BIOGRAPHIES INTERAGENCY DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS LAKE TAHOE WEST RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP May 29, 2017

Transcription

1 BIOGRAPHIES INTERAGENCY DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS LAKE TAHOE WEST RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP May 29, 2017 List of Interagency Design Team members: 1. Rich Adams, California State Parks 2. Mason Bindl, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency 3. Whitney Brennan, California Tahoe Conservancy 4. Theresa Cody, US Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 5. Stephanie Coppeto, US Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 6. Brian Garrett, US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (see Core Team biographies from February 7, 2017) 7. Jen Greenberg, California Tahoe Conservancy 8. Tim Merten, US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 9. Shana Gross, US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region 10. Forest Schafer, Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (see Core Team biographies from February 7, 2017) 11. Daniel Shaw, California State Parks 12. Randy Striplin, US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (see Core Team biographies from February 7, 2017) 13. Kurt Teuber, US Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 14. Juan Carlos Urizar, California Tahoe Conservancy 15. Mike Vollmer, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Interagency Design Team Lead (see Core Team biographies from February 7, 2017)

2 RICH ADAMS Current Position and Affiliation: Forester II, CA State Parks Home Location: Tahoma, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I received my Bachelors of Science in Forest Resources Management at the University of Washington. I am a California Registered Professional Forester and Prescribed Fire Manager Type 2. I have worked for CA State Parks, Sierra District for 22 years as a seasonal and permanent employee. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Mountain bike riding, skiing, and spending time with my family 2

3 MASON T. BINDL Current Position and Affiliation: GIS Analyst Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Home Location: Meyers, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: For the last decade, I have performed GIS for various government agencies. During college, I worked as a GIS Specialist for the American Geographical Society Library. The next opportunity to work in GIS came with the City of New Berlin, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI. There I worked to update zoning and public infrastructure datasets. After that experience, I moved west to work as a Black Bear Technician for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, mapping out black bear home ranges and core areas to identify critical food sources by utilizing spatial analysis techniques. For the next four years, I was a Biological Science Technician working throughout the Sierra Nevada to restore habitat for the endangered Mountain Yellow legged frogs. After that experience I started working for the Eldorado National Forest as a GIS Specialist. In that role, I acted as the GIS lead on interdisciplinary teams working on forest health projects, including the South Fork American River Cohesive Strategy. I also spent a lot of time as the GIS Specialist on Burned Area Emergency Response teams across the west. I left that position in October of 2016 to come work for the TRPA as the GIS Analyst for the Research and Analysis Division. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Outside of work I enjoy skiing, mountain biking, and traveling. 3

4 WHITNEY BRENNAN Current Position and Affiliation: Senior Environmental Scientist, California Tahoe Conservancy Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I work in resources and public access at CTC where I advise our restoration, forestry, and land management staff on a variety of topics including wildlife, plants, wetlands, monitoring, aquatic invasive species, and climate change. Previously I worked as an environmental planner for Caltrans where I assessed transportation projects for environmental issues. I received a PhD in Animal Behavior from UC Davis in 2012 and a BA in Biology from Kenyon College in Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: playing in the great outdoors, traveling, reading, playing with my 2 year old twins, visiting breweries 4

5 THERESA CODY Current Position and Affiliation: Hydrologist, Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I ve worked as a Hydrologist for the LTBMU for 10 years, and have participated in interdisciplinary teams for restoration, vegetation management, engineering and recreation projects. I have also managed several stream restoration projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin. I have experience with NEPA and CEQA analyses, the permitting process in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and implementing projects on the ground. I also have an extensive background in monitoring, particularly soil and geomorphic monitoring. Before working for the LTBMU, I worked with the Lahontan Water Quality Control Board as a student intern, the California Tahoe Conservancy as a Restoration Crew Member and Erosion Control Grants Specialist, and the CA State Parks as the Hydrologist s Assistant. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from UCSB, and a Master of Science degree in Hydrology from UNR. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: I also enjoy hiking, snowboarding, swimming, camping, the beach, and doing anything outdoors with my kids and husband. 5

6 STEPHANIE COPPETO Current Position and Affiliation: Forest Wildlife Biologist U.S. Forest Service, Region 5 Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA. Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I have been a wildlife biologist for the LTBMU for six years. I manage the implementation of aspen and meadow restoration projects, develop monitoring protocols for various wildlife taxa, conduct environmental analyses, and lead project design and development. I served on the core team for the LTBMU Forest Plan revision and I assisted with the Forest Plan revision for three additional Forests in California. I serve as the Forest Service Region 5 Bear Aware Program Manager. Before the Forest Service, I spent five years as a wildlife biologist and project manager for a private firm working throughout central and northern California. My emphases was on bat and carnivore conservation and ecology. I have worked internationally on ecological research projects involving wildlife conservation and disease epidemiology. I have a M.S. from UC Davis in Ecology; my research evaluated small mammal habitat associations and the influence of spatial scale in the Plumas National Forest. I have a B.A. in Biology from Boston University. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Spending time with my kids and husband, travel, hiking, wine, dance, crossfit, and any activity that involves learning a new skill (e.g., language, skiing, knitting). 6

7 JEN GREENBERG Current Position and Affiliation: Environmental Planner; California Tahoe Conservancy Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I studied hydrology and water resources at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. The day after graduating, I moved to Reno to work on a forestry crew with the Nevada Conservation Corps, despite having never touched a chainsaw. After that I worked as an AmeriCorps member for a year at the California Tahoe Conservancy before skipping over to the Tahoe Resource Conservation District boat inspection program. I currently work for the Conservancy and get to play in rivers around Tahoe while monitoring for project effectiveness. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: I enjoying hiking, biking, boating, and snowshoeing around Tahoe, especially with my fiancé and our dog. I love being able to do most of these activities so close to home, without having to drive anywhere! 7

8 SHANA GROSS Current Position and Affiliation: Associate Ecologist, US Forest Service Central Sierra Province (Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Eldorado, Tahoe, and Stanislaus National Forests) Home Location: South Lake Tahoe Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: She completed her B.S. at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA with an emphasis in forest ecology and ethnobotany. She completed her Master s in Ecology at The State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY. She started working for the Forest Service as a botanist in She worked as the Forest Ecologist for the LTBMU prior to her current position as the Central Sierra Associate Ecologist. Her current position focuses on conveying relevant aspects of science to land managers, providing ecological input into project design, the design, implementation, and evaluation of monitoring programs, studying post fire landscapes and meadow ecosystems. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: My Toddler, Climbing, Hiking, Biking, Swimming, Yoga, I wish I could say gardening maybe with climate change 8

9 TIM MERTEN Current Position and Affiliation: Road/Trails Manager U.S. Forest Service, Region 5 Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I was born and attended college in Iowa where I enjoyed my first professional career where I worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation in the bridge design office for 6 years. I have also enjoyed my employment with the Forest Service for the past 14 years after I began my federal career with the Bureau of Land Management working on Timber Salvage and Road Construction projects in Oregon. I currently manage small to medium construction projects in the Tahoe landscape. I have enjoyed short term detail positions in Idaho, New Mexico and Oregon that involved a wide variety of access needs and construction techniques. I was involved recently as a Transportation Planner for the Rim Fire BAER stabilization and Salvage projects in 2013 and enjoy the unique civil engineering challenges that working for the Forest Service offers. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: I enjoy living in the Tahoe area with my family and we enjoy area activities like: camping at Fallen Leaf campground, swimming and hiking this landscape throughout the seasons. We especially enjoy the wide variety of recreation within any direction of living in this area. 9

10 DAN SHAW Current Position and Affiliation: Environmental Scientist, California State Parks Home Location: Tahoe Vista, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: I started my career as a wildland firefighter for the US Forest Service a quarter century ago (ouch, that hurts to put down on paper) and performed other tasks such as working as a sawyer on pine plantation thinning projects. I then worked in different areas across the western US for a dozen or so years as a researcher for the US Forest Service out of the Intermountain Research Station, Redwood Sciences Lab, Forestry Sciences Lab, and Sierra Nevada Research Center. My research focused on wildlife and land disturbance interactions including grazing, fire, and forest management. I ve been working for California State Parks for the past decade where my responsibilities range from managing the wildlife program of the entire Sierra District from Plumas County down to Mono County, covering all aquatic invasive species control and other responsibilities for Lake Tahoe Basin Parks, and collaborating with scientists to promote research that informs management on topics such as prescribed fire, aquatic habitat restoration, and long term ecological recovery. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Spending as much time as possible with my family because the kids are growing up way too fast. 10

11 KURT B. TEUBER Current Position and Affiliation: GIS Coordinator, USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: BS Forestry 1979 and MS Forest Management (Remote Sensing) 1983, University of Montana Research Forester (Remote Sensing), Forest Inventory and Analysis, Southern Forest Experiment Station, GIS Coordinator and Resource Information Specialist on several National Forests and Regional Office: o Beaverhead National Forest, o Lewis & Clark National Forest, o Region 5, Remote Sensing Lab, o Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Skiing, hiking, camping, woodworking, and spending time with my dogs and my friends. 11

12 JUAN CARLOS URIZAR Current Position and Affiliation: Associate Environmental Planner / CA Tahoe Conservancy Home Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA Professional Background, including Relevant Past Experience: 16 years of fuels work in the Lake Tahoe Basin. I started with the Conservancy as a contractor through Tahoe Resource Conservation District, then completed 2 years of AmeriCorps before being hired as a State Employee. Currently the lead on the agencies technical tree work contract and grant coordinator for Prop 1 Lake Tahoe West. Other Things I Enjoy Outside of Work: Mountain biking and playing in the snow. 12