Stacey Ostermann-Kelm, Ph.D.
Program Manager
Primary responsibilities: Planning, management, implementation, and coordination of all aspects of the MEDN I&M program. Protocol lead for stream condition and landscape dynamics monitoring.
Education: PhD, Conservation Biology, Univ of California, Davis; MS, Wildlife Ecology, Oregon State University; BA, Zoology, UC Davis
Prior to moving to the Mediterranean Coast Network in 2010, I was the quantitative ecologist at the Greater Yellowstone Inventory & Monitoring Network. Before joining the National Park Service, I worked as a biomonitor for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Carlsbad, California.
Joseph Algiers
Restoration Ecologist, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Primary responsibilities: Lead for the Restoration Program which includes restoration, invasive plant control and the park's native plant nursery
Education: MS, Biology, California State University Northridge; BA, Biology with emphasis in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, California State University Channel Islands
I have 15 years of experience working in resource management for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. I lead the park’s restoration program including wetland, grassland, shrubland and riparian restoration. I lead the invasive plant control program, which includes weed treatments of the park's most ecologically damaging species. I work closely with the park’s native plant nursery manager to oversee the growing of native plants for restoration, education, outreach, research and conservation. For years, I’ve been managing, training and educating technicians, student interns, partners and the public in restoration practice and theory.
Stacy Baker
Biologist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Terrestrial vertebrate monitoring
Ken Convery
Chief of Natural Resources Management, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Technical Committee member and Chief of Natural Resources at Channel Island National Park
Katy Delaney
Wildlife Ecologist, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Primary responsibilities: Lead for terrestrial and aquatic herpetofauna long-term monitoring programs, reintroduction of California red-legged frogs to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, bird point counts.
Education: PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UCLA; BS, Biology, UCSD
Scientist Profile
Scott Gabara
Ecologist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Lead for kelp forest community long-term monitoring program.
Linnea Hall
Executive Director and Avian Conservation Biologist, Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
Primary responsibilities: Lead for landbird long-term monitoring program.
Annie Little
Supervisory Ecologist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Manage terrestrial programs, including wildlife, vegetation, and invasive plants
Education: BS, Biology, Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, UC San Diego
Prior to joining the Park Service in 2019, I worked for 23 years as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. From 1996-2002, my work centered on endangered species conservation (bird, herps, mammals, plants) in southern California. From 2002-2019, I worked on multiple seabird restoration projects and the reintroduction of the Bald Eagle on the Channel Islands. My focus is the conservation of unique island ecosystems, including eradication and control of invasive species, habitat restoration, re-establishment of native species, and Inventory and Monitoring programs. I serve as the U.S. coordinator for the Trilateral Island Initiative which promotes island conservation and collaboration among partners in Canada, U.S., and Mexico.
Keith Lombardo
Director, Southern California Research Learning Center
Primary responsibilities: Technical Committee member and Director of the Southern California Research Learning Center
David Mazurkiewicz
Wildlife Biologist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Lead for long-term seabird monitoring program, seabird habitat restoration
Education: BA, Marine Ecology and Natural History, Prescott College; Graduate Certificate, Restoration Ecology, University of Idaho; MA, Environmental Studies-Conservation Science, Prescott College
Jessica Weinberg McClosky
Science Communication Specialist
Primary responsibilities: Updating, editing and authoring digital content
Education: BA, Psychobiology, Arcadia University
I began my career with the National Park Service in 2010 as a science communication intern in the San Francisco Bay Area. I found science communication to be a great fit. It perfectly melded my background in conservation biology and photography with my skills as a writer and web designer. Now based in New York, I continue to work with several NPS entities to communicate science in parks to broader audiences.
Mark Mendelsohn
Biologist (Vegetation & Wildlife), Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Primary responsibilities: Long-term native & invasive plant monitoring; Bird point count & nesting surveys
Education: MS, Biology (Ecology), San Diego State University; BS, Ecology & Systematic Biology, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
I have been working with the flora and fauna of the SMMNRA since 2012, following prior biological research and consulting for the US Geological Survey and private firms. In addition to studying plants, I have worked on a reintroduction project for the California red-legged frog, and monitoring efforts for California tiger salamanders, arroyo toads, other herps, birds and small mammals from the San Francisco Bay Area down to the US-Mexico border.
Katherine Mills-Orcutt
Biological Science Technician - Fisheries Diver, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Kelp forest and rocky intertidal long-term monitoring
Lauren Pandori
Natural and Cultural Resources Program Manager, Cabrillo National Monument
Primary responsibilities: Lead for rocky intertidal long-term monitoring program.
Education: PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine; BS, Physiology & Neuroscience, UC San Diego
While my PhD thesis research at UC Irvine focused on California mussel population declines, I am interested in using field experiments and ecological statistics to support the conservation and management of intertidal and marine habitats. I joined the Natural Resources Management & Science Divison at Cabrillo National Monument in 2020.
Daniel Pickard
Aquatic Invertebrate Taxonomist, CDFW Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory
Primary responsibilities: Lead for stream condition monitoring program.
Juliann Schamel
Biologist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Terrestrial vertebrate monitoring
Lynn St. Martin
Budget Analyst
Primary responsibilities: Shared budget analyst for 5 I&M networks
Education: BA, Management (Public Administration)
A "park brat", I was raised around the National Park Service and it was my first job out of college. I have worked for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Canyon National Park, the Intermountain Regional Office, and now for Pacific West Region Inventory & Monitoring! I also support Klamath, Pacific Islands, San Francisco Bay Area, and Sierra Nevada Inventory & Monitoring Networks in a budget and administrative capacity.
John Tiszler
Chief of Planning, Science, and Resource Management, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Primary responsibilities: Technical Committee member
Kimberly Weisenborn
Assistant Data Manager
Primary responsibilities: Data management for Mediterranean Coast and Pacific Islands Inventory & Monitoring Networks
Stephen Whitaker
Marine Ecologist
Primary responsibilities: Lead for shoreline monitoring at Channel Islands National Park including the rocky intertidal and sandy beaches & lagoons long-term monitoring programs.
Education: PhD Candidate, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, UC Santa Barbara; MS, Marine Biology, California State University, Fullerton; BS, Marine Biology, College of Charleston
I have been studying coastal ecosystems in southern California for over twenty years. In my current position, I am responsible for monitoring the shoreline habitats at the islands including rocky intertidal reefs and sand beaches. I also log dozens of dives annually assisting the Kelp Forest Monitoring Program. For my master’s thesis, I investigated factors affecting restoration success for the intertidal rockweed alga, Silvetia compressa. In 2018, I returned to graduate school to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara investigating the patterns and long-term trends in the abundance and distribution of foundational species on rocky shores. Concurrently while working and schooling, I am collaborating with colleagues across multiple institutions on a largescale project to restore rockweeds in California.
Cameron B Williams
Botanist, Channel Islands National Park
Primary responsibilities: Native plant communities monitoring lead, rare plants, weeds, restoration, research
Education: PhD, Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley; MS, Biology, Humboldt State Univeristy; BS, Biology (Natural History) & Botany, Humboldt State University
I have been botanizing since 1996, emphasizing epiphytes, lichens, community ecology, wood anatomy, tree architecture, forest structure, forest canopy ecology, and the dynamics of plant water use. Before joining Channel Islands, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Franklin and Marshall College studying the physiological ecology of epiphyte communities in the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica. I am also currently a research associate with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Last updated: April 30, 2024