Pronouns: She/her
Best email: takers1124@gmail.com
Affiliation: CSU Sacramento
Current position: Graduate student
County: Sacramento
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Maybe
How often can you meet? Quarterly
Specializations: Soil ecology, Fire ecology, Mycorrhizae/fungi ecology, Plant ecology/botany
Pronouns: They/Them
Best email: nat.nemeth@gmail.com
Affiliation: Watershed Stewards Program
Current position: Early career professional
County: San Luis Obispo
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Maybe
How often can you meet? As needed
Specializations: River/riparian/fish restoration, Environmental education/science outreach, Use of beaver behavior (e.g. BDAs), International travel/work as an environmental scientist. I am interested in working within watersheds, fisheries, environmental justice, and with fish whether that be fresh or salt water.
Bio/Interests: Natalie is currently working as a fisheries biologist with the Watershed Stewards Program with a passion for fish and habitat restoration. With a knowingness all systems are connected and intrinsically reliant on each other, Natalie seeks to approach restoration work holistically. While their interests are centered on working directly with fish, protecting and rehabilitating steelhead trout in San Luis Obispo, Natalie enjoys working within watersheds to reintroduce native plants, beaver dam analogs and create a viable habitat for all life. Natalie is eager to continue learning and working within the world of fisheries and habitat restoration, reintroducing beaver, and finding ways to recharge and protect water. They graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.A. Business Administration, Emphasis: Sustainable Food Systems / Minor: Spanish; and from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, M.S. Environmental Sciences and Management. In their offtime, Natalie can be found sincerely enjoying a number of activities often depicted in an eHarmony ad including but not exclusive to surfing, taking long walks on the beach, completing a crossword, and smiling amongst friends whether it be in slow motion or real time.
Pronouns: she/her
Best email: aine.javier@gmail.com
Affiliation: Watershed Stewards Program
Current position: Early career professional
County: Monterey
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Yes, in person
How often can you meet? Quarterly
Specializations: Freshwater wetland restoration, GIS, Conservation biology, Environmental compliance/regulatory permitting, Environmental policy, Resource conservation districts
Bio/Interests: In June, I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Environmental Management and Protection along with minors in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Biology. During my time at Cal Poly, I worked as the Conservation Biology Intern at the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District (CSLRCD) from the last quarter of my third year until graduation. Working with the CSLRCD for over a year gave me the opportunity to help out and contribute to a number of natural resource conservation projects. These projects ranged from wetland restoration planning and implementation to development of a carbon farm plan for the city of San Luis Obispo to beginning permitting for a project hoping to remediate a DDT contaminated lake and stream. Additionally, I got the opportunity to work alongside State Parks in with the Pismo Dunes Restoration Project which involved seed collection, plant propagation, planting and installation of erosion control measures. Following graduation, I joined the Watershed Stewards Program which is a California Conservation Corps program in partnership with AmeriCorps. Since October, I have been serving with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in Big Sur, helping implement the Coastal Monitoring Program (CMP). The CMP has the goal of assessing the state of salmonid populations. In Big Sur, this means assessing the population of threatened Steelhead Trout by setting up a DIDSON camera and counting the steelhead that migrate up and down the Big Sur River. Additionally, populations are estimated with electrofishing and snorkel surveys on steelhead bearing streams. This position has allowed me to get hands-on field experience along with in office data management and compilation skills.
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Best email: chelsea.palisoc@water.ca.gov
Affiliation: Department of Water Resources
Current position: Early career professional
County: Sacramento
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Yes, in person
How often can you meet? Quarterly
Specializations: River/riparian/fish restoration, Urban stream, Fish passage, Riverine ecosystems, Process based restoration, Environmental education, CEQA
Bio/Interests: I'm an environmental scientist that works for the CA Department of Water Resources! I am an ecologist for the Riverine Stewardship Program, and manage grants for urban stream restoration and fish passage projects. I got my undergrad in Ecology and Evolution from UC Santa Cruz and I have an interest in process based restoration, project management, and public outreach. I want to increase my knowledge in my areas of interest, as well as permitting, CEQA, GIS, and R, and hope to attend grad school in the future to accomplish this. I seek to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion into my work and to one day be a good role model for young aspiring female ecologists of color!
Pronouns: she/her
Best email: athena.lynch@sjsu.edu
Affiliation: Watershed Stewards Program
Current position: Early career professional
County: Santa Cruz
How will you participate as a mentee: In-person
Going to the 2023 Conference? Yes, in person
How often can you meet? As needed
Specializations: Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Land sovereignty/Indigenous land stewardship, Fire ecology, Herbaria, Tribal law, Recovery after wildfires
Pronouns: She/Her
Best email: elizabeth.allen01@sjsu.edu
Affiliation: California Conservation Corps Watershed Stewards Program
Current position: Early career professional
County: Santa Cruz
How will you participate as a mentee: In-person
Going to the 2023 Conference? Yes, in person
How often can you meet? As needed
Specializations: Restoration Ecology, Conservation, Phycology, Tidal/coastal restoration, Estuary, Intertidal ecology Wetlands
Pronouns: She/Her
Best email: ninamarchiando@gmail.com
Affiliation: University of California
Current position: Graduate student / Mid-career professional
County: Los Angeles
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Maybe
How often can you meet? Monthly
Specializations: Environmental education/science outreach, Environmental consulting
Pronouns: She/her
Best email: sama@ucsb.edu
Affiliation: UC Santa Barbara
Current position: Graduate student
County: Santa Barbara
How will you participate as a mentee: Both in-person and virtually
Going to the 2023 Conference? Yes, in person
How often can you meet? Monthly
Specializations: Chaparral restoration
Interests: Job opportunities, hearing about other’s work experiences, working with community members, DEI in restoration
Bio: Stephanie (she/her) is a plant community ecologist with a focus on southern California chaparral ecosystems. She is interested in applying her skills to help protect and restore local plant communities and to increase community engagement with science and research, especially among students and young restorationists and ecologists. Stephanie completed her B.S. at UC Davis, her M.A. at UC Santa Barbara, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Barbara in Dr. Carla D’Antonio’s lab where she is studying chaparral restoration and the impacts of drought on chaparral recovery following fire.
