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Chapter Area
Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County.
Chapter Executive Board
Jackie Hancock: President (she/her)
Jackie has served on the California Central Coast Chapter board for many years. This is her second time through the presidency tract, with the first during the pandemic. Jackie graduated from Cal Poly SLO with a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology and a master’s degree in Biology. Jackie has been an endangered species biologist for 24 years at Fort Hunter Liggett. Jackie looks forward to continuing to help make this Chapter excel. Jackie is also the graphic genius behind the Chapter’s artwork!
Camdilla Wirth: Elect President (she/her)
Camdilla is a Conservation Biologist with Sequoia Riverlands Trust, working in mitigation site monitoring and management. She helps Sequoia Riverlands Trust manage approximately 9,000 acres in the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County, California’s largest remaining grassland and home to many endangered and threatened species endemic to California. Camdilla develops, implements, and coordinates long-term biological monitoring programs, restoration projects, and habitat management activities. She has over a decade of experience working with the flora and fauna of the Carrizo Plain and San Joaquin Valley. She obtained a bachelor’s in Biology from Western Washington University in 2010 and a master’s in Biology from CSU, Northridge in 2014. She has been active with the Chapter over the last 10 years and is ready to join the Executive Board as President Elect. Camdilla is looking forward to advancing the chapter’s goals in the coming year and serving the diverse central coast community of wildlife professionals and students.
Michaela Robbins: Past President (she/her)
Michaela has developed many of the workshops and events that have built this Chapter into what it is today. Michaela a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology and a master’s degree in Biology from Cal Poly SLO. She has over 23 years of experience working with endangered species and is currently a Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist) with California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Michaela is ready to serve the student chapters, increase the quality and breadth of Chapter events, make sustainability a priority during event planning, and bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of our Chapter. Michaela is delighted in the renewed enthusiasm that the current and new board members will be bringing to the board.
Angel Ramirez: Chapter Representative (he/him)
Angel Rafael Ramirez, a Chicano hailing from Oxnard, California, developed a passion for wildlife as a child catching lizards in his apartment complex and later in a field biology course taught by a woman of color. He has a bachelor’s in Forestry and Wildlife Biology from Cal Poly SLO. Motivated by the imperative of enhancing BIPOC representation in his field, Angel founded the Oxnard Birder’s Club in 2021 to introduce members of his community to biology, ecology, and environmental science through the enjoyable pursuit of bird watching. Angel now works as a Wildlife Biologist with Stantec and is a father to his beautiful son.
Andrea Dransfield: Secretary (she/her)
Andrea is a biologist with Dudek and has a background in cetacean research. She enjoys coastal and marine projects, working to protect wildlife, and scuba diving. Her Master’s thesis focused on humpback whale habitat modeling and reducing ship strike risk in the San Francisco Bay Area, and her undergraduate thesis focused on harbor porpoise habitat use in British Columbia, Canada. In California, she has contributed to a variety of projects such as researching harbor seals, monitoring gray whales along the coast of California, and aerial and boat-based monitoring of large whale species such as blue whales at risk of ship strikes in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Previously, Andrea has served on the Board as the Chapter Media Manager.
William Fox: Treasurer (he/him)
William Fox received a bachelor’s in Natural Resource Management and Sustainability from the University of Georgia before serving in the Peace Corps as a Coastal Resource Specialist for a local government unit in the Philippines. He then made the trek out West and worked as a Water Resources Program Coordinator with Lake County in Northern California before moving to San Luis Obispo in 2023 to work for the County as an Environmental Specialist. William has a strong interest in understanding ecosystem services and the relationships fostered between wildlife and the landscape.
Ivett Plascencia: Diversity Committee Chair (she/her)
Ivett is a Senior Biologist for Pax Environmental, Inc. She started off in community college as a Student Admin Intern for United States Fish and Wildlife Service, California Condor Recovery Program and later graduated from CSU Channel Islands with Bachelor’s in Biology. Since then, she has been a Park Ranger at Arches National Park, Eagle Technician at Latigo Wind Farm (Utah), a Raptor Biologist for Institute Wildlife Studies in the Channel Islands National Park. She has also served as a Cowbird Trap Technician in the Santa Clara and Ventura River Watersheds among several other hats. Miss Plascencia is first-generation Mexican-American and believes that Diversity and Inclusion will make wildlife conservation more robust because the more diverse backgrounds that work in wildlife conservation the more support at a policy and cultural level it will gain and serve Americans.
Chapter Committee Chairs & Managers
Janet Garcia: Outreach Manager (she/her)
Janet studied Biology and Environmental Science and Resource Management at California State University Channel Islands. During her college years, she attended summer research internships with an emphasis on macro-invertebrates in San Francisco, CA and New Mexico which ignited a passion for conservation and the outdoors. This led to her combined experience of environmental education, natural resource management, endangered species and long-term ecological research projects mainly in New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande valley. Throughout these experiences, she discovered that one of her goals is to connect communities from underrepresented backgrounds with nature and the great outdoors through equitable access. She is excited to grow within the media team and reach many audiences. She currently works as a biologist for a consulting firm and is an environmental educator.
Cynthia Martinson (she/her/hers): Professional Development Committee Chair
Cynthia is a wildlife biologist at Rincon Consultants, Inc., holding a bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences with a minor in Biology from San Diego State. With over seven years of experience, she has engaged in various field projects, including wildlife surveys, offshore fisheries monitoring, and endangered species conservation. She aims to enhance our understanding of wildlife behavior, ecology, and habitat dynamics, while collaborating with local communities, government agencies, and environmental organizations to promote education, outreach, and effective conservation strategies for diverse species and ecosystems.
Rebecca Bradley (she/her/hers): Merchandise Manager
Rebecca works for CSU CEMML at Fort Hunter Liggett as a wildlife biologist with a focus on threatened and endangered amphibian and reptile monitoring and research. Species she works with include the arroyo toad, foothill yellow-legged frog, southwestern pond turtle, and western spadefoot. Ongoing projects include in situ headstarting and translocation of foothill yellow-legged frogs and a similar headstarting project with arroyo toads.
David Kisner (he/him): Conservation Affairs Committee Chair
David Kisner has been a Certified Wildlife Biologist since 2014 and has been working as an ecologist within central and southern California since 1993. David graduated from with a bachelor’s in Evolution and Ecology from UCSB and a master’s in Biology from San Diego State University. David has worked with numerous listed bird species including least Bell’s vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, snowy plover, least tern, Belding’s savannah sparrow, California gnatcatcher, and yellow billed cuckoo. Over the years he has branched out to include work with amphibians, reptiles, bird banding, plant identification, habitat restoration, and teaching. David and his wife, Johanna, run a small biological consulting firm with help from their three kids and numerous pets.
Rachel Perpignani (she/her): Monterey County Liaison
Rachel has had the privilege to serve as the Past President of the TWS California Central Coast Chapter in 2024/2025. Rachel is a wildlife biologist and environmental consultant with over a decade of experience working with special-status species in habitats impacted by a variety of anthropogenic factors. Past President, Rachel has worked to expand the chapter’s impact in Monterey County and increase student involvement at local colleges and universities. She is committed to prioritizing high quality professional development and diversity, equity and inclusion for all of the chapter’s events and goals.
Interested in joining the board?
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