Wetlands Science Series

Position: M.A. student Ecology and Systematics & T.A., SFSU

Education: San Francisco State University, M.A. Expected Dec 2009

Background: Gavin Archbald is a graduate student in the Ecology and Systematics Master's degree program at San Francisco State University where he has worked as a Teaching Assistant for GIS for Environmental Anlaysis, Restoration Ecology, Wetland Ecology, and Wetland Delineation. Advised by Dr. Katharyn Boyer, he is investigating the ecology of an invasive wetland plant, Algerian sea lavender, recently discovered in San Francisco Bay salt marshes. As an ecologist, Gavin is interested in applications of GIS and remote sensing to the field of restoration ecology and invasion biology. After completing his degree, he plans to work as a restoration ecologist in the Bay Area.

Position: Assistant Professor Biology, SFSU

Education: University of California Los Angeles, Ph.D

Background: Dr. Boyer is currently Assistant Professor of Biology at SFSU with a joint appointment to the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, where she conducts research in wetlands and other coastal habitats and teaches courses in Wetlands Ecology and Restoration Ecology. She received a Ph.D. in Biology from UCLA, an M.S. in Biology from San Diego State University, and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maryland. Formerly, she held positions as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as a Research Associate at the Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory in San Diego, and as an Environmental Scientist with Bechtel Corporation in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Position: Environmental Consultant

Education: University of Western Ontario, Canada, Ph.D

Background: Peter Baye has studied coastal habitats since 1975. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 1991. He worked on regulatory wetland restoration projects at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and endangered species planning and regulation at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, specializing in large-scale regional planning. He is currently an independent consulting plant ecologist, specializing in endangered species recovery, wetland restoration, invasive plant management, and native vegetation management.

Position: Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco, Research Ecologist, U.C.S.B. & Instructor, RTC/SFSU

Education: Ph.D., UCLA, 2007, Riparian Restoration Ecology; M.A., SFSU/RTC, 1998, Wetland Ecology, B.A., Colgate University, 1991, Biology.

Background: Dr. Coffman is a restoration ecologist who has worked on wetland and riparian restoration projects throughout the U.S. and internationally for the last 19 years. Since 1991, she has conducted jurisdictional wetland delineations throughout California, the east coast, the southeast, Midwest, and Puerto Rico. Dr. Coffman has taught wetland ecology, delineation, and restoration courses at the Romberg Tiburon Center for the past 10 years. In addition, she conducts vegetation and invasive plant species mapping, watershed management studies, historical ecology studies, rare plant surveys, and wetland mitigation projects. Her research focuses on experimental wetland and riparian revegetation and restoration strategies in Mediterranean climate regions and tropical Southeast Asia

Position: Senior Wetland Scientist, Wetland Research Associates, Inc.

Education: M.S., USF, Environmental Management, B.S. in Environmental Biology from Plymouth State University

Background:Mr. DeGraff is a Principal of WRA, Inc., an environmental consulting firm formed in 1982 specializing in wetlands, wildlife biology, and habitat restoration in California. Tim DeGraff is a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist and has co-instructed the wetland delineation class offered at the Romberg Tiburon Center. Mr. DeGraff has completed wetland delineations covering a wide array of habitat types throughout the United States including Eastern bottomland hardwood forests, Western riparian forested wetlands, coastal salt marshes (East Coast and West Coast), alkaline sink and seep wetlands, California vernal pools, Eastern vernal pools, and aquatic seagrass beds. He is experienced in the application of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Interagency, and California Coastal Commission wetland delineation procedures. Tim DeGraff is also a regulatory specialist experienced in Section 404 and 401 of Clean Water Act, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, Federal Endangered Species Act, Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, McAteer-Petris Act, and Section 1602 of the Fish and Game Code.

Position: Associate Director, Institute for GIS at SFSU

Education:

Background:Seth Hiatt is the associate director of the Institute for Geographic Information Science at San Francisco State. He has a background in environmental GIS and ecological modeling, and has five years experience as a GIS and remote sensing analyst in the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. His current research interests include spatial analysis of habitat distributions, with particular focus on habitat displacement resulting from climatic change.

Position: President Wetlands Research Associates/ Professor Emeritus Biology SFSU

Education: University of New Hampshire, Ph.D

Background: Michael Josselyn is president of Wetlands Research Associates, Inc., a consulting firm formed in 1982 to improve wetland management and regulation in the United States. Dr. Josselyn taught wetland ecology, delineation, and restoration courses for over 20 years at San Francisco State University, where he is now a Professor Emeritus. He is a certified trainer for the Corps wetland delineation methodology and has regularly provided training in routine and advanced wetland delineation throughout California. He has been an instructor for the Corps of Engineers In-Service Training Program since 1984. Dr. Josselyn is currently President of the Society of Wetland Scientists' Professional Wetlands Scientist Certification Program. He has served as an advisor to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Ocean Program, as a member of numerous panels for the National Research Council, and a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Panel. He is an elected member of the California Academy of Sciences.

Position: Kamman Hydrology & Engineering, Inc.

Background: Rachel Kamman, PE and Greg Kamman, PG are both consulting hydrologists whose work focuses on ecological habitat restoration. Their San Rafael based consulting practice focuses on projects that revolve around sensitive wetland, fishery, and/or riparian habitat issues and problems. With roots and training in the geologic sciences, Greg's interests and expertise include characterizing and modeling watershed scale hydrologic and geomorphic processes; designing and implementing surface water-groundwater interaction studies; and conducting supporting field investigations to characterize and quantify stream flow, tidal exchange, sedimentation, and water quality. Rachel specializes in the fields of hydraulic and hydrodynamic analysis and modeling, focusing on the protection and restoration of estuarine and wetland systems. Typically, the Kamman's work on multi-disciplined projects, collaborating closely with biologists/botanists, ecologists, planners, engineers, and/or regulatory and resource agency staff.

Position: Adjunct Professor Biology, SFSU

Education: University of Chicago, Ph.D. Paleozoology

Background: Dr. Obrebski is currently affiliated with the: Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, SFSU. He has worked at SFSU since 1985 when he started as an Associate Research Scientist/Lecturer. In 1994 he became a Senior Research Scientist/Lecturer at RTC/SFSU and continues to teach and conduct research there. He has taught statistics courses since 1970 at University of the Pacific, University of Connecticut , and San Francisco State University. Courses taught include Introductory Statistics, Experimental Design, and Multivariate Analysis.

Position: Environmental Specialist/Biologist, County of Sonoma

Background: Richard Stabler has studied plant ecology of the North Bay Area and Delta Region since the mid 90's. He received his MS in Biology from Sonoma State Univeristy in 2008. In his current position with Sonoma County, Mr. Stabler has completed several wetland delineations, rare plant and wildlife surveys and is knowledgeable in both biological principles as well as biological regulations. He has also worked on regulatory wetland restoration projects, and endangered species planning, and riparian habitat restoration projects throughout Sonoma County. Mr Stabler's current research interests include plant community level effects of natural and human caused disturbances and plant/animal interactions.

Position: Assistant Professor Biology, SFSU

Background: Mike Vasey is a trained botanist and conservation biologist with over ten years teaching experience in the Biology Department and for the Environmental Studies Program at San Francisco State University. He is currently the president of the California Botanical Society. Mike has been involved in wetland conservation issues for almost 15 years. He has conducted extensive field work in tidal and non-tidal freshwater, brackish, and saline wetlands, riparian wetlands, and seasonal wetlands. He has done wetland vegetation mapping and is actively working as a Co-PI on the plant team for the CalFed-funded Integrated Regional Wetlands Monitoring project. Mike is also working for the recently designated San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Position: Ecologist and Program Manager, SERC

Background: Chela Zabin is an Ecologist and Program Manager for the San Francisco Bay branch of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), housed at the Romberg Tiburon Center. Research at SERC focuses on invasive species in the greater San Francisco Bay area, specifically on vectors, ecology and impacts on native species. She received a PhD in Zoology/Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, a B.A. in Marine Ecology from UC-Santa Cruz, and a B.A. in Journalism from Sierra University, Santa Monica. Previous work has included species richness surveys of the rocky intertidal and subtidal in the Monterey Bay, Hawaii and Baja California, invasive species surveys in Elkhorn Slough and San Francisco Bay, and education/outreach programs for intertidal monitoring and invasive species eradication. She worked as a journalist for 10 years before returning to school to study marine biology.