Executive Board

Executive Board

The business of the Western Section is conducted by its Executive Board. Members of the Board are elected by the Section at large (President, President-Elect, Past President), by TWS members residing within the Section (Section Representative to TWS), appointed by the President (Secretary, Treasurer and Committee Chairs), or elected or appointed by Chapters (Chapter Representatives to the Section).

From the mid 1990’s to the mid 2000’s the Section employed an Executive Secretary to help with administrative duties, thus freeing up the Board to focus on serving our members through workshops, conferences, symposia, and public relations. Due to budgetary shortfalls in the mid 2000’s, the Executive Secretary position was eliminated and the Executive Board, once again, resumed the administrative duties.

The Section’s day-to-day operations continue to expand as we plan and present more workshops and conferences either on our own or with a co-sponsor. As such, the Board works with four contract individuals including Conference Planner and Project Manager (Candace Renger), Workshop Coordinator (Ivan Parr), Accountant (Mike Chapel) and a Webmaster (Eric Renger). The skills of these good folks help significantly to offset the operational demands on the Board, and to strengthen membership services.

The Executive Board is a microcosm of the Section’s membership: men, women, young, old, from academia, government, private industry and consulting. This page shows you who we are and what we do. We’ve asked all our Board members and committee chairs to provide a brief bio and a picture showing what they do, either professionally and/ or recreationally. We hope that readers will feel that they have much in common with us and join the Section, attend meetings and workshops, our volunteer to help out.

As a volunteer led organization, we are always looking for energetic and committed members of our profession to join us on the Board. Feel free to contact one of us if you want to help out or just learn more about the Western Section.

Officers

President

Brooke Langle

  • Brooke Langle
  • President<at>tws-west<dot>org

Brooke Langle is a wildlife biologist with 27 years of experience in the environmental consulting industry. Brooke is well regarded as an expert in environmental compliance management and has successfully led numerous large teams through complex, challenging projects.

She is passionate about giving back to our community and has served on the Board of The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo for eight years and the Central Coast Chapter of The Wildlife Society for three years. As a Cal Poly graduate, she has emulated the “learn by doing” motto throughout her work. Over the last 12 years, she has had the honor of teaching at Cal Poly and sharing her knowledge with students.

Brooke graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1995, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology, with a concentration in Ecology. She is also a 2011 graduate of UCLA’s Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program and in 2019 completed the University of Washington Foster School of Business Minority Business Executive Program.

President-Elect

  • Jeff Alvarez
  • PresidentElect<at>tws-west<dot>org

Jeff A. Alvarez is a herpetologist who has specialized in California reptiles and amphibians for 38 years.  He has worked with California Red-legged Frogs (Rana draytonii), California Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma californiense), Pond Turtles, (Actinemys marmorata and pallida) and Alameda Whipsnakes (Masticophis lateralis euyxanthus) for much of his career.  His focus is on the conservation and natural history of herpetofauna, survey techniques development, and conducting peer-level special-status species workshops. 

Past-President

Randi

  • Randi McCormick
  • Past-President<at>tws-west<dot>org

Randi McCormick received her B.S. in Biology from California State University, Bakersfield in 1990, and has worked in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills as a consulting biologist for over 25 years. Her work experience outside of the San Joaquin Valley includes seasonal work with the Bureau of Land Management covering the Carrizo Plain, Piute Mountains and southern Sierra Nevada, and at Computer Sciences Corporation on Edwards Air Force Base. As the owner of McCormick Biological, Inc., she mentors staff and directs the efforts of the company, whose focal wildlife species are San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Tipton kangaroo rat, Nelson’s antelope squirrel, and giant kangaroo rat. She has worked with San Joaquin kit fox avoidance in the City of Bakersfield since the inception of the Metropolitan Bakersfield HCP, and has prepared documentation for hundreds of projects subject toCEQA/NEPA and CESA/FESA throughout central California. Ms. McCormick believes in learning for life and giving back to the community, fostering programs at her company that provide donation of services to Wind Wolves Preserve, Tejon Ranch Conservancy, Center for Natural Lands Management, and California Living Museum.

Treasurer

  • Callie Amoaku
  • treasurer<at>tws-west<dot>org
Callie Amoaku (KAL-ee AUHM-wa-koo; she/her) is a biologist with over 17 years’ experience as an environmental analyst specializing in field surveys and report preparation. Ms. Amoaku is committed to professional management of environmental resources, including land conservation. Callie received her B.S. in Environmental Management with a minor in GIS from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2006. She currently holds a federal Federal 10a Survey Permit for quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) and Casey’s June beetle (Dinacoma caseyi), and a State MOU and SCP for, Western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis), Crotch’s bumble bee (B. crotchii), Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee (B. suckleyi), and Franklin’s bumble bee (B. franklini). As a biologist with Dudek, Callie focuses on large-project survey coordination, invertebrate surveys, and jurisdictional delineations, as well as biological report writing and endangered species permitting.
 
In her spare time, Callie enjoys fostering her love for nature with children, cooking, traveling, and gardening.

Secretary

  • Colleen Wisinski
  • secretary<at>tws-west<dot>org

Colleen Wisinski works at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Conservation Program Manager in Recovery Ecology, where she leads the burrowing owl recovery program. Colleen’s main research focus is the ecology and conservation of burrowing owls in Southern California, particularly of the breeding population of burrowing owls in San Diego County. She is responsible for overseeing the field team, managing and analyzing data, and working with colleagues to make recommendations about management of the species to local land and wildlife managers. Using direct observations, remote cameras, GPS transmitters, and color banding, she and the team are learning about survival, reproduction, and movement of the owls in the region. The team also uses translocation and conservation breeding to help bolster the burrowing owl population.

Colleen earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, and her master’s degree in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University in Bozeman, where she examined survival and habitat use of greater sage-grouse in southwestern Montana. Colleen has also worked as a wildlife rehabilitator where she trained several raptors for educational purposes, and as a whooping crane tracker where she used radio and satellite telemetry to monitor a reintroduced population of cranes. She has been a member of The Wildlife Society since college and has served the Southern California Chapter in multiple capacities since 2015. Colleen loves that she gets to work outdoors and be creative to figure out how to answer research questions in the field. Her love for animals and nature grew from her time spent outdoors in the North Woods of Wisconsin.

Section Representative

  • Jim Sedinger
  • jsedinger<at>unr<dot>edu

Jim is Professor Emeritus at The University of Nevada Reno (the farthest east he has ever lived) where he taught and conducted research for 18 years, after 16 years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He grew up In Washington state and earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. He later earned a Ph.D. from U.C. Davis in Ecology. He has studied geese on the Bering Sea coast of western Alaska since the late 1970s and he remains involved in a long-term study of Black Brant, now in its 40th year. He and students have also studied Greater Sage-grouse in Nevada since the early 2000s where they studied effects of anthropogenic development on sage-grouse, and more recently, effects of livestock and free-ranging horses. He believes in working closely with state and federal agencies to ensure that management is based on the best available science. Besides his duties as the Western Section Representative to TWS Council, he is a board member of the Nevada Waterfowl Association and a member of the Coalition for Healthy Nevada Lands, who strive for effective management of free-roaming horses. He begins a term as President of the Nevada Chapter in 2023.

 

 

Committee Chairs

Professional Development Committee

  • Janine Payne
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Communication Editor

  • Laura Coatney
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Laura is a Wildlife Biologist from the San Francisco Bay Area. After attending De Anza College for community college, she earned a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt). Laura enjoys volunteering with conservation and research organizations such as the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. In her free time, you can likely find Laura in her backyard gardening, hanging out with her partner and dog, or exploring parks around The Bay with friends.

Student Affairs Committee

  • Lizzi Meisman
  • Katie Rock
  • Shannon Lemieux 
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Lizzi Meisman grew up in rural Colorado and moved to Northern California over a decade ago to attend Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) where she completed a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation Biology in 2016. She has done research on habitat use of mesocarnivores, impacts of anthropogenic landscape change on osprey nesting success and nest site selection, and blood parasites in osprey nestlings. She is extremely active in the local community and contributes to long-term monitoring in the area in a variety of ways including volunteering at the Humboldt Bay Bird Observatory, the California Bumble Bee Atlas, and leading birding trips with the Redwood Region Audubon Society. During the hunting season, she can be found in the woods/mud hunting for birds with her fiancé and three dogs. Lizzi works as a wildlife biologist for Dudek, an employee-owned environmental consulting firm. She is also currently an NSF Graduate Research Fellow joining Dr. Matt Johnson’s Habitat Ecology Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt to continue one of the longest running raptor projects in North America, the Butte Valley Swainson’s Hawk project, for her graduate studies.

Katie Rock graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2021 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. During her time in college she was an officer of the Cal Poly SLO student chapter of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society for three years. In her senior year she was the Cal Poly SLO student chapter representative and was thus able to act as a member of the section board. After graduating, she had to step down from her student representative role, and began working at HDR as a biological consultant where she has been able to broaden her experience working as a wildlife biologist. After a year break settling into her post college life Katie has rejoined the section board as a student affairs committee co-chair. She hopes to help students find their place in the wildlife field just how the section helped her when she was still a student. Katie has a particular interest in herpetology and has two pet snakes herself named Udon and Soba (after the noodles). She hopes to continue to broaden her knowledge of herpetofauna while also gaining experience with a wide variety of wildlife including, bats, fungi, and mosses. She plans to apply to wildlife conservation Master’s programs in the near future once she feels ready to take that next step.

Shannon Lemieux graduated summa cum laude from Oregon State University with her B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. During her studies, she was awarded a position as a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates intern at the Bermuda Institute if Ocean Sciences (BIOS). At BIOS, she collaborated with reef biologist Dr. Eric Hochberg to continue research being done on coral phenology and helped compile benthic surveys for Bermuda Electric Light Company. Shannon has also traveled to Chile where she worked alongside University of Chile students to collect field data for ongoing ecological research. As she continues to pursue a research based career post-graduation, Shannon will also continue her career as a professional dancer. Some of her credits including projects such as Paula Abdul’s Straight Up Paula Tour, The Price is Right, and Broadway to the Rescue’s Big Fat Christmas Show. With dedication and passion for both of her careers, Shannon hopes to push the boundaries both in the field and on stage. 

Diversity Committee

  • Dr. Thea Wang
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Dr. Thea Wang is the Rare Species Program Director at Endemic Environmental Services and the associated non-profit the Institute for Conservation Research and Education (ICRE) and an on-call Biologist at Harris and Associates. Thea’s PhD thesis topic was on the social behavior of yellow-bellied marmots, advised by Dr. Peter Nonacs in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Thea’s research, conducted in association with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance with Dr. Debra Shier, consists of studies with endangered kangaroo rats and pocket mice. Previous projects included research on the effect of artificial light at night, habitat suitability, range wide-genetic studies and small mammal reintroductions and translocations. Thea is based in Los Angeles and a member of the southern California chapter of the wildlife society.

Conservation Affairs Committee Chair

  • Kevin Hunting
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Kevin Hunting – Kevin is retired after a career with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Resources Agency as a biologist, administrator, and policy lead. He has worked in wildlife management, conservation planning, resource assessment, and wildlife policy for over 30 years.

His most recent state service was as a gubernatorial appointee under both Governors Schwarzenegger and Brown in the role of Chief Deputy Director for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife overseeing department operations, policy development, administration of department divisions and functions and strategic program growth. During his career, he worked closely with NGO’s and state and national conservation organizations to effect bird conservation throughout the state. While working as a biologist he was the non-game bird coordinator for the department, worked with Partners in Flight on Bird Conservation Plans, and led the effort, in collaboration with experts throughout the state, to develop the most recent Bird Species of Special Concern publication authored by Point Reyes Bird Observatory (Point Blue Conservation Science) and jointly published with the department.

More recently Kevin worked as an advisor to the California Resources Agency, author and collaborator for the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Strategic Plan Update, and enjoyed conducting technical assessments for a variety of wildlife species. Kevin resides in Winters, CA, and spends his time birding, biking, hiking, and enjoying and playing music.

Awards and Grants

  • Richard Burg
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Rich is an Environmental Program Manager with California Department of Fish and Wildlife in San Diego, California. He received his B.S. degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University in 1997 and previously worked at CA Dept. of Parks and Rec and California Department of Transportation. In his spare time, he enjoys sitting on his plank (longboards rule), mountain biking, backpacking, but most enjoyably watching his beautiful children Zoe and Jack grow.

Membership Committee

  • Sam Sosa
  • membership<at>tws-west<dot>org

Sam Sosa is a Certified Wildlife Biologist® based on Guam. He currently works as part of a team to manage habitat for federally threatened and endangered species. Previously, he has worked with federally threatened and endangered species in Northern California, on aquatic invasive species prevention in Northern California, on red-cockaded woodpecker recovery in Mississippi, and on invasive species removal and seabird monitoring in the Pacific. Sam also had the pleasure to work as a Community Youth Development worker for the Peace Corps in Mongolia (2014-2016). In his free time, you can find Sam exploring Guam and the western Pacific.

Western Wildlife Chair
clark-photo-cropped

  • Howard Clark
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Howard is a Certified Wildlife Biologist® with more than 20 years of professional wildlife and research experience. His work as a wildlife consultant focuses on the fauna and ecosystems of Northern, Central, and Southern California, and the Mojave Desert provinces and includes extensive baseline mammalian inventories, surveys focused on rare animals, and habitat assessment. He regularly works with the western burrowing owl, San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and the Mohave ground squirrel. He worked for H. T. Harvey & Associates for 10 years and Garcia and Associates for three years; he now works for Colibri Ecological Consulting. He completed his Master’s degree at CSU Fresno in 2001. His thesis studied the interactions between the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and the non-native red fox in Kern County, CA. Prior to his work as a consultant, he spent 7 years with the Endangered Species Recovery Program as a wildlife biologist. He is an instructor for TWS kit fox and small mammal workshops and was awarded the Raymond F. Dasmann Award for Professional of the Year in 2015 by The Wildlife Society, Western Section. He is the Layout Editor for the Western Section’s new journal Western Wildlife.

Historian

  • Don Yasuda
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Don is a Certified Wildlife Biologist employed by the U.S. Forest Service and is the Regional Analyst for the national forests in California. He is involved with national forest planning and supports collaborative planning efforts by forests across the state. He also serves as the Chair for the CA Biodiversity Council’s Interagency Alignment Team. He received his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from U.C. Davis in 1987 and immediately started working for the Forest Service monitoring bald eagles. Don has been a member of TWS since 1995 and is a TWS Fellows. His professional interests are in forest management, fire ecology and management, and collaboration in natural resource management, particularly as it relates to sustainable wildlife habitats. Don enjoys woodworking and dabbles in decoy carving.

 

Chapter Representatives

Central Coast

  • Angel Ramirez
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

 

Hawaii

  • Laura Berthold
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Laura Berthold is the Avian Research Senior Technician at the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP). She began working for MFBRP in January 2009 as an intern. In her current position, she helps lead the field crew and assists with planning and implementing research and management projects for native honeycreeper bird and forest recovery. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Laura studied Environmental Science at Loyola University Chicago. Laura began her road down wildlife research and conservation when she studied abroad in Brazil during college. Through this program as well as an internship with the Bureau of Land Management in Arizona, she gained experience with mist netting and surveying birds, animal husbandry, vegetation surveys, and more. Laura has been on the board of TWS- Hawai‘i chapter since 2021 and became the Western section representative in 2022.

Nevada

  • Kelley Stewart
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Kelley Stewart is an Associate Professor of large mammal ecology at the University of Nevada, Reno.  She received her BS at University of California Davis, her MS at Texas A&M University Kingsville and her PhD at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Her research focuses on effects of density dependence, reproduction, and nutritional condition of large mammals on movement patterns, resource selection, population dynamics, and community structure.  More recently her research has moved into investigating the links between nutritional condition, endocrine function, and immune function to population demographics. Kelley teaches courses in wildlife ecology at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.  She was named the Teacher of the Year in 2012 by the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources at UNR.  Kelley has been primary advisor for 15 graduate students working on various aspects of ungulate and population ecology, 3 undergraduate honors students, and 2 postdoctoral research associate.

North Coast

  • Elizabeth (Lizzi) Meisman
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Lizzi grew up in rural Colorado and moved to Northern California over a decade ago to attend Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) where she completed a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation Biology in 2016. She has done research on habitat use of mesocarnivores, impacts of anthropogenic landscape change on osprey nesting success and nest site selection, and blood parasites in osprey nestlings. She is extremely active in the local community and contributes to long-term monitoring in the area in a variety of ways including volunteering at the Humboldt Bay Bird Observatory, the California Bumble Bee Atlas, and leading birding trips with the Redwood Region Audubon Society. During the hunting season, she can be found in the woods/mud hunting for birds with her fiancé and three dogs. Lizzi works as a wildlife biologist for Dudek, an employee-owned environmental consulting firm. She is also currently an NSF Graduate Research Fellow joining Dr. Matt Johnson’s Habitat Ecology Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt to continue one of the longest running raptor projects in North America, the Butte Valley Swainson’s Hawk project, for her graduate studies.

Sacramento-Shasta

  • Erica Christensen
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

San Francisco Bay Area

  • Kathleen Grady
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Kathleen Grady is a wildlife biologist based out of San Francisco. She received her BS in Ecology and Evolution from UC Santa Barbara, and after working as a seasonal biologist studying birds for almost 10 years, she went back to school to get her Masters at Sonoma State University. There, she studied bird response to creek restoration on private ranches and dairies. While most of her career has been focused on birds, more recently Kathleen has been enjoying getting more experience with plants and herps — especially the adorable California tiger salamander. Kathleen volunteers as a bander for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory and remains passionate about maintaining what makes the Bay Area special by optimizing public and private lands for both wildlife and people.

San Joaquin Valley

  • Howard Clark
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Howard is a Certified Wildlife Biologist® with more than 20 years of professional wildlife and research experience. His work as a wildlife consultant focuses on the fauna and ecosystems of Northern, Central, and Southern California, and the Mojave Desert provinces and includes extensive baseline mammalian inventories, surveys focused on rare animals, and habitat assessment. He regularly works with the western burrowing owl, San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and the Mohave ground squirrel. He worked for H. T. Harvey & Associates for 10 years and Garcia and Associates for three years; he now works for Colibri Ecological Consulting. He completed his Master’s degree at CSU Fresno in 2001. His thesis studied the interactions between the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and the non-native red fox in Kern County, CA. Prior to his work as a consultant, he spent 7 years with the Endangered Species Recovery Program as a wildlife biologist. He is an instructor for TWS kit fox and small mammal workshops and was awarded the Raymond F. Dasmann Award for Professional of the Year in 2015 by The Wildlife Society, Western Section. He is the Layout Editor for the Western Section’s new journal Western Wildlife.

Southern California

  • Jeff Lincer
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

 

Humboldt State

  • Joseph Meihak
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Joseph is a student at Cal Poly Humboldt studying Wildlife Management and Conservation. Previously, he attended New Mexico State University studying wildlife as well. His love for nature and wildlife got started in Vermont surrounded by the Green Mountains. This love continued and grew when he moved to the high desert and grasslands of Southern Colorado. He hopes to work with carnivores studying their ecology and interactions with humans, while aiding in their conservation. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, looking for and watching wildlife, and being outside with friends and loved ones.

U.C. Davis

  • Rachel-Ann Arias
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Rachel-Ann is a second-year student at the University of California, Davis, majoring in Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology. Growing up in Los Angeles, she discovered her passion for wildlife conservation during high school while volunteering with the Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy and collaborating with Occidental College’s computational biology lab. Her experiences included studying elusive mountain lions, bears, and coyotes in the LA area, sparking a fascination with urban wildlife.

Currently interning at UC Davis’ Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Rachel-Ann’s role involves curating specimens and contributing to ongoing research projects. She also took the lead as an intern team leader for the 2023 Putah Creek Nestbox Project, which involved tracking cavity-nesting bird populations and banding chicks.

With aspirations in wildlife conservation, Rachel-Ann aims to continue her educational journey and eventually become a research biologist. Her primary goal is to bridge the gap between urban development and wildlife preservation, fostering coexistence. Outside of her academic pursuits, she enjoys outdoor activities like camping, hiking, soccer, and ultimate frisbee.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

  • Ryan Bloom
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Ryan is a 4th year student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo majoring in Biological Sciences and concentrating in Ecology, Evolution, Biodiversity, and Conservation. His hometown is Sacramento, CA, where he found his passion for ecology spending summers exploring the unique riparian ecosystem right there in his backyard. Ryan has worked in Dr. Ruttenburg’s Marine Conservation Lab as a field leader for monthly intertidal Pismo clam surveys since his sophomore year, and is currently working on his senior project studying the impact of shorebird predation on Pismo Clam populations. Ryan is also an active member of Dr. Bean’s Spatial Wildlife Ecology Lab, in which he works studying Narrow-faced Kangaroo rats in an effort to model occupancy throughout their entire range. He also assists in the evaluation of the taxonomic status of 3 purported sub-species of Narrow-faced Kangaroo rats through genetic collection and testing. Ryan hopes to continue his education and eventually get a masters degree or PhD in the field of ecology. He has a deep passion for the natural world, driving his curiosity and aptitude to learn about wildlife, from ecosystems and animal behavior to the conservation of endangered species. In his free time you could find him exploring SLO county, surfing, climbing, or playing intramural sports with his friends. 

UC Santa Barbara

  • Jamie Miller
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Jamie is a PhD student at the UC Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science & Management where she is studying restoration ecology and wildlife population dynamics in the coastal dune ecosystem. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Systematic Biology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and has worked as a wildlife biologist on the central coast for over 15 years. In 2020 she earned her Master’s in Environmental Science and Management at Bren, specializing in conservation planning and environmental data science. Her Master’s thesis involved updating habitat connectivity assessments for The Nature Conservancy and the Staying Connected Initiative in the Adirondack Mountains. She has served on the board of the California Central Coast Chapter as Secretary and Treasurer, and is now the UCSB Student Chapter Representative.

She is passionate about wildlife conservation and started her career by tracking California condors at Hi Mountain Lookout and studying kangaroo rat ecology in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes and Carrizo Plains National Monument. Looking to expand her work abroad, she spent time in the tropics studying avian demography and breeding biology in the Amazon basin and Andean cloud forest in Peru, banding forest birds in Hawai’i, and studying mantled howler monkey foraging ecology in Costa Rica. For several years, she has worked for Point Blue Conservation Science at Vandenberg Space Force Base, studying snowy plover productivity and survivorship and coastal dune ecology. When not climbing sand dunes looking for plover chicks on Vandenberg’s beaches, she enjoys native plant gardening, harboring native bees in her yard, baking goodies with locally-grown fruit, and photographing wild things.

San Francisco State

TBD

University of Nevada, Reno

  • Jacob Smith
  • tws-west<at>tws-west<dot>org

Hello my name is Jacob Smith and I am a third year honors student at the University of Nevada Reno majoring in Wildlife ecology and conservation with a minor in biology. I grew up in the outskirts of Las Vegas where I spent ample time catching and learning about reptiles in both arid and riparian ecosystems. I have always worked with reptiles either as pets or observing them outside. This upbringing has led me to a desire to further my career in herpetology research. I would love to either focus on endangered herp management and/or reptile social behavior.  I hope to continue my education by obtaining a masters and PHD. My main motivation, besides utter fascination with reptiles, is helping an under-appreciated taxa that is vastly unique and imperative to ecosystem health get a voice in conservation and the public’s eye. When I am not at school or working I take any chance I get to explore the great outdoors. Either with working on a trail crew (2023 summer season for Friends of Nevada Wilderness), helping with rattlesnake research (worked with first year masters student Colton Irons) at great basin national park, hiking, camping, snowboarding (in Tahoe), walking my dog, and climbing. 

Other Great People

 

Bookkeeper

  • John McNerney
  • JMcNerney<at>cityofdavis<dot>org
John received his B.S. in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University in 1996. He has since worked various wildlife and natural resource related positions with Nevada State Parks, U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Fish and Game and in private consulting. Since 2001, John has served as the staff wildlife biologist for the City of Davis, California. The position keeps him busy with a full range of duties, including habitat planning and restoration, wildlife and habitat management, CEQA document preparation/ review, and natural resource interpretation. His professional interests include wetlands and grasslands restoration and management. In his spare time John enjoys woodworking, day hikes, camping, backpacking, nature watching and sharing his love for wild areas with his wife, two sons, and two dogs.

Project Manager and Meeting Planner

  • Candace Renger
  • projectmanager<at>tws-west<dot>org

Candace is the Project Manager and Meeting Planner for The Western Section. In her free time you will likely find Candace on a mountain peak in the Sierras, rock climbing, mountain biking or gardening in her backyard.

Webmaster

  • Eric Renger
  • webmaster<at>tws-west<dot>org

Eric is the Western Section Webmaster While working as an embedded software programmer during the day, Eric manages the TWS website during the evenings.

Workshop Coordinator

  • Ivan Parr
  • workshops<at>tws-west<dot>org

Ivan Parr is the Western Section’s Workshop Coordinator. Ivan loves the idea of promoting education and experience when it comes to understanding wildlife and their habitats. A botanist as well as a wildlife biologist, Ivan spends his (albeit limited) free time searching the Golden state for unique treasures of biodiversity. He is currently trying to compile a photographic index of California’s endemic species.

The Wildlife Society – Western Section Presidents

A. Starker Leopold 1954-1955
Walter Howard 1955-1956
Frank Kozlik 1956-1957
Ray Dasmann 1957-1958
Chuck Fisher 1958-1959
Hank Hjersman 1959-1960
Harold Bissell 1960-1961
William Graf 1961-1962
J. Harold Severaid 1962-1963
Don Kelley 1963-1964
Howard Leach 1964-1965
Joe Hendricks 1965-1966
Phil Arend 1966-1967
Bruce Browning 1967-1968
Stan Harris 1968-1969
John Cowan 1969-1970
Jim Yoakum 1970-1971
Mert Rosen 1971-1972
Marshall White 1972-1973
Richard Laursen 1973-1974
Dick Teague 1974-1975
Dick Hubbard 1975-1976
Doug Donaldson 1976-1977
Lew Nelson 1977-1978
Brian Hunter 1978-1979
Hal Salwasser 1979-1980
George Tsukamoto 1980-1981
Dean Swickard 1981-1982
Kent Smith 1982-1983
Robert Fields 1983-1984
Judy Tartaglia 1984-1985
Donald Armentrout 1985-1986
James Brownell 1986-1987
Steve Holl 1987-1988
John Kie 1988-1989
Robert Schmidt 1989-1990
Scott E. Frazer 1990-1991
Ann H. Huffman 1991-1992
Richard Williams 1992-1993
Richard Anderson 1993-1994
Marti Kie 1994-1995
Mike Chapel 1995-1996
Dale McCullough 1996-1997
Reginald H. Barrett 1997-1998
Dean Carrier 1998-1999
Linda Spiegel 1999-2000
Michael Morrison 2000-2001
Barry Garrison 2001-2002
Catherine Hibbard 2002-2003
Lowell Diller 2003-2004
John Harris 2004-2005
Cynthia Graves Perrine 2005-2006
Kevin W. Hunting 2006-2007
Julie Vance 2007-2008
Rhys Evans 2008-2009
Scott D. Osborn 2009-2010
Armand G. Gonzales 2010-2011
John McNerney 2011-2012
Linda Leeman 2012-2013
Douglas Bell 2013-2014
Natasha Dvorak 2014-2015
Don Yasuda 2015-2016
Rachel Sprague 2016-2017
Rocky Gutierrez 2017-2018
Jeff Davis 2018-2019
Matthew Bettelheim 2019-2020
Kelly Holland 2020-2021
Dan Airola 2021-2022
Katie Smith 2022-2023
Randi McCormick 2023-2024
Brooke Langle 2024-2025

Meeting Minutes


Forms