7872 Fay Ranch Road
Weldon, California 93283
760.378.3345
ssrs@southernsierraresearch.org
Mary Whitfield, Research Director
Mary has been studying Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) in the South Fork Kern River Valley since 1989. She has long been interested in understanding the effects of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) parasitism on population dynamics and breeding biology of this endangered subspecies. Recently, she has expanded her focus, studying post-fledging parental care and dispersal, as well as wintering ecology of Willow Flycatchers in Latin America. Mary received a B.S. from University of California at Davis, an M.S. from Chico State University.
Shannon McNeil, Cuckoo Project Co-Leader
In addition to extensive field experience on three continents, Shannon brings a wealth of computer and GIS skills to the team. She obtained a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Statistics from Macquarie University, and a Graduate Diploma in Tropical Environmental Management from Northern Territory University, Australia. She has worked with six endangered avian species and with yellow-billed cuckoos for over seven years. Shannon is also a graduate student at the University of Arizona where she is researching the population genetics of yellow-billed cuckoos.
John Stanek, Wildlife Biologist
John earned a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Colorado State University in 1998, a B.S. in Biology from Western State College of Colorado in 2004, and an M.S. in Zoology from the University of Wyoming in 2008, where he combined his love of birds and mountains to study the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch in the Colorado mountains. Prior to his career in wildlife biology, John worked for eight years as an outdoor educator teaching outdoor skills across the south western US. In addition to rosy-finch research, he has worked on a variety of avian research projects including studies on Black Swifts, Flammulated Owls, Gunnison Sage-grouse, Painted Buntings, Red Crossbills, and desert riparian songbirds. As a SSRS Wildlife Biologist, John is an integral member of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo research team where he contributes on all aspects of our cuckoo research.
Diane Tracy, Cuckoo Project Co-Leader
Diane works both as a field biologist and restoration ecologist. Her experience includes fieldwork in the USA, Australia, Ecuador, Mexico, Thailand and Nepal. She earned a Bush Regeneration degree in Australia where she worked as a bush regenerator/consultant and was project lead on arid desert restoration in S. California. She is a Greener and has a Masters degree in Tropical Environmental Management studying cavity-nesting fauna in Northern Australia. Previous to researching cuckoos she worked for the USNPS with sea turtles and piping plovers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She has worked with the SSRS and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo for six years.
Michelle Johnson, Office Manager
Michelle has been our office manager since 2008 and comes to us with a diverse and unique background. She is a practicing nurse with expertise in acute care, skilled nursing, home health and Hospice care. She has also worked with developmentally disabled children and adults teaching them daily living skills. Michelle also loves animals; she has seven dogs and five cats, but her background suggests that she has a particular fondness for birds. In addition to her chickens, she has hand-raised parrots for twenty-six years! It started as a hobby and turned into a successful business. However, raising parrots requires daily care and the desire for a little free time compelled her to reduce her parrot flock to a yellow-naped Amazon, a senegal parrot and five beautiful and chatty Derbyans.
Jenna Stanek, Wildlife Biologist
Jenna earned a B.A. in Environmental Policy and Spanish at Albright College in 2000, a B.S. in Biology/Ecology from Western State College of Colorado in 2005, and an M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University in 2010. She is mainly interested in community ecology, specifically stream ecosystems. She is a NABS certified taxonomist for eastern Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera taxa and has worked on various projects studying aquatic macroinvertebrates including biomonitoring and community dynamics in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and South Carolina. She has also worked on a variety of vertebrate projects studying Least Terns, salamanders, wood frogs, Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs, Rosy-finches, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos. She has a background in multivariate statistics and is involved in data analysis for the research station.
Denise LaBerteaux, Research Associate
Bruce Garlinger, Research Associate
Board Members
Dan Burnett, President
Dave Kurdeka, Vice-president
Terri Middlemiss, Secretary
Brenda Burnett, Treasurer
Bob Parker
Sean Rowe
Pat Seamount
