Laura worked for 20 years in public education in Fresno and Marin counties as a teacher and administrator. She joined Colibri full-time in 2014 to help manage day-to-day operations and chart and guide the direction of the company. Laura applies her many years of leadership, management, budget, and communication experience to Colibri and enjoys meeting the challenges of a growing business. When not working, Laura spends time with her family, plays the piano, and reads novels.

Niv developed a capacity for leadership while working in diverse settings, including with nonprofits and corporate companies, in the Himalayas and other parts of the world. She joined Colibri full-time in 2024 to help the team with daily operations, implement programmatic growth initiatives, and support Colibri’s mission. When not working, Niv enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, camping in the mountains, or getting away to the coast.

Jeff has been a student of natural history for as long as he can remember. He spent much of his childhood exploring irrigation canals—the only semblance of wildlands in his suburban Fresno neighborhood—catching crayfish, carp, and bullfrogs; identifying tracks of skunks and raccoons; and marveling at herons and kingfishers. He got his formal educational training at Fresno City College, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and University of Victoria. Jeff’s career as an ecological consultant began in the early 1990s when he worked in Alaska studying the effects of petroleum development on tundra-nesting birds and in California studying the effects of timber harvest operations on marbled murrelets, housing development on California tiger salamanders, and a terrestrial oil spill on birds and mammals. Jeff also managed a wetland sanctuary in the Sacramento Valley, oversaw operations of a research and education center in Big Sur, and curated a natural history museum at UC Santa Cruz. Jeff has been a member of an oil spill response team since 1995. In connection with that role, he conducts bimonthly aerial surveys of marine birds and mammals throughout California continental shelf waters through UC Santa Cruz under contract with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Jeff and other team members have responded to more than one dozen oil spill incidents along the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic coasts of the United States, providing response and natural resource damage assessment support to trustee agencies. Jeff’s perennial passion is birds. He is a Northern California regional editor for North American Birds, eBird editor for Fresno and Madera counties, and bird records compiler and science advisor for the Fresno Audubon Society. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys cycling, cooking, recreating with his family, and birding with friends.

Amy began her biology career monitoring seasonal wetlands on preserves in the Central Valley of California. She completed a Master’s degree with an emphasis in aquatic ecology at CSU Fresno. For her thesis, she assessed juvenile Chinook salmon habitat, prey base, and feeding regimes in the San Joaquin River. Amy’s interest in freshwater ecology and conservation started while growing up next to a creek in the Ozarks. It continues to develop with each Central Valley wet season. When not working, Amy enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, and tending to her home and garden.

Ruby has always enjoyed being outdoors, and growing up in Fresno gave her many opportunities to spend time in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Yosemite National Park, and California’s central coast. Taking a field biology course at Fresno City College inspired her to pursue biological sciences as a career. She completed her B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at UC Davis. While a student at Davis, Ruby interned for the UC Davis Wood Duck Project for two nesting seasons. She also volunteered at the school aviary, collecting morphology data on mallards, cinnamon teal, and gadwall. At the aviary, she also assisted in developing and conducting trials for a study on diurnal and nocturnal foraging time budgets in captive mallards. Ruby has also participated in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s mourning dove banding program, trapping and banding birds in her backyard as part of a nation-wide effort to estimate survival rates and other variables in this wide-ranging species. In her spare time, Ruby enjoys hiking, photographing wildlife, and volunteering at a local no-kill animal shelter.

Ryan is a biologist with about 15 years of professional experience. Growing up in the forests of Northern Michigan, Ryan developed a love of the natural world and a passion to preserve it. Ryan’s passion promptly led him to the West Coast, where he earned a Master’s degree in Fisheries Biology at Humboldt State University. Ryan spent the first half of his professional career at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service working to conserve native fish and wildlife populations of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California. Since then, Ryan has worked as a biological consultant on a variety of large-scale projects including energy development, spill response, pipeline construction, transportation, and dam removal. He has collaborated with government agencies, private consulting firms, non-profit organizations, and academic researchers with a focus on biological assessments, environmental permitting, and ecosystem restoration. Before joining Colibri, Ryan spent his time representing the California High-Speed Rail Authority working to permit and deliver the California High-Speed Rail throughout the Central Valley. Outside of work, Ryan enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, and relaxing with his wife and two sons.

Patrick is an environmental planner and project manager with 20 years professional experience. He grew up in Southern California and started his career in development with an emphasis in compliance with the Western Riverside Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Patrick has a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from University of Illinois, Springfield, a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Santa Clara University. He is an American Institute Certified Planner (AICP). Patrick has worked as an environmental project manager addressing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance, compensatory mitigation, entitlements, and Phase I Environmental Site Assessments on a variety of projects. His clients have included Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Caltrans, California High Speed Rail Authority, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and various tribal, municipal, and private entities. Patrick has served on various boards of directors, including those for the California High-Speed Rail Business Advisory Council, Association of Environmental Professionals (Central Chapter), and California Land Conservancy. He has lived in Fresno since 2006 with his wife and two sons and enjoys spending time with his family in his spare time.