Conserving the West Mojave - Project Team Bios

Rotating images of the Antelope valley with header: Conserving Antelope Valley

TEAM BIOS

		Lucas Bare Resume Lucas grew up in northern New Mexico and then attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After earning a B.A. in Biology, he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on a project that investigated the epidemiology of West Nile virus and avian influenza. At the Bren School, Lucas is specializing in Conservation Planning. His interests are in regional conservation and land-use planning and natural resources management. This summer he will be working as a Land Stewardship Intern at the Wood River Land Trust in Hailey, Idaho. Lucas’ hobbies include trail running, skiing, birding, and homebrewing.

		Tessa Bernhardt Resume Tessa is a master’s candidate at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management specializing in Conservation Planning. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Tessa sits on the Board of Directors of Get Oil Out!, a Santa Barbara based environmental organization aimed at preventing encroachments by oil development in the Santa Barbara Channel and promoting renewable forms of energy. She currently works at the Bren School as a graduate student researcher focusing on water quality issues and at Los Padres ForestWatch as a Conservation Intern.

		Toby Chu Resume Toby is a 26 year old native of Little Rock, Arkansas who graduated from Duke University in 2005 with a degree in biology and a minor in French. She has worked in various microbiology labs and interned with the Audubon Society. She likes to play soccer and make linoleum prints. She is currently attending the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, and hopes to work in the conservation planning field abroad, preferably in a French-speaking country.

		Melissa Gomez Resume Melissa was born in Colombia, grew up in Miami and attained her Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences from New College of Florida. After graduation, she drove west to the Santa Cruz Mountains where she worked as a Naturalist with Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School. After three years of teaching local ecology, she gave up her job in the redwood forest for a spot in a computer lab. She is currently working towards her Masters Degree in Environmental Science and Management at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management in Santa Barbara. She is specializing in Conservation Planning and hopes to continue working as an advocate for conservation in local land planning issues. When she is not hard at work you can find her in the pottery studio or hiking the backcountry trails near Santa Barbara.

		Chris Noddings Resume Chris earned his BA in 2004 in Environmental Systems: Public Policy from UC San Diego. During this time, he volunteered for two years with the California Public Interest Research Group, became a State Board Member and worked as a field biology intern at a local reservoir. His senior thesis was a detailed analysis of the variables affecting success rates of environmental lawsuits in San Diego County. Prior to coming to the Bren School, he spent time traveling both the United States and New Zealand and worked at the City of Torrance's Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center. While at Bren, Chris plans to study Conservation Planning and Political Economy of the Environment.

		Milena Viljoen Resume Milena is a transplant to California by way of Louisiana and Bolivia. She is an avid traveler, and has been active in conservation efforts since participating in a Kenyan study abroad program during her undergraduate studies at Duke University. In 2001, she earned her BS in Biology and Animal Behavior. Milena has honed her skills in science and communications as a field assistant for lemur research in Madagascar, and as an Americorps intern at a National Wildlife Refuge in the San Francisco Bay area. After a two-year creative hiatus making jewelry, Milena returned to conservation, communications, and the real world. She has spent the last five years working in communications and outreach coordinator for NOAA, including three years coordinating outreach for a multi-million dollar environmental restoration program. At the Bren School, Milena is pursuing a concentration in conservation planning with additional coursework in environmental media and data visualization.

		Lee Hannah (Faculty Advisor) Lee is an adjunct faculty member at the Bren School, and a Senior Fellow in Climate Change Biology at Conservation International’s (CI) Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. Tracking with his interest in the role of climate change in conservation planning and methods of corridor design, he heads CI’s efforts to develop conservation responses to climate change. He works collaboratively with the Bren School and UC Santa Barbara to model climate impacts on species in California, and with the National Botanical Institute in Cape Town, South Africa to model biotic change resulting from global warming in biodiversity hot spots in that region. He has written on the global extent of wilderness and the role of communities in the management of protected areas.