2022 Candidates

Kat Superfisky Urban Ecologist City of Los Angeles Candidate for: Member of the Board of Professional Certification Kat Superfisky is an urban ecologist, designer and educator who devotes their days, nights and dreams to transforming urban areas into more habitable places for people, plants and other animals. After obtaining a Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Conservation Ecology…

Drew Rayburn Director of Conservation Science and Planning The Nature Conservancy in Colorado Candidate for: Member of the Board of Professional Certification I am a conservation ecologist whose work focuses on applying principles of spatial, landscape, community, and restoration ecology to connect ecological patterns and processes across spatiotemporal scales. I currently serve as the Director of Conservation Science and Planning…

Laura Lawlor Principal, Natural Resources Lead (Ontario), Senior Ecologist GHD Limited Candidate for: Member of the Board of Professional Certification I am a Principal at GHD with responsibility as the Natural Resources Business Group Lead (Ontario) and for leading the strategic direction and growth of the North American Natural Resources business. I am also a Certified Senior Ecologist and an…

Joseph A. Bruseo Professor Holyoke Community College Candidate for: Member of the Board of Professional Certification Educational Background: BA in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University (NJ), MS in Wildlife Management from Frostburg State University (MD), and PhD in Biological Sciences from Bowling Green State University (OH). My current teaching position is at Holyoke Community College (HCC) in Holyoke, MA. My…

Adriana L. Romero-Olivares Assistant Professor New Mexico State University Candidate for: Member of the Governing Board I am a fungal ecologist who works at the intersection of ecosystem ecology and evolution. I am interested in better understanding how fungi respond and adapt to global climate change and consequences to ecosystem-scale biogeochemical processes. In my career, I have explored fungi in…

James Rattling Leaf Research Associate University of Colorado-Boulder Candidate for: Member of the Governing Board I am a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. My work is centered at the Wolakota Lab, LLC, which works to serve and support Indigenous peoples’ nation rebuilding efforts through the effective and respective application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western science. I have over…

Charles Nilon Professor University of Missouri Candidate for: Member of the Governing Board I started out as a biology major and wanting to go to medical school. Through some volunteer experiences when I was at home in the summer I decided I wanted to go into wildlife management. This led to two paid summer research experiences and a masters degree…

Jeannine Cavender-Bares Professor University of Minnesota Candidate for: ESA Vice President for Finance A native of southeastern Ohio, I am a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota and Director of the NSF Biology Integration Institute ASCEND–Advancing Spectral Biology in Changing ENvironments to understand Diversity. I am also a courtesy…

Steven Allison Professor University of California, Irvine Candidate for: ESA Vice President for Finance As an undergraduate at Penn State, I majored in biology with an ecology focus and conducted research on plant-insect interactions. I earned my PhD in Biological Sciences at Stanford University. My dissertation addressed microbial mechanisms of decomposition, mainly in Hawaiian ecosystems. I then moved to UC…

Diane McKnight Professor University of Colorado Candidate for: ESA President-Elect As a graduate student in environmental engineering, I studied aquatic ecology, including two field classes at Friday Harbor Laboratories. For my thesis research, I studied the limnological aspects of the treatment of algal blooms in reservoirs with copper sulfate. From 1979 to 1996, I was a research hydrologist with the…

Stephanie Hampton Deputy Director, Biosphere Sciences and Engineering Carnegie Institution for Science Candidate for: ESA President-Elect My research focuses on the effects of climate change and other human impacts on globally distributed lakes, with recent emphasis on integrating winter dynamics and microbial processes into freshwater ecology. However, my interests are much broader than freshwater ecology, luring me into diverse professional…