Officers
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President:Caroline GarciaCaroline Garcia is a wildlife biologist for ECORP Consulting, Inc. She studied at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she earned a B.S. in Integrative Biology and minor in Animal Sciences with a pre-veterinary course track. She also studied geographic information systems at San Diego Mesa College. Her experience includes field surveys, biological monitoring, and technical report preparation for terrestrial biological resources in southern California. Her favorite part of her job is assisting with special-status species surveys for coastal California gnatcatcher, light-footed Ridgway’s rail, desert tortoise, Quino checkerspot butterfly, and small mammals such as Mohave ground squirrel, San Bernardino kangaroo rat, Los Angeles pocket mouse, and Palm Springs pocket mouse and leading surveys for arroyo toad, burrowing owl, least Bell’s vireo, western snowy plover, and California least tern. She currently also serves as one of the social media communications committee chairs sharing Chapter happenings and news on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Her love of wildlife comes from her original career path in veterinary medicine – an itch she still scratches by volunteering with wildlife rehabilitation organizations. Caroline has been involved with the Southern California Chapter for 6+ years. She resides in San Diego with her husband and two cats. Contact: president@tws-socal.org |
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President-Elect:VacantThe President-Elect shall assume the duties of the President in the absence or upon the inability of the President to serve and shall perform the duties assigned by the President. In the event the President-Elect cannot serve in the President’s absence, the Board shall appoint a President, pro tempore. The President-Elect shall be prepared to attend the annual Western Section meeting, Chapter Business meeting, Chapter Board Budgeting meeting, and participate in at least 75% of the Chapter Board meetings (Article VII, Section 1, Clause D). The President-Elect must be a member in good standing with The Wildlife Society (main/international level), the Western Section, and the local Interested in running for the position of President-Elect? Please contact Caroline Garcia at president@tws-socal.org |
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Past-President:Kim KlementowskiKim Klementowski is the Immediate Past-President for the Southern California Chapter. She is the Orange/Riverside Counties Regional Preserve Manager with the Center for Natural Lands Management, where she manages preserves set aside for threatened and endangered species. Her work focuses on all aspects of conservation lands management, including weed control and habitat enhancement, surveys and population trends, and long-term vegetation monitoring, with emphasis on coastal California gnatcatcher, vernal pools and fairy shrimp, and burrowing owl. After earning her master’s degree in Geography from CSU, Chico, Kim worked in various positions in the Lassen foothills, the Sonoran Desert, and San Clemente Island, before landing back in SoCal where she grew up. When not working, she can be found rock climbing in the desert, snowboarding in the Sierras, or tearing apart her house for another DIY project. She lives in Homeland with her “kids”, Jojin and Dalea. Contact: pastpresident@tws-socal.org |
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Secretary:Monica StupaczukMonica Stupaczuk is an Environmental Scientist for California State Parks, where she has worked for the past 7 years on biological review, surveys, report writing, permitting, and monitoring for projects all across Southern California, but will be transitioning soon to management of natural resources in parks within the San Diego region. She earned her B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology from the University of California, Davis. Previously she has worked on mark-recapture of giant kangaroo rats and San Joaquin antelope squirrels in the Carrizo Plain, pitfall trapping and camera trapping in the Santa Monica Mountains, monitoring breeding piping plovers at Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland, and monitoring breeding California least terns and western snowy plovers at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Contact: secretary@tws-socal.org |
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Treasurer:Brian ParkerBrian Parker serves as the Treasurer for the Southern California Chapter. He has also been the Chapter’s professional development chair since 2016, coordinating the educational and training workshops for the Chapter. He has an undergraduate degree in biology from UC San Diego, a master’s in ecology from UCLA, and an MBA from UC Davis. He has been a biologist in Southern California since 2001, and currently works at Busby Biological Services, Inc. He holds a federal recovery permit to survey for coastal California gnatcatcher and Quino checkerspot butterfly, and also regularly conducts surveys for arroyo toad, burrowing owl, flat-tailed horned lizard, and other plant and animal species. Most of his work focuses on city and county infrastructure projects. Contact: treasurer@tws-socal.org |
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Chapter Representative to the Western Section:Jeff LincerDr. Jeffrey L. Lincer, an active conservation biologist, is recently retired from directing the non-profit, RICA (Researchers Implementing Conservation Action). He took a Post-Doctorate, at the Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL; a Ph.D., in Ecology/Toxicology, at Cornell University, Ithaca NY, 1972. Dr. Lincer has taught numerous college-level biological, environmental, and toxicological classes and courses. He has a strong history of scientific involvement, complex natural resource project management, and environmental policy; and has productively cooperated with local, regional, state, and federal agencies. He has over 40 years’ experience (15 of which with local government) and has directed or contributed to various projects from Alaska to Africa. He currently holds an Adjunct Scientist position with the San Diego Zoo Global, the San Diego Museum of Natural History (Department of Birds and Mammals) and, formerly, the Mote Marine Laboratory, has held adjunct positions at other well-known academic and research institutions, produced over 100 scientific publications and papers, authored dozens of consultant reports, and served as advisor to high-level governmental offices and national/international conservation programs. Dr. Jeff Lincer has formerly served as President and Representative to the Western Section for the Chapter in previous years. Contact: socal@tws-west.org or wsrep@tws-socal.org |
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Member at Large:Kirsten ZornadoKirsten Zornado is the Member at Large for the Southern California Chapter. She is an entomologically-inclined biologist born and raised in southern California. She grew up in San Marcos, majored in Biology at the University of Redlands, then got a job working in consulting in the San Diego area. Kirsten has been a member of the SoCal chapter for three and a half years. She has been a recipient of the SoCal Chapter student/ECP travel grant to the TWS-WS Annual Meeting, prior to being elected to the Board. She is passionate about making sure that young biologists have access to learning and especially networking opportunities. More recently, she has been working towards acquiring the hours needed for her first recovery permit for conducting surveys for the listed large branchiopod (fairy shrimp) species. Contact: memberatlarge@tws-socal.org |
Appointed Positions |
Student Affairs Committee: Colleen Wisinski & Lyell Buttermore
Conservation Affairs Committee: Vacant Professional Development Committee: Brock Ortega & Brian Parker Membership and Newsletter Committee: Wendy Loeffler Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee: Anna Cassady San Diego County Coordinators – Susanne Marczak & Olivia Koziel LA/Ventura County Coordinator – Brigit Harvey-Ayers Orange County Coordinator – Barry Nerhus Riverside/San Bernardino (Inland Empire) County Coordinator – Rheanna Neidinger Imperial County Coordinator – Rachel Noriega Social Media Outreach – Caroline Garcia |
