, Kriss studied seabird reproductive biology in Alaska and Maine and shorebird migration in the Midwest. Since 1996, Kriss has been responsible for monitoring nesting success of snowy plovers in central and southern Monterey Bay. In 2003 she completed an M.S. in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University where her thesis work focused on the effect of predator management on reproductive success of snowy plovers. Kriss’s primary interests are snowy plover conservation and management, ecology of sandy beach shorebirds and the impacts of human disturbance on shorebirds.

Sandy Neumann, STRAW Professional Development Manager
Sandy joined PRBO with the STRAW Project in 2011.  She has been part of STRAW since its inception at Brookside School in San Anselmo, CA where she served as principal. She has been involved in environmental education in a variety of capacities including building and facilitating teacher networks, Director of Education at the Center for Ecoliteracy, and facilitating the planning process for a new national environmental education school for educators in Forth Worth,Texas. She is currently responsible for the professional development of teachers and serves on the Youth Watershed Challenge Project team.

Nadav Nur, PhD, Quantitative Ecologist, (707) 781-2555 ext.301
Nadav works with our long term data on landbirds and seabirds. Research interests include developing and applying new statistical methods to the study of bird demography and development of population models to study the impact of toxic spills on bird populations. He shares an avid interest in folk dancing with his children Alana and Rafi, and his wife, Linda.

Melissa Odell, Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist (209) 966-3431
Melissa joined PRBO in February 2013 in a partnership position with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Mariposa County.  She works with NRCS staff to provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners under NRCS Farm Bill habitat conservation programs, focusing on improving wildlife conservation and habitat quality on rangelands, forests and mountain meadows of the Sierra foothills.  She completed a B.S. in Wildlife Management & Conservation from Humboldt State University in 2005, and a M.S. in Avian Sciences from University of California, Davis in 2009, where she studied waterbird response to wetland management in the central San Joaquin Valley.  Melissa has worked in a wide variety of habitats, gaining experience in conservation and management of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, including threatened and endangered species of California.  Her research interests include avian and amphibian conservation, habitat management, and conservation of open spaces.  

Gary W. Page, Principal Scientist, (415) 868-0371 ext.309
Gary came to PRBO in 1971 from his native Canada, where he had studied shorebirds as part of his job as warden of Long Point Bird Observatory. During his tenure at PRBO his work has included an ecological study, focused on shorebirds, of Bolinas Lagoon; a long-term study of the geographic distribution, status, life history, and population ecology of the Snowy Plover in central California; waterbird surveys of Point Reyes wetlands; the assessment of the effects of several major oil spills on marine bird populations; a large study of the distribution and abundance of shorebirds in wetlands west of the Rocky Mountains; and currently with other researchers at PRBO, an intensive study of bird use of San Francisco Bay wetlands.

John Parodi, STRAW Restoration Manager, (707) 781-2555 ext. 359
John spent most of his childhood either working in his family’s almond orchard in California’s Central Valley or exploring the rivers and wetlands of the Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains just east from home.  These experiences led him to a life-long fascination with the critical role agriculture plays in ecosystem health and the quality of life here in California and beyond.  John joined the STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed) Project in 2000, and PRBO in 2011.  As Restoration Manager, he has provided leadership and science expertise to STRAW’s habitat restoration projects with students, teachers and community members on public and private landscapes.  John received a B.S. in Fermentation Science from the University of California, Davis in 1996 and a California Single Subject Teaching Credential with CLAD emphasis in Biology from Dominican College in 2000.

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Claire Peaslee, Editor PRBO Newsletter
Claire produces PRBO's quarterly journal, The Observer, as well as other member publications. She has been on PRBO's communications staff since 1985, having served as a volunteer field biologist since 1977. Claire is also a graphic designer, naturalist, and public radio speaker; she appears occasionally on Sedge Thomson's NPR program "West Coast Live" and has her own natural history show on KWMR, West Marin's community FM station.

Melissa Pitkin, Outreach and Education Group Director, (831) 423-8202
Melissa holds an M.S. in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University. Melissa has worked for PRBO Conservation Science since 1997 as both a field biologist and as the director of PRBO’s Education and Outreach Program. As director, Melissa develops and implements projects that focus on translating the science of bird and ecosystem conservation to a wide variety of audiences including adults and youth, partners, and special interest groups.

Libby Porzig, Avian Ecologist and Graduate Student Research Associate
Libby began working for PRBO in 2005 as a banding intern in the Eastern Sierra. Her work has continued at the Palomarin Field Station as a bander and nest searching intern. For the past several years, Libby has helped supervise nest searching interns at Palomarin. She has a BA from Stanford University (2004) and is currently a PhD candidate in Ecology at UC Davis. For her dissertation, Libby is utilizing long-term data from Palomarin detailing songbird response to plant succession to understand the impact of rapid environmental change on populations and communities. 

Matt Reiter, Avian and Wetland Quantitative Ecologist, (707) 781-2555 ext.351
Matt joined PRBO in May 2009 and is developing a shorebird monitoring program for California. He grew up in Massachusetts and received his B.A. from Boston College in 1998. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center in Hawaii from 1998 – 2003 studying the impacts of avian malaria on Hawaii’s native birds and developing disease management strategies for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. In 2003, Matt started graduate school at the University of Minnesota and spent his summers studying the nesting ecology of Eastern Prairie Population Canada geese within Wapusk National Park in northern Manitoba, Canada.  Particularly, he evaluated the potential impacts of increasing numbers of nesting lesser snow geese, fluctuations in arctic fox abundance, and cycles of lemming populations on Canada goose nest survival and spatial distribution.  Matt received both his M.S. (2006) and Ph.D. (2009) in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Minnesota.   

L. Jay Roberts, Avian Forest Ecologist, (707) 781-2555 ext.323
Jay came to PRBO in January 2009 to work in the Sierra Nevada program on a project aimed at monitoring management indicator species (MIS) for the USDA Forest Service.  His work up until then had been mainly in the forests of the Great Lakes region where he focused on using bird surveys and forest inventory tools to inform large-scale forest and land management.  Jay received his M.S. in 2002 from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Environmental Science and Policy) and PhD in 2008 from Michigan State University (Fisheries and Wildlife).  His expertise is in landscape ecology, wildlife-habitat relationships, ecological modeling, and macroecology.  When not herding his summer field crews through the Sierra Nevada mountains, he lets his daughter Anja and wife Susan herd him through northern California.     

Dan Robinette, Senior Scientist, Coastal Program Manager, (805) 735-7300
Dan Robinette was born in Manhattan Beach, California, but grew up in the San Bernardino Mountains. Dan Robinette received his B.S. in marine biology and his M.S. in biology from California State University, Long Beach.  His research interests include studying the population, breeding, dietary, and foraging ecology of seabirds in relation to local and regional oceanography.  Dan has published and presented papers on using seabirds as indicators of juvenile fish recruitment to local nearshore populations.  Dan has studied seabird foraging effort within and adjacent to the Vandenberg State Marine Reserve since 2000. He is co-principal investigator for a project to collect baseline information on the newly established marine protected areas within the North Central Coast Study Region of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Dan is currently living in Lompoc, California with his wife, Michelle, and his 3 children, Heather, Stephen, and Sophia.

Laurette Rogers, STRAW Program Director, 707-781-2555 ext. 358
For the past 18 years, Laurette has collaborated to facilitate STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed), a restoration science education program for K-12 students and teachers.  In 1992, she was teaching fourth grade at Brookside School in San Anselmo, CA, when her students began the Shrimp Project, a project designed to help save an endangered species through restoration and public outreach. The Shrimp Project eventually turned into the STRAW Project.  Laurette and STRAW joined PRBO in 2011.  Laurette has her MA in Education from Dominican University and is the author of The California Freshwater Shrimp Project:  An Example of Environmental Project-Based Learning. 

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Tiffany Russell, Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist, (530) 257-7272 x111
Tiffany Russell grew up in San Diego, CA, and graduated with an Environmental Studies and International Affairs degree from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. She completed four years of various field biology positions before joining PRBO Conservation Science as a seasonal in the Northern Sierras in 2010. After three seasons of point counts, nest searching, and vegetation monitoring in post-fire and mountain forest habitats, Tiffany started fulltime as the Northeast California Partner Biologist in August 2012. Tiffany’s work involves assisting in the development of conservation projects to support Greater Sage Grouse habitats and improve mountain meadows in Lassen County. In her spare time Tiffany enjoys skiing, soccer, playing music, camping, traveling, and meeting new people.

Leo Salas, PhD., Senior Scientist
Leo's expertise is in quantitative ecology, mammal ecology, and population dynamics. Prior to coming to PRBO, he conducted research on birds, mammals and tree communities. Leo received his Master of Science in 1995 and PhD in 2001, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His Masters thesis focused on the ecology of tapirs and on a sustainable hunting model. His doctoral work was on the comparative ecology of three arboreal marsupials in New Guinea.  After completing his studies, Leo led the Latin American program of The Peregrine Fund, until his wife took him to Indonesian Borneo, where he worked with The Nature Conservancy conducting research on orangutans and surveying remote limestone karst areas.  He returned to New Guinea to work with The Wildlife Conservation Society developing a Masters-level curriculum for the University of Papua New Guinea and mentoring honors students. He joined PRBO in 2007, while based in Arcata, helping develop data management and visualization tools for partner organizations. Leo is currently developing statistical tools for PRBO's biologists and partners to analyze and visualize banding data. He now lives in Cotati with his wife Suzette, daughter Camille and son Tycho. 

Laurel Schuyler,Staff Accountant/Grants and Contracts Specialist, 707-781-2555 ext. 330 
Laurel came to PRBO in 2012 with seventeen years of experience in non-profit financial and administrative work. Prior to coming to PRBO she served as Finance Director at Community Action of Napa Valley, Director of Finance & Administration at Enterprise for High School Students and Save The Bay, and as Chief of Staff for a former Contra Costa County Supervisor. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors, writing poetry, and working on a variety of construction projects, some of which she finishes.  She has a degree in Botany from UC Berkeley, and a Master’s in Public Administration from Cal State University, Hayward.

Nathaniel E. Seavy, Ph.D., Research Director, Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group (415) 868-0655 ext.311
Nat is a CalFed postdoctoral fellow with PRBO Conservation Science and the Information Center for the Environment, UC Davis. His work focuses on understanding the response of bird populations to riparian habitat restoration. Nat grew up in Washington State and attended The Evergreen State College where he developed an interest in ornithology. Nat received his master’s degree in 2001 and his Ph.d in 2006, both from the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida. Nat’s dissertation research was conducted with the Klamath Bird Observatory and focused understanding the effects of fire on bird communities in the Klamath/Siskiyou ecoregion. Nat has worked on ornithological research projects in North America, Central America, Africa, and Hawaii. These projects have included research on the breeding biology of raptors and owls, habitat associations of passerine birds, population ecology and monitoring of Pacific seabirds, and avian demography. More information on Nat.

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Lynne E . Stenzel, Biologist, (415) 868-0371 ext.303
Lynne Stenzel started as a intern at PRBO in 1971 and her mission was to identify the invertebrate prey of shorebirds, as well as their digested parts in shorebird pellets and droppings from Bolinas Lagoon. Since those early days, her work has included ongoing participation in the Wetlands research program; serving as the Observatory's volunteer librarian in the 70s; managing and analyzing the Beached Bird Project data from 1977 to 1988; and analyzing the data from studies of Clapper Rails, Black Rails, and Double-crested Cormorants on San Francisco Bay. From the beginning, her primary interest has been estuarine and shorebird research, particularly the population ecology and life history of Snowy Plovers in the west, monitoring shorebird populations, and restoration of wetland habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Khara Strum, Wetlands Ecologist, kstrum at prbo dot org
Khara Strum is an ecologist who leads PRBO's efforts in the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership project monitoring waterbird use of rice fields in the Sacramento Valley. After a stint with PRBO in 2003, on San Clemente Island, she returns now with a master's degree in biology from Kansas State University. In her new post, Khara will pursue her interest of creating habitat for migratory birds in human altered landscapes.

Laurie Talcott, Chief Financial Officer (707) 781-2555 ext.328
Laurie has brought valuable financial and administrative management expertise to PRBO based on her 30 years experience as a business and financial manager. In that time, she has been the Finance Director of or provided financial consulting to over 20 businesses, non-profits and other organizations including the California Democratic Party, Service Employees International Union, Frontline Campaigns, Santa Cruz Community Housing Corporation, El Pajaro Community Development Corporation, Community Printers, and Democratic Management Services.  Laurie has served on the City of Santa Cruz’s Economic Development Task Force and on numerous Boards including the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union. Laurie has a B.A. in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Born in San Francisco, she lives in Santa Cruz, has earned a 2nd degree black belt in Aikido and enjoys gardening, hiking, art, and travel.

Jim Tietz, Farallon Program Biologist
Jim is the fall biologist on the Farallon Islands where his primary interests are studying landbird migration. Other ongoing Farallon projects that he is involved with include research on white sharks, butterflies and dragonflies, and fur seals. Jim received a master’s degree in 2006 from Humboldt State University in wildlife biology studying the stopover ecology of Swainson’s Thrush along the Northern California coast. In addition, he has 14 years of experience banding birds and conducting surveys for landbirds throughout North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Jim has supervised and trained bird survey and banding crews at several locations in California and is a certified trainer for the North American Banding Council.

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Patti Vance, Youth Watershed Challenge (YWC) Program Manager, STRAW Project
Patti joined PRBO with the STRAW Project in 2011.  She has been involved in high school education and reform for over 11 years managing thematic, integrated programs at Drake High School in San Anselmo. She also served as a trustee for the Ross Valley School District, and board member for the Environmental Education Council of Marin and the Drake Scholarship Foundation.  In 2004, she initiated a three-year feasibility study for the Marin County Board of Supervisors to develop a demonstration site dedicated to healthy food production and sustainable practices for schools and county residents.  She was also the founder and president of the California Rainwater Conservation Systems, that in 2008, promoted water conservation and sustainable practices in the Bay Area. Patti has been honored as the Marin School Administrators' Citizen of the Year and Marin County Trustee of the Year. She received her B.A. from the University of Colorado and an M.S. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley.
 

Sam Veloz, Ph.D., Spatial Ecologist, (707) 781-2555 x308
Sam is primarily working on projects seeking to understand how species will respond to global change, including climate change and other human modifications to the environment. Sam came to PRBO in 2010 after working as a postdoc at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he studied how plant species responded to global warming following the last deglaciation as a proxy for how species will respond to future climate change. He received his Ph.D from UC Davis in ecology in 2008 where he studied how urbanization in Australia led to behavioral changes in megabats and the coincidental emergence of fatal zoonotic diseases in humans. He received his bachelors degree in environmental studies from UC Santa Cruz in 1997. Sam is currently working on modeling the effects sea-level rise on tidal marsh species in the San Francisco Bay Estuary and the effects of climate change on species across the state. He is a native of the Bay Area and now lives in Petaluma with his wife Liz and sons Finn and Teague.

Peter Warzybok, Farallon Program Biologist, (707) 781-2555 x344
Pete Warzybok joined PRBO a volunteer seabird research assistant on the Farallon Islands in the spring of 2000, and was hired as a seabird biologist the following year. Prior to coming to PRBO, he worked on a waterfowl management project in surburban NY, and on seabird monitoring projects with USGS in Alaska and USFWS in Maine. Pete received his B.S. in biology from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1996, where his undergraduate research focused on geographic variation in the song of Brown-headed Cowbirds. His current research interests include diet, prey availability, and ecosystem variability and their effects on the breeding success and population dynamics of Farallon seabirds.

Kelly Weintraub, Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist, (530) 272-3417 ext. 102
Kelly Weintraub grew up in northeastern California. Her conservation ethic stems from a childhood filled with weekend hikes and summer backpacking trips with her family. Kelly graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2003 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies-Biology and spent several years working as a wildlife technician and a watershed coordinator in the Sierra Nevada before entering graduate school. In the spring of 2013 she will earn an M.S. in Natural Resource Management-Wildlife from Humboldt State University, where she studied the nest survival of Tricolored Blackbirds in California’s San Joaquin Valley. She is very excited to join PRBO Conservation Science as a Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist.

John A. Wiens, Chief Scientist (707) 781-2555 ext.319
John Wiens grew up in Oklahoma as an avid birdwatcher. This led to degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.S., Ph.D.). With this training under his belt, he joined the faculty of Oregon State University and, subsequently, the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University, where he was a Professor of Ecology and University Distinguished Professor. His work, which has emphasized landscape ecology and the ecology of birds, has led to over 200 scientific papers and 7 books.

John left academia in 2002 to join The Nature Conservancy as a Lead Scientist, with the challenge of putting years of classroom teaching and academic research into conservation practice in the real world. In 2008, he “downsized” by joining PRBO Conservation Science as Chief Conservation Science Officer. His aim is to help the science staff and leadership build on the long-standing work of PRBO on bird populations to address the broad issue of conservation in a rapidly changing world – “conservation futures.” Climate change is affecting the distributions of many species, economic globalization is altering local and regional land uses, and the increasing demand for the goods and services provided by natural systems is changing the ways in which people relate to nature. John is working with PRBO staff and partners to develop guidance for assessing how landscapes are likely to change and how management practices can help to mitigate or adjust to the changes.  [Click Here] to read essays on conservation by Dr. Wiens.

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Eve Williams, Development Coordinator, (707) 781-2555 ext.356
Eve came to PRBO in August of 2008.  Before coming to PRBO she spent 14 years working for a non-profit cultural exchange program. Eve also has a background in financial services and banking.  As Development Coordinator at PRBO, Eve handles processing of new and renewing memberships, assists with event planning and maintains PRBO membership and donor databases.  A local girl, Eve has lived in Petaluma since she was 11.  She loves to travel with her family, read, spend time with friends and learn.  She is now studying Italian with her 17-year old son!

Missy Wipf, STRAW Education Coordinator, (707) 781-2555 ext.302
Missy came to PRBO as an intern in 1999 after graduating with a BS in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She has worked as a field biologist in PRBO’s Tidal Marsh and Terrestrial Ecology projects including helping to manage the Palomarin Field Station, worked in Membership and Events, and Outreach and Education. As an Education Coordintor for the STRAW Education Team, she is helping to bring bird science and restoration education to diverse communities in the Bay Area, connect students and teachers to the importance of habitat restoration for birds, coordinate PRBO Members Trips, and lead monthly bird walks for the organization. 

Julian Wood, Biologist, (707) 781-2555 ext.313
Julian joined PRBO as an intern bander in 1996 and now works on riparian songbird monitoring projects in the Central Valley at the Cosumnes River Preserve, the Mokelumne River and two projects on the San Joaquin River. Julian has worked on PRBO projects in Montana, Chiapas, San Clemente Island, and Clear Creek in Redding, California.

Vanessa Wyant, STRAW Project Coordinator, (707) 781-2555 ext. 361
Vanessa joined PRBO’s Outreach and Education Group in spring of 2011 as a part of the STRAW (Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed) Project. Vanessa works with teachers, landowners, restoration designers and other community members to plan and implement habitat restoration projects and in-class environmental science presentations.  Vanessa also performs maintenance and monitoring on all restoration sites. Vanessa started work with the STRAW Project as a Volunteer in Service to the Environment AmeriCorps Member at the Conservation Corps North Bay for two years. Vanessa is from Lansing, Michigan and holds a BA in Biology from Kalamazoo College.

Alicia Young, Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partner Biologist, (530) 226-2578
Alicia graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Knox College, Illinois in 2003 where she first discovered her passion for bird conservation at the college’s Green Oaks Biological Field Station.  Alicia joined PRBO Conservation Science in 2005 as an intern on the Clear Creek Floodway Restoration Songbird Monitoring Project and in 2007 was hired as the project leader.  In addition to her work in the northern Sacramento Valley, in 2009 Alicia branched into PRBO’s Avian Monitoring on Private Lands program which partnered with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to study wetlands enrolled in NRCS’s Wetland Reserve Program in the north-eastern mountains of California.  This partnership with NRCS was made formal in 2011 with the creation of PRBO’s Working Landscapes Program and Alicia transitioned into the first Partner Biologist position.  She currently works out of the NRCS Redding field office in northern California and primarily works with oak woodland and rangeland owners to encourage healthy landscapes and wildlife-friendly management.