Graham has been working as a wildlife biologist for more than 10 years. He developed his conservationist mindset at a young age while searching the fields and canals near his home for amphibians, reptiles, and other wildlife. He worked for H.T. Harvey & Associates for five years, primarily on large scale solar projects. His professional career started at California State University Stanislaus’s Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP). While at ESRP, Graham’s work focused on the native plant nursery for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Land Retirement Demonstration Project (LRDP). He developed his knowledge of native flora of the San Joaquin Valley by collecting, processing, and propagating 150 native species for the LRDP. He has also conducted habitat suitability assessment surveys, protocol surveys, pre-activity surveys, and construction monitoring for many special-status species including California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Swainson’s hawk, burrowing owl, American badger, Fresno kangaroo rat, Tipton kangaroo rat, giant kangaroo rat, riparian brush rabbit, riparian woodrat, San Joaquin antelope squirrel, and San Joaquin kit fox. During his spare time, Graham visits national parks with his family and photographs wildlife and natural scenery.

Rob has worked with wildlife for over 30 years. His interests have included a broad diversity of species such as California legless lizard and lowland leopard frog, California least tern and western snowy plover, giant kangaroo rat and American badger, as well as northern fur seal, southern sea otter, and several species of whales. Rob’s areas of expertise include vertebrate ecology, quantitative ecology, and geospatial analysis. Recently, Rob has combined these skills in new ways, working with the Bureau of Land Management to quantify the efficacy of managed grazing to benefit native perennial bunchgrass communities. Rob started working as an ecological consultant in the late 1980s, conducting wildlife surveys while working towards a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz. He completed a master’s degree at San Jose State University where he focused on developing and implementing strategies for protecting nesting western snowy plovers and California least terns at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, while maintaining public access to the park. He earned a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, where he conducted research into the past distributions of marine mammals along the California coast through analyses of stable isotope compositions of bones from marine mammals that were hunted by humans 2000 years ago. Rob’s personal interests don’t stray far from his professional interests. On his time off, he is often somewhere out in the desert or photographing wolves and bears in Yellowstone.

Phil is a biologist with more than 20 years experience studying a variety of North American bird taxa, with a primary focus on seabirds. He began his career studying songbirds in California, Washington, and Idaho, and as a long-term volunteer at the Farallon Islands. In 1996, as a technician in the first year of a seabird restoration project in central California, he learned aerial photographic survey methods for monitoring breeding colonies of surface-nesting seabirds, and he has been in the plane every year since. Phil has guided these methods into the digital era and remains one of the lead researchers responsible for annual aerial photographic surveys throughout coastal California. Since 2007, he also has been part of a team conducting low-level, at-sea aerial surveys of birds and mammals in California, including in response to oil spills. With Colibri, he has applied his aerial survey expertise to waterbird studies in the Gulf of Mexico. Phil also has radio-tracked seabirds, shorebirds, and raptors, and continues to volunteer annually with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. He became interested in natural history while completing a B.S. in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, finding classes in vertebrate zoology and botany more inspiring than pre-med coursework. Born, raised, and still residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of Phil’s favorite activities is celebrating Giants World Series Championships.

Howard has more than 20 years of professional wildlife and research experience. He is certified by the Ecological Society of America as an ecologist and by The Wildlife Society (TWS) as a Certified Wildlife Biologist®. His work as an ecological consultant has focused on the fauna and ecosystems of California and has included extensive baseline inventories, surveys for rare animals, and habitat assessment. He has conducted dozens of inventories, surveys, and assessments for blunt-nosed leopard lizard, burrowing owl, San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat, and Mohave ground squirrel among many others. He developed his consulting skills while working for H. T. Harvey & Associates for 10 years and Garcia and Associates for three years. Prior to working as a consultant, Howard spent seven years as a wildlife biologist with the Endangered Species Recovery Program. He completed his Master’s degree at CSU Fresno in 2001. His thesis addressed the interactions between the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and the non-native red fox in Kern County, CA. He is an instructor for TWS kit fox and small mammal workshops, and the Western Section of TWS awarded him the Raymond F. Dasmann Award for Professional of the Year in 2015. He is also the Layout Editor for the Western Section’s journal Western Wildlife. During leisure time, Howard enjoys hiking, geocaching, and visiting places of historical interest with his daughter.

Cassie grew up in Fresno, California, where she spent much of her childhood outdoors in the Sierra. Her love of the natural world led her to pursue higher education in biology. Cassie began her academic career at Fresno City College where she received an Associates of Art degree in Chicano/Latino studies while fulfilling her undergraduate requirements for biological sciences. While at Fresno City College, Cassie took a field biology class that gave her an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of local habitats, plants, and animals. She then completed a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management at Humboldt State University. While at Humboldt State, Cassie worked as a data collection assistant for project that focused on understanding habitat requirements needed to bring Roosevelt elk populations back to indigenous communities. Cassie is passionate about using her knowledge to help her community and inspire others to get involved in preserving local habitats.

Tala Davis (she/they) has loved the natural world and conservation as long as they can remember. They spent the first part of their life in rural Colorado, running around with the family wolfdog. Then, after spending most of their childhood in Iowa, Tala moved to Idaho and earned three associate degrees from the College of Western Idaho, graduating Summa Cum Laude, and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Idaho in Ecology & Conservation Biology and Wildlife Resources. Over their wildlife career, Tala has worked with greater sage-grouse, American kestrel, white-tailed deer, Mexican gray wolf, and various songbirds. In their spare time, Tala enjoys exploring the natural world, engaging in creative activities like writing and drawing, and catching up on their reading list.

Brandon grew up in the central Texas Hill Country, where he spent many summers in the outdoors camping and backpacking. He earned a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Texas State University. While at the university, he developed a passion for plants and animals. After graduating, he worked several seasonal field jobs. Those involved helping to recover endangered sea turtles with the National Park Service, investigating the plague in small mammals with the U.S. Geological Survey, banding birds with Point Blue Conservation Science, and studying semipalmated sandpipers and other shorebirds with New Jersey Audubon. This field experience led Brandon to pursue a master’s degree in biology at Arkansas State University. There, his research focused on the ecology of chuck-will’s-widows and eastern whip-poor-wills in the Ozark Mountains. In his free time, Brandon enjoys live music, birding, and board games with friends.

Raised in Los Angeles near Griffith Park, Ryan developed his passion for the natural world at a young age. This passion led him to pursue a degree in conservation biology at Kansas State University. During his undergraduate studies, Ryan assisted with projects concerning plants, arthropods, reptiles, grassland birds, and small mammals. A special interest in grasses led him to perform research in the field of grassland ecophysiology, which eventually led to a master’s degree also at Kansas State University. Ryan now lives in Merced and enjoys botanizing in the wide range of ecosystems that California has to offer. He is an avid user of the citizen science platform iNaturalist and hikes, runs, and looks at plants in his free time.

Stephanie grew up in Visalia, just down Highway 99 from Fresno. As a child she spent her mornings waking up early to catch a glimpse of Animal Planet before school. Her deep love of wildlife and nature led her to pursue a Rotary Youth Exchange program in Ecuador, where she lived and explored for 11 months during her junior year of high school. The beauty and wonder of the Amazon Rainforest and Galapagos Islands caused Stephanie to pursue a BS in Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity from University of California, Davis and later an MS in Biology from California State University, Fresno. Throughout her life, Stephanie has worked and volunteered with many wildlife organizations in the US and found a passion for the conservation and rehabilitation of California native wildlife. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys volunteering with local organizations, reading, bowling, and spending time with her pets.

Peter is an ecologist with more than 15 years of experience. He has conducted fieldwork for consulting and research projects on a wide range of animal species throughout the western United States and Mexico and currently holds a position as Research Associate at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Peter is an authority on the status, distribution, and identification of birds in California and is a National Marine Fisheries Service-approved Marine Mammal Observer. He has extensive consulting experience in the oil, natural gas, and traditional and renewable energy fields. In addition to birds and mammals, Peter regularly conducts studies of special-status reptiles and amphibians, including the endangered California tiger salamander. In his free time, Peter enjoys exploring California’s Channel Islands, traveling in Baja California, leading boat-based natural history trips, and spending time outdoors with his family.

Michelle grew up in Sanger, California, where the Sierra foothills were her backyard. While attending Reedley College for an A.S. degree in Biological Science, she worked as a docent and zookeeper for the nonprofit Project Survival’s Cat Haven. Michelle then transferred to Humboldt State University to complete a B.S. degree in Wildlife: Conservation Biology/Applied Vertebrate Ecology. During her time as an undergraduate student, she volunteered at the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, for the Forest Service’s Hoary Bat Crew, and in a research lab studying giant kangaroo rats. Since then, Michelle has worked as a seasonal field biologist on projects studying southwestern willow flycatchers, yellow-billed cuckoos, Santa Cruz Island scrub-jays, painted buntings, and several species of New Mexico’s pinyon-juniper birds. She has also been employed as an environmental educator for the Fresno Chaffee Zoo and for science centers in California and Alaska. Most of Michelle’s free time is spent hiking, rock climbing, open water swimming, pet sitting, and painting landscapes and wildlife.

Sarah grew up in Mariposa, California, just outside of Yosemite National Park. She developed a passion for wildlife and forestry at Reedley College, where she earned an Associate of Science degree in Natural Resources. During her tenure at Reedley College, Sarah interned with El Dorado National Forest, where she conducted surveys for northern goshawk and spotted owl and participated in the North American Bat Monitoring Program. Sarah received a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Resources with a minor in Forestry Resources from University of Idaho. After completing her studies, she worked for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on an effort to eradicate nutria, an invasive rodent, from California waterways. In her free time, Sarah enjoys hiking and traveling with friends and family.

Dave has more than 40 years of experience in the biological sciences, including 35 years of field experience and 20 years of laboratory and project management experience. He completed a B.A. at UC Santa Barbara in 1968 and attended graduate school at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in the early 1970s. Early in his career, Dave managed, coordinated, and implemented a seabird-monitoring program at Channel Islands National Park in southern California. For 15 years he directed an environmental toxicology lab in the Monterey Bay area, and since 1995 he has been a member of an aerial survey and response team for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response. Since joining Colibri in 2011, Dave has conducted pre-construction surveys, presented environmental awareness trainings, and provided environmental compliance monitoring for many gas and electric projects in central and northern California. He has a broad knowledge of California wildlife, and his project-related experience includes working with such special-status species as Bay checkerspot butterfly, California tiger salamander, Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, California red-legged frog, giant garter snake, western pond turtle, ashy storm-petrel, Ridgway’s rail, Cassin’s auklet, Sripps’s murrelet, salt marsh harvest mouse, Island fox, and San Joaquin kit fox. In his free time, Dave enjoys travelling around the continent with his wife in their 20-foot camper van, alpine hiking and fishing, kayaking, gardening, winemaking, reading, golf, and maintaining a small farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Samantha developed a passion for botany and wildlife at a young age. She grew up in the high desert of Southern California and later moved to far Northern California. There she studied Environmental Science with a focus on Education and Interpretation at Humboldt State University. After graduating she had several jobs in outdoor education where she shared her love for the outdoors with both kids and adults. In 2020, she landed an internship with the National Park Service conducting invasive and rare plant surveys in Thousand Oaks. She started her consulting career in 2021, conducting nesting bird surveys and pre-construction surveys for special-status species. As a biologist she enjoys learning more about the wide array of plant and animal life in California.

Mike has over 25 years of natural resource management, research, and consulting experience throughout the western U.S. with an emphasis on threatened and endangered species, wetlands, and waterbirds. His interest in natural resources and wildlife ecology began as a young boy hunting and fishing with his father and siblings in Vermont. He earned a B.S. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Vermont and a M.S. from Humboldt State University in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Wildlife. Mike lives in Davis, CA with his wife, Kyra and their two boys, Kyle and Cody. Mike volunteers at his boys’ schools, helping to coach sports teams and serving as a project leader for 4H activities. In their spare time, he and his family keep active and enjoy being outdoors while they bike, rock climb, hike, camp, and fish. Mike also laces up his skates once a week to play ice hockey – something he can’t seem to get out of his system.

Katherine grew up on a farm in the Central Valley, where her love of the outdoors began. Throughout her life, she has been a student of the Sierra Nevada and the treasures it holds. While attending Fresno City College she took many courses that put her on the path to a career in biology. She then transferred to Fresno State, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. During her time at Fresno State, Katherine worked as an educator for organizations such as the Fresno Chaffee Zoo and the Boy Scouts of America. After graduating from Fresno State, she worked in education as a high school biology teacher in Madera, California. As a teacher, she instilled a love for California endemic species in the hearts of many of her students. Katherine spends most of her free time fishing and creating art.

Cameron grew up spending time outdoors through his involvement in Boy Scouts of America. Those experiences left him with a great respect for nature. Having lived in Fresno his whole life, he was able to spend considerable time in the adjacent Sierra Nevada and on the Central Coast. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at California State University Fresno. His coursework included a class on fungal biology, which developed his enthusiasm for fungi. In his free time, Cameron enjoys hunting for and identifying mushrooms while hiking.

Antonio grew up in Fresno, California. Inspired by family trips to nearby Yosemite National Park, he fell in love with nature. As a child, he routinely explored his backyard, scouring it for critters. Being surrounded by the forest and other natural landscapes brought him great joy, so much so that he decided to make it a career. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from Humboldt State University. During his time there he assisted with an elk project. That project involved conducting surveys and captures to help better understand the population dynamics of inland and coastal elk herds. After graduating, he assisted with monarch and bumblebee conservation at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. He eventually made his way back to the San Joaquin Valley, where consulting has allowed him to continue exploring his expanding interest in natural systems.

Stephanie is from Sacramento, California. As a child she spent most of her time outside, sharing her discoveries with others. Her time outdoors led to a deep desire to better understand wildlife as she grew up. Stephanie went on to attend Humboldt State University where she gained knowledge of wildlife biology, ecology, environmental science, and environmental laws. Receiving her B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management, she learned to identify, survey, and trap various wildlife taxa. Passionate about education, she then applied her newly developed knowledge and skills as a volunteer for the Sacramento Wildlife Rehabilitation Program. There she gave community presentations addressing ways to minimize disturbance to threatened and endangered species in Humboldt County. Her passion for wildlife motivates her to help others feel just as inspired about wildlife and hopeful about the future.

Randy is a wildlife biologist who specializes in herpetology. His interest in herpetology began as a child hunting snakes and salamanders in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. In 1990, Randy received a B.S. degree in Biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, graduating Summa Cum Laude. In 1995, he received an M.S. degree in Biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, again graduating Summa Cum Laude. His graduate research and thesis focused on the evolution of the rattle in rattlesnakes. With over 20 years of professional experience, Randy has extensive knowledge of the herpetology of California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southern United States. He is an expert on the federally endangered arroyo toad, having conducted a three-year ecological study of the species at MCB Camp Pendleton. He has also conducted studies and protocol and focused wildlife surveys for many other special-status species in California including limestone salamander, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, giant garter snake, western pond turtle, and desert tortoise. Randy holds state and federal permits for working with California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, and limestone salamander and has participated in population studies that included the implantation of PIT (passive integrated transponder) tags into the arroyo toad, California red-legged frog, western spadefoot, and California toad. In his spare time, Randy enjoys camping and hiking, playing chess, playing guitar, and repairing mechanical watches.

Marissa grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where she developed an interest in plants and wildlife while camping and hiking with her family. This interest led her to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Portland State University. After graduating, Marissa worked for several conservation and environmental education groups in Oregon. She also surveyed native plants in Minnesota and educated the public as an Interpretive Park Ranger in Wyoming. Marissa served two stints with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, helping to eradicate invasive species in the San Joaquin Valley. More recently, she worked in Colorado leading efforts to sample dragonflies, evaluate forest plots, survey pikas, and monitor glaciers. Her love of the Sierra Nevada drew her back to California, where she enjoys backpacking, paddleboarding, and cross-country skiing.

Steven was born in Northern California and grew up splitting time between the deserts of Arizona and the redwoods of Northern California. During summer, his family vacationed at Lake Shasta, where Steven hiked, fished, and wakeboarded. His love of the outdoors led him to get a degree in biology from Arizona State University. After college, Steven worked as a ranger for a state park in Arizona. He then moved to Oregon, where he helped maintain public lands by fixing fences, educating the public, and monitoring fish populations. Steven spent two seasons in Colorado working on various public lands where he helped maintain trails, led an invasive vegetation removal program, and assisted with rare plant surveys, seed collection, plant propagation, and habitat restoration. Steven also worked as an interpretive park ranger in Wyoming, where he educated visitors about the dynamic ecosystem. Steven recently worked as a horticulturalist at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo as well as a field technician for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). While working for CDFW on the Nutria Eradication Program, Steven was responsible for setting field cameras, trapping, and surveying wetlands, rivers, and riparian areas in Stanislaus, Merced, and Fresno counties by foot, boat, and kayak. In his free time, Steven likes to hike, kayak, and snowboard.

Kristy has worked as a wildlife biologist for over 20 years. She has worked on a wide array of projects including coastal dune habitat restoration coupled with a large-scale translocation of California legless lizards. She has extensive experience in wetland and riparian restoration working with farmers in California to restore the core of highly altered watersheds with a focus on improving habitat and water quality. She has also worked with ranchers in Arizona to develop strategies for managing livestock operations in ways that protect riparian corridors. Kristy’s career as an ecological consultant began in 2009 on the California Valley Solar Ranch Project on the Carrizo Plain. Through this project, Kristy and a team of biologists conducted surveys for blunt-nosed leopard lizard, burrowing owl, giant kangaroo rat, and San Joaquin kit fox to identify over 10,000 acres of suitable conservation lands. More recently, Kristy has been interested in special-status amphibians such as the California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, and Santa Cruz long-toed salamander. She has applied this interest to pure research, working with colleagues documenting competition between native and hybrid tiger salamanders, while also conducting project-based biotic assessments and monitoring. Kristy’s career as a scientist started at UC Santa Cruz while completing a bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences. After graduating, her educational background facilitated an understanding of soils and erosion, which lead her to ecological restoration. It was through her work in habitat restoration that Kristy developed a strong interest in learning about the wildlife species that responded to these newly restored native habitats. Kristy’s personal interests include traveling, particularly to the remote and wild places of North America or the rainforests of Costa Rica.

Madison grew up in Sarasota, Florida where she spent most of her childhood catching lizards and swimming at the beach. She attended the University of North Florida where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology with a focus on ecology. Madison completed a master’s thesis on American alligator nesting patterns in urban contexts. She enjoys working with all species but is especially interested in reptiles and birds. When not working, she spends time with her dog and travels as much as possible. Madison is passionate about making science more accessible to the public and getting the local community involved in public lands.