North America Program Staff

WCS North America Program Contact Information

North America Program Director:  Jodi Hilty (bio)

North America Program Manager:  Shannon Roberts (bio)

Primary Mailing Address: 
North America Program
Wildlife Conservation Society
301 North Willson Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59715 USA

General Information Telephone: (406) 522-9333 ext. 101

General Information Email:  jburrell@wcs.org

North America Program Staff Biographies

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Bryan Aber - carnivore conservation specialist 
Involved with WCS wolverine program since 2000, Bryan is currently filling a new collaborative carnivore biologist position between WCS, Idaho Fish and Game and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.  Bryan was previously employed by the Caribou-Targhee National Forest as the District Biologist for the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District.  He has a 27-plus year tenure with the USFS.  Bryan grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York, but has lived in the Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1981.

email: baber@wcs.org

Biz (Elizabeth) Agnew has a BA from Queen’s University at Kingston and a Masters of Environmental Studies (Biological Conservation) from York University in Toronto.  Prior to arriving at WCS in 2007, Biz worked at Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) as director of US Programmes and before that at WWF Canada as their International programme director, with a geographical focus on Latin America and the Caribbean.

email: eagnew@wcs.org

Keith Aune - senior conservation scientist

Keith received his bachelors in wildlife biology from the University of Montana, Missoula and a Masters Degree in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University, Bozeman.  Keith is Senior Conservation Scientist for WCS and working on several issues including a granting program for the Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund, the WCS Corridor Initiative, and the American Bison.   Keith comes to WCS from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) where he served for 31 years in various capacities.  He has conducted field or laboratory research on black and grizzly bears, wildlife diseases, wolverine, lions and bison.  In his most recent position at MFWP he served as the Chief of Wildlife Research and directed multiple research projects across Montana as well as supervising the annual harvest survey and the Wildlife Research Laboratory staff.

email: kaune@wcs.org 

Jon Beckmann - associate conservation ecologist

Jon earned a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology from the University of Nevada-Reno.  He has more than 14 years of experience in wildlife conservation working on species ranging from black bears, cougars, and pronghorn, to small mammals and shorebirds.  In 2004, he was nominated by his peers for the Alan T. Waterman Award, the most prestigious award from the National Science Foundation for scientists under the age of 35.  He is currently project director of the WCS Centennials Carnivore Corridor project, the US-Mexico Borderland Ecology project, and the Energy and Pronghorn project in western Wyoming.

email: jbeckmann@wcs.org

Scott Bergen - associate conservation scientist, Living Landscapes Program

Scott is a landscape ecologist and conservation biologist who specializes in using geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing for species and reserve management.  He received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 2004, and completed post doctorates with the Mellon Foundation and NASA.  He has studied how high resolution satellite imagery can be used to count wildlife and how changing sea ice conditions will affect Arctic Basin polar bears. Currently he is working with the Idaho National Laboratory to create a site conservation plan that deals with pygmy rabbits, sage grouse and pronghorn.

email: sbergen@wcs.org

Joel Berger - senior field scientist

Joel received his doctoral degree in biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and subsequently worked for the Smithsonian Institution 7 years, before becoming a tenured full professor at the University of Nevada, Reno (16 years).  His current research focuses on the conservation of species and intact ecosystems.  He has written 3 books (on wild horses, rhinos, and bison).  Dr. Berger directs a number of projects for WCS; among these are the saiga antelope conservation project in Mongolia, the pronghorn migration corridor conservation project and the impact of energy development on wildlife projects in Greater Yellowstone. 

email: jberger@wcs.org

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 Jeff Burrell - program manager for the Western U.S.

Raised on his family’s ranch in the Texas Panhandle, Jeff has been involved in wildlife conservation on private lands from an early age.  He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in range management and geology from Texas Tech University.  He has taught and conducted research on geology and paleoecology throughout the western U.S.  In addition to overseeing WCS projects in the West, Jeff works with a wide range of stakeholders to improve wildlife conservation on the private lands of Greater Yellowstone.

email: jburrell@wcs.org

Pete Coppolillo - coordinator of the Yellowstone Rockies Program

Pete joined WCS’ in 2000 as part of the Living Landscapes Program (based in New York), and from 2003 until earlier this year he directed WCS’s Ruaha Landscape Program.  Pete will coordinate and help carry out WCS’s conservation activities in and around the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Coppolillo received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Conservation from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis.  He has studied Ferruginous Hawks (Buteo regalis) in North America, avian community ecology in Kenya, large herbivore ecology and herding systems in Tanzania, and, in collaboration with other WCS conservationists, helped to develop protected area strategies in Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Congo, Tanzania, the United States and Cambodia.

email: pcoppolillo@wcs.org

Molly Cross - climate change ecologist

Molly is an ecologist whose research focuses on ecosystem responses to climate change and biodiversity loss.  In January 2007, Molly joined WCS’s North America Program to examine the impacts of climate change on wildlife habitat conservation efforts. The primary goal of the project is to bring together experts in the fields of climate change, ecology, conservation planning and land management to develop a framework for approaching climate change adaptation through on-the-ground conservation practices in the Intermountain West of North America. Molly conducted her Ph.D. research at the University of California-Berkeley on ecosystem responses to climate warming-induced plant species loss in a sub-alpine meadow in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

email: mcross@wcs.org

David Ellenberger - outreach coordinator

David Ellenberger is the outreach coordinator for the North America Program.  He is responsible for writing and editing foundation proposals and developing targeted outreach materials and internal communication pieces for the NAP.  David grew up in Boise, Idaho, and earned a B.S. in Zoology from the College of Idaho in 1994.  He has 14 years of experience in the conservation and environmental movement, working for the Sierra Club in Washington DC, New Hampshire and Montana and for Montana Conservation Voters. 

email: dellenberger@wcs.org

Kevin Ellison - associate conservation scientist

Kevin manages WCS and collaborative projects designed to measure the relationships between grassland birds and bison.  Kevin has been involved in avian research since 1992.  He completed his Master’s degree at the University of California, Riverside where he studied interactions between sage scrub songbirds, their nest predators, and cowbirds.  Kevin completed his Ph.D. at the University of Manitoba; his research was based on aspects of host use by two sympatric cowbird species in south Texas.  During his post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin, Kevin studied the impact of habitat features on grassland birds and potential nest predators.  Kevin has published several articles on avian ecology and cowbirds. Kevin has also co-authored and assisted with several of the species accounts in the Birds of North America series, a seminal resource in the field of ornithology.

email: kellison@wcs.org

Kerry Ferris - field leader for WCS work related to fire and woodpeckers

Prior to joining WCS, Kerry held numerous seasonal wildlife biologist jobs with the U.S. Forest Service and private research consultants in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. This work exposed her to various research and monitoring techniques studying such notable species as the California Spotted Owl, Northern Goshawk, Sierra Nevada Red Fox, Pine Martin, Willow Flycatcher, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and numerous songbirds.  Kerry earned a B.S. and a M.S. in wildlife resources from the University of Idaho, where her work focused on the foraging habitat selection of woodpeckers in relation to ponderosa pine snag decomposition.

email: kferris@wcs.org

Michale Glennon - project leader for the Adirondacks Living Landscapes Program

Michale grew up in the Adirondacks in Lake Placid, NY.  She graduated from Dartmouth College in 1995 with a B.S. in environmental and evolutionary biology and then completed an M.S. (1997) and Ph.D. (2002) in environmental and forest biology at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.  Her dissertation focused on the relationships between land use and biotic integrity in the Adirondack Park. 

email: mglennon@wcs.org

Jodi Hilty - director of WCS’s North America Program

Jodi is a landscape ecologist and conservation biologist with a research focus on understanding thresholds of human impact on biodiversity. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkley in 2001.  Jodi has published numerous peer-reviewed science journal papers focusing on the role of corridors in wildlife conservation, and is co-author of the recently published Corridor Ecology: The Science and Practice of Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation.

email: jhilty@wcs.org

Kristy Howe - field coordinator for the Sagebrush Steppe Ecology Project

Kristy Howe serves as the field coordinator for the Sagebrush Steppe Ecology Project in southeastern Idaho. She graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor's of Science in wildlife biology in 1999.  She is currently working toward a Master's degree in biology at Idaho State University.

email: khowe@wcs.org

Bob Inman - director and co-principal investigator for the WCS’s Greater Yellowstone Wolverine Study

Bob has 12 years of experience working on wildlife projects with diverse areas of emphasis including carnivore research, state game management, neo-tropical songbird inventory and monitoring, endangered species management, and habitat quantification. In 1997, Bob earned a M.S. degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Tennessee.  Bob is a doctoral candidate with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, where he will work with a Swedish and Norwegian team that leads the longest term, most comprehensive and extensive wolverine research study worldwide.

email: binman@wcs.org

Kris Inman - co-principal investigator for the WCS’s Greater Yellowstone Wolverine Study

Kris has several years of experience conducting research on a wide range of species including northern spotted owls, gray wolves, shorebirds and raptors.  In addition, she has 8 years of experience researching black bears in varying habitats in Maine, Virginia, Oregon, and New Mexico.  Kris graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in wildlife management and received her M.S. in wildlife ecology at Virginia Tech.  Kris began working for the Hornocker Wildlife Institute in 1998 and through its merger with WCS began conducting wolverine research in the Greater Yellowstone in 2001.

email: kinman@wcs.org

Jerry Jenkins - project leader for forest management and conservation easements

Jerry has been involved with WCS' work in the Adirondacks since the genesis of the program, and has brought his interest and expertise in forest ecology to a variety of discussions and projects.  He is a botanist and consultant with wide-ranging experience for a number of regional organizations, including performing ecological assessments for the Adirondack Nature Conservancy.  Jerry is also director of Bard College's White Creek Field School.

email: jjenkins@wcs.org

Damien Joly - wildlife epidemiologist with the Field Veterinary Program

Damien focuses his studies on understanding and managing disease dynamics at the interface between wildlife, humans, and domestic animals. He has conducted research on Foot and Mouth Disease, Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis, Chronic Wasting Disease, Avian Influenza, and Hydatid Disease.

email: djoly@wcs.org

 Leslie Karasin - program manager for the Adirondack Community and Conservation Program

Leslie has worked with WCS in several capacities since 2001.  After receiving a B.A. from Wellesley College, Leslie was awarded a Knafel Travelling Fellowship, under which she volunteered with environmental organizations, hiked and observed ecotourism and management practices on four continents.  She has worked as a Summit Steward in the Adirondack High Peaks, has taught at North Country Community College, and has worked as an environmental consultant.

email: lkarasin@wcs.org

Heidi Kretser - livelihoods and conservation coordinator for the North America Program

An Adirondack native, Heidi received a B.S. in resource and environmental economics from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, an M.S. in environmental studies from the Yale School of Forestry, and Ph.D. in natural resources management with a focus on human-wildlife interactions from Cornell University.   From 1998 to 2003 Heidi worked as the program coordinator for the WCS Adirondack Communities and Conservation Program. 

email: hkretser@wcs.org

Joe Liebezeit - field leader, Arctic

Joe has worked for WCS since 2001 and has taken a lead role in the development of a collaborative research project to investigate the relationship between nest predation, nest survivorship, and oil infrastructure in arctic Alaska. With a B.A. in zoology and a M.S. in wildlife management, Joe has worked as a wildlife biologist for many years, primarily focusing on various aspects of avian ecology. His previous research includes a study on nest predation of the Dusky Flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri) and the development of a corvid management plan for California. 

email: jliebezeit@wcs.org

Darren Long - Duke grants program manager

As program officer for WCS, Darren is responsible for all management, administration and grantmaking activities of the Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund; a 2-year program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which makes grants to support nonprofit conservation organizations working to implement priorities of State Wildlife Action Plans.  Prior to joining WCS in August of 2006, Darren worked for The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in Atlanta, the Turner Foundation, and for Emory University’s Living Links Center, where he studied the behavior of apes and monkeys. 

email: dlong@wcs.org

Sean Matthews - project leader for the Hoopa Valley Pacific Fisher Conservation Project

Sean received a B.S. in wildlife management and a M.S. in natural resources at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. He currently coordinates field research activities in cooperation with Hoopa Valley Tribal Forestry personnel in studying elements of Pacific fisher ecology and timber harvest impacts. Sean has worked with various WCS projects since 2001, working with mountain lions and wolverines in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Sudden Oak Death in California, bear-human interaction in the Adirondacks and, most recently, as a project leader studying human-black bear interactions in Yosemite National Park.

email: smatthews@wcs.org

Jenni McDermid - fisheries research associate

Jenni joined WCS Canada in January 2007 as a fisheries research associate working out of Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Jenni’s work focuses on examining threats to the biodiversity and viability of freshwater fishes.  She is excited to have the chance to work in relatively pristine habitats, and to determine how best to protect and preserve freshwater fish populations as they confront the many challenges (i.e. over-fishing of top predators, introduction of sport or bait fish, and changes in habitat as the result of logging in the nearby areas) that often come along with increased accessibility to remote areas.  Jenni received a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Toronto.

email: jmcdermid@wcs.org

Mark Packila - assistant biologist for the Greater Yellowstone Wolverine Study

Mark has worked with WCS and the Wolverine Program since 2003 helping to coordinate and participate in the field effort and serves as one of the telemetry pilots for the program.  His educational background is in genetics from Bemidji State University.

email: mpackila@wcs.org

 Megan Parker - assistant director, North America Program

Megan grew up in Montana, received her B.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont, worked on falcons in Guatemala for an M.S. at Boise State University, and African wild dogs in Botswana for her doctorate at the University of Montana. She has worked on ecological restoration, birds, wolves and wildlife / human conflict issues in North America in between. She has trained and handled dogs for detecting and monitoring species since 1996 and co-founded Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation.

email: MParker@wcs.org

Justina Ray - director of WCS Canada

Justina has worked for WCS in various roles since 1987.  Justina’s research focuses on the role of shifting landscapes in biodiversity decline and/or change in forested ecosystems and on conservation planning in the large intact landscapes of Canada’s northern boreal forests.  Justina has authored or co-authored more than 20 book chapter, journal, or popular articles, and is lead editor of the book Large Carnivores and the Conservation of Biodiversity (Island Press; March, 2005).  

email: jray@wcs.org

Donald Reid - associate conservation zoologist

Based in Whitehorse, Yukon, Don is a wildlife biologist whose research has focused on vertebrate habitat relationships and community dynamics, in arctic, boreal, and temperate montane ecosystems.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1995.  His current work involves conservation assessment in strategic land use planning, and investigating resilience of arctic tundra ecosystems in the face of climate change.

email: dreid@wcs.org

Melissa Richey - program development officer

Melissa is responsible for the fundraising activities of the North America Program, primarily in the western U.S.  Melissa has worked as a fundraiser for Montana State University, Duke University School of Law, and the Sonoran Institute.  She earned a M.P.A. with a focus in nonprofit management from North Carolina State University.

email: mrichey@wcs.org

Shannon Roberts - financial/program manager

Now full-time, Shannon originally came to WCS on a part-time basis in July 2006.  A native of Bozeman, Shannon has over 30 years of administrative and financial experience in the non-profit and private sector. She currently serves as Board Chair for American Wildlands and is a court appointed CASA/GAL in Gallatin County. 

email: sroberts@wcs.org

Nina Schoch - program coordinator for the Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program

Nina initially began working with contaminant research in loons in 1998, which evolved into the Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program in 2001. Dr. Schoch has a veterinary degree from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, a master’s degree in natural resources/wildlife management from Humboldt State University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology-behavioral ecology from Cornell University. 

email: nschoch@wcs.org

Zoë Smith - acting regional coordinator and community coordinator for the ACCP

Before joining WCS in 2000, Zoë worked with the Student Conservation Association's Americorp Program where she facilitated service projects with local schools and community organizations throughout the Adirondack region.  She also spent many years instructing outdoor recreation leadership to college students, adults, and young children with the Adirondack Mountain Club and the Wilderness Education Association.  As WCS’ community liaison, Zoë works directly with communities to promote conservation in the Park. Her special focus is with WCS’ Black Bear Education, Awareness, and Research Program.  Zoë earned a Bachelor of Arts in natural resource economics from SUNY Fredonia.

email: zsmith@wcs.org

Andra Toivola - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist

Andra received a B.S. degree in earth sciences, physical geography with an emphasis in biogeographical studies, from Montana State University in 2004. Since just after graduation, Andra has been assisting the WCS regional biologists with their ongoing geospatial research needs.  She has also completed several GIS-based independent research investigations focused on western wildlife and ecology.

email:  atoivola@wcs.org

John Weaver - carnivore conservation biologist

John is a carnivore conservation biologist for WCS based in Missoula, Montana with field programs in the western United States and Canada.  Recently, John’s research and conservation activities have increasingly focused on Canada, with field programs in Nahanni National Park and the Crowsnest Pass region of central Alberta.  Over the past 25 years, John has played many key roles in large carnivore conservation in the United States and Canada.  He has held leadership positions with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on endangered species and has served on several recovery teams, including for both wolves and grizzly bears.  He has authored more than 20 scientific publications and served as a reviewer for five scientific journals. John has an academic appointment at the University of Montana. 

email: jweaver@wcs.org

Gillian Woolmer - assistant director WCS Canada

Gillian came to WCS Canada in 2004 following three years at the WCS International Program headquarters in New York, where she was a GIS analyst and lab manager.  Gillian has collaborated on a diverse array of WCS projects, including deforestation in Sumatra, Sudden Oak Death Syndrome in California, and mandrill habitat use in Gabon.  She also played a major role in the mapping of the global Human Footprint, published in Bioscience in 2002.  Gillian’s research now focuses on conservation planning in the Northern Appalachian.  She is an active member of the 2C1Forest Science Team and is focused on building capacity for spatial analysis using GIS amongst conservation user communities. 

email: gwoolmer@wcs.org

Julie Young - wildlife ecologist

Julie is conservation biologist with a research focus on spatial and behavioral ecology of large mammals.  Her previous research has focused on the relationship between behavior and population demography of California sea lions, coyote response to differential food resource availability, site fidelity and behavior of territorial male guanacos, and the re-introduction of African wild dogs.  She received her Ph.D. from Utah State University in 2006.

email: jyoung@wcs.org

Steve Zack - conservation scientist and coordinator of WCS’s Pacific West program

Steve grew up in Oregon and earned his B.S. in zoology at Oregon State in 1978.  He went to New Mexico for graduate studies and conducted field work in Kenya on avian social behavior, earning his Ph.D. in 1985.  A post-doc at Purdue University followed, with field work in Venezuela from 1985-1988.  In 1989 he joined the faculty at Yale University and began conservation training of Malagasy students in the rain forests and spiny forests of Madagascar.  He married and returned to the West, joining the North America Program of WCS in 1998.

email: szack@wcs.org