Regional Conservation

Conservation of rare plants; plant taxonomy; exotic plant invasions; plant ecology; database management and GIS.

Assistant Director, The Institute for Regional Conservation. Miami , Florida . 2004-present. Research Biologist. 1996-present. Responsible for managing several large IRC projects for federal and state agencies including the floristic inventories of Big Cypress National Preserve and Biscayne National Park, the aerial monitoring of exotic plants in southern Florida, the preparation of status surveys of candidate species for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act, and the demographic monitoring of endangered plants. Other responsibilities include the management of the Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database, the development of IRC’s GIS resources, and the expansion of IRC’s activities into the Bahamas.

Database Development Contractor , Dade County Park and Recreation Department, Division of Natural Areas Management, Miami, Florida. 1995-1996. Developed a relational database that allowed the division to track staff hours, exotic plant densities, control techniques, and herbicide usage in their exotic plant control programs.

Research Associate , Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida. 1994-1995. Conducted a detailed study of pinelands of Miami-Dade County including establishing permanent vegetation monitoring plots, recording coverage of all plant taxa in nested subplots, collecting of soil, canopy, and duff attributes, recording plot locations with a GPS unit, and organizing all data into a relational database.

Research Assistant , Zoology Department, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana. 1993-1994. Collected and analyzed data in a study of avian respiratory kinematics during level flight. Data collection included use of a variable speed wind tunnel, x-ray cinematography, and electromyography. Statistical analysis including time and frequency domain time-series analysis.

Biologist Assistant , Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management, Miami, Florida. 1991-1993. Studied the ecology of three federally-listed plants of Miami-Dade county pinelands; conducted endangered species surveys at more than 100 sites in Miami-Dade County and in Everglades National Park; performed natural area evaluations for Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands Program; designed management plans for conservation areas; supervised exotic pest plant eradication programs; assisted with organization of Miami-Dade County’s Natural Forest Community program; developed vegetation sampling designs in a variety of County programs.

Research Assistant , Florida International University, Miami, Florida. 1991-1992. Collected data on avian use of the Hole-in-the-Donut wetland mitigation site and undisturbed wetlands in Everglades National Park; assisted with radio tracking of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes in Everglades National Park; identified aquatic gastropods and hemipterans.

Naturalist , Bill Sadowski Park & Old Cutler Hammock Nature Center, Dade County Park and Recreation Department, Miami, Florida. 1990-1991. Developed and implemented an exotic pest plant eradication program; supervised exotic plant control crews at Bill Sadowski and Larry and Penny Thompson Parks; acted as counselor during spring and summer nature camps for 7-12 year old children; conducted interpretive nature walks and lectures for adults and children.

Project Manager, Ground Truthing of Vegetation Maps of Big Cypress National Preserve. 2004-present.
Member, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s South Florida Multi-Species Recovery Team, 1998-1999; member South Florida Multi-Species/Ecosystem Recovery Implementation Team (MERIT), 2002- present.
Principal Investigator, Floristic Assessment of Puerto Rico. The Institute for Regional Conservation in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service’s International Institute of Tropical Forestry and the University of Puerto Rico. 2001-present.
Principal Investigator, Floristic Inventory of South Florida. The Institute for Regional Conservation. 1994-present.
Project Manager, Inventory of Vascular Plant Species of Big Cypress National Park. 2001-2004.
Project Manager, Inventory of Vascular Plant Species of Biscayne National Park. 2001-2004.
Botanist, Earthwatch’s Coastal Ecology of the Bahamas on Andros in 2003 and Eleuthera in 2002.
Co-author of the book Rare Plants of South Florida: Their History, Conservation and Restoration. Miami: The Institute for Regional Conservation. 2002.
Plant collector. Over 2,000 herbarium specimens deposited at Fairchild Tropical Garden to present.
Provided testimony to the Florida Endangered Plant Advisory Council that resulted in the listing of nearly 80 plant species as endangered or threatened by the State of Florida in 1997.
President, Dade County Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society (1998-2001); Board Member, Board of Directors, Dade County Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society (1997-2001); Member, Board of Directors, Florida Native Plant Society (1997-2001), Member, Board of Directors, Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (1999-2001); Member, Plant List Committee, Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (1997-present).

Acknowledged in several recent botanical publications, including the books Florida Keys Wildflowers (Hammer 2004), Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen 2003), Everglades Wildflowers (Hammer 2002), Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Florida (Chafin 2000), Flora of Florida, Volume 1 (Wunderlin & Hansen 2000), The Ferns of Florida (Nelson 2000), and The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida (Nelson 1996).