|
Pacific West Staff
Dan Erickson, MSc
Conservation Fisheries Scientist
derickson@wcs.org
Eugene, OR
Dan received his BS in Fisheries from Oregon State University in 1982 and his MS in Fisheries from the University of Georgia in 1984. He has dedicated his WCS career to developing and conducting research projects aimed at informing conservation and management of sturgeon species, specifically green sturgeon (U.S. west coast), Atlantic sturgeon (U.S. East coast), and Kaluga sturgeon (Russia Far East). He hopes to apply science based information obtained through WCS-led research to influence policy. He is also quite involved in outreach on his work including Workshops, presentations and media. In his spare time, Dan is a high school and middle school wrestling coach. Find out more about his Green Sturgeon in Oregon project.
Kerry Farris, MSc
Associate Conservation Scientist
kfarris@wcs.org
Tucson, AZ
Kerry roamed throughout the West extensively during her undergraduate years, attending 4 different universities and holding numerous seasonal wildlife biologist jobs with the U.S. Forest Service and private research consultants in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. During this time she was exposed 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. In 1994, Kerry returned to her studies, eventually earning her B.S. and M.S. in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho. Her masters work focused upon the foraging habitat selection of woodpeckers in relation to ponderosa pine snag decomposition, research which led to her current position with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Learn more about the WCS Forests, Fires and Wildlife project.
Keyt Fischer, PhD
Conservation Scientist
Coordinator Sudden Oak Death Project
kfischer@wcs.org
Leaving her native California in the 1970’s and working on a WCS-funded study on humpback whales in Hawaii, was the start of Dr. Keyt Fischer’s long time connection with WCS and the beginning of her voyage as a conservationist. While studying biology and environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Dr. Fischer helped with legislation for Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia, which gave these Pacific island nations legal standing to protect themselves from radioactive waste storage in their waters. After completing a graduate degree in Science Communication, Dr. Fischer worked toward her PhD in biology and anthropology at Harvard, while studying rainforest canopy ecology and seed dispersal in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea. This study was partially funded through her Fulbright fellowship and through a grant from the WCS Asia Program. Over the five years she spent in Papua New Guinea, Dr. Fischer worked with local villagers and two mining companies to establish the Mekil wildlife management area and research station on Mount Stolle. Following her graduate work, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz asked Dr. Fischer to conduct a marine survey of Lambi Island in Myanmar, the first marine survey in that country. With those data, Dr. Fischer wrote the management plan for the Mergui Archipelago, which in addition to offering management recommendations to protect the Archipelago, provided recommendations to support the continued existence of the Selon people, who have lived in the area for centuries. Dr. Fischer then returned to Papua New Guinea, and as interim director of the Christensen Research Institute. As director of the Christensen Fund, Dr. Fischer helped to establish the endowment for the Christensen Fellowship at WCS, helped endow a similar fellowship program at the Missouri Botanical Garden and helped secure bridge funding for the Conservation and Research Center at the National Zoo. In 2002 Dr. Fischer became a Conservation Scientist with the WCS North America Program, where she currently leads research on forest diseases and conservation, including the Sudden Oak Death epidemic in California.
Joe Liebezeit, MSc
Associate Conservation Scientist
jliebezeit@wcs.org
Portland, OR
With a B.A. in Zoology and a M.S. in Wildlife Management, Joe has worked as a wildlife biologist for the past fourteen years, primarily focusing on various aspects of avian ecology. Joe's previous research includes a study on nest predation of the Dusky Flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri), in which remote camera systems were used to identify nest predators and examine how vegetative characteristics at nest locations may influence nest fate, and, with support from California Department of Fish and Game, the development of a corvid management plan for California which deals directly with increases in native species that have an impact on other indigenous species through increased predation. Joe has been working 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. Find out more about WCS's Arctic Coastal Plain Project.
Sean Matthews, MSc
Assistant Conservation Biologist
Hoopa Valley Pacific Fisher Project Director
smatthews@wcs.org
Hoopa Valley Reservation, California
Sean acquired his B.S. in Wildlife Management and his 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. Find out more about the WCS Hoopa Valley Pacific Fisher Conservation Project.
Katharine Wang, MSc
Program Manager, Pacific West
kwang@wcs.org
Portland, OR
Katy joins the Pacific West team with a B.A. in American Studies from Georgetown University and an M.S. in Environmental Education and Behavior from the University of Michigan. Katy takes an active role in the development and implementation of the Pacific West’s Conservation Program, focal areas of her work include communications, education, strategic partnership development, outreach, and capacity building. She is also responsible for the financial administration of the Pacific West Research Program. Prior to joining WCS, Katy was the Outreach Program Director at the North American Association for Environmental Education.
Steve Zack, PhD
Conservation Scientist
Coordinator Pacific West Program
szack@wcs.org
Portland, OR
Steve Zack 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 PhD 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.
|
