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.
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: Terrestrial and aquatic herpetofauna long-term monitoring, 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
Keith Lombardo
Director, Southern California Research Learning Center
Primary responsibilities: Technical Committee member and Director of the Southern California Research Learning Center
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.
Lauren Pandori
Marine Biologist, Cabrillo National Monument
Primary responsibilities: Conducting long-term rocky intertidal monitoring and reporting at Cabrillo National Monument and five other sites across San Diego County.
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.
John Tiszler
Plant Ecologist, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Primary responsibilities: Technical Committee member and Acting Chief of Planning, Science, Resource Management
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: Vegetation monitoring, 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 24, 2024