Wildlife Biologist/Owner
B.S. Wildlife Management/Humboldt State University
M.S. Zoology/Brigham Young University

Don’s interest in wildlife biology and love of the outdoors began at a young age, starting with an interest in reptiles, turtles, and tortoises. With his beloved father, he reared butterflies and moths and hunted upland game and deer. He has been a falconer since the age of fourteen. Don pursued an education in Wildlife Management, receiving his B.S. from Humboldt State University in 1986, and later his M.S. in Zoology from Brigham Young University in 1996. His Master’s thesis was “Population Dynamics of Wintering Merlins in Central Utah” which involved five years of Merlin research--trapping, banding, and telemetry tracking both day and night. He has extensive experience with native mammals of the Southern California mountain and desert regions. His professional experience includes working with the Institute for Wildlife Studies on the Channel Islands of Southern California (San Clemente, Santa Catalina, and San Nicolas Islands) where he conducted Bald Eagle reintroductions, Island Fox and Island Night Lizard studies, deer censuses, and feral goat, pig, housecat, and Norway Rat eradications. He has conducted various surveys across the national forests of Southern Utah for Mexican Spotted Owls, Goshawks, and Peregrine Falcons; participated in migratory passerine bird surveys and mist-netting/banding projects for the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources; and managed a large-scale Feral Burro trapping and removal program for the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California. He started Western Biota, Inc. in 2007 after seeing the need for a biological and environmental consulting company that would provide professional experience plus integrity for its clients, regulatory agencies, and the environment. His personal interests include studying Penstemons (the largest plant genus endemic to North America), native-plant rock gardening, and ongoing studies of various insects, plants, and animals. He is a member of the American Penstemon Society, the Rock Garden Society, the Raptor Research Foundation, the Lepidopterist Society, the California Hawking Club, the Utah Falconer’s Association, and the North American Falconers Association. Don lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife of 22 years, their two budding biologists, and a menagerie of pets.

Wildlife Biologist/GIS Specialist
B.S. Wildlife Biology/Brigham Young University

Growing up in the heart of the Tetons, Merissa’s love for the mountains naturally translated into her passion for the environment. She has nine years of wildlife biology experience focused on raptors and wetlands. She spent several years doing raptor monitoring and research for the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative which included over 70 bald eagle pairs in the Idaho portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Since starting at Western Biota, she has been involved in all of their raptor surveying including helicopter surveys, and has been trained in MSO surveying. Her wetlands work spanned Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana where she did ground water hydrology studies, wetland design, wildlife monitoring, wetland construction management, state and federal permitting, report writing, and wetland delineations totaling thousands of acres. In addition to her field experience, she is a GIS specialist, trained in CAD and ARC mapping, so she translates the field results into something tangible for the clients! Her mapping work also allowed her several years experience in topographical surveying. She is a storm water compliance inspector and is a certified pesticide applicator for Western Biota's reclamation projects. Outside of work, she teaches yoga, spends as much time as possible in the mountains, and is a singer/songwriter/ Check out her music at merissawilson.com.

Environmental/Natural Resources Specialist
B.S. Environmental Communication/Colorado State University

Stuart, an east coast transplant, has four years experience completing and managing a broad range of environmental projects and studies throughout the western United States. His experience in regulatory compliance and biological field work includes: storm water management and site inspections, SPCC plan preparation and field evaluations, sensitive species surveys, T&E wildlife and vegetation surveys, habitat assessments and Wetland Delineations and Jurisdictional Assessments. In addition to field duties, Stuart has been involved in writing Categorical Exclusions, Biological Assessments, SPCC plans and Environmental Assessments/Environmental Impact Statements. Stuart has also spent significant time reviewing and updating peers on state and federal rules that regulate development and activity on public and private land, including the COGCC, CDPHE, UDEQ amended regulations and their impacts to oil & gas activity and the environment.

Natural Resource Specialist/Permitting
B.S. Environmental Biology and Medical Biology/Tusculum College
Radiobiology Special Studies at Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Dave brings over thirty years of experience and a wide range of interest to Western Biota. His background is in both biological and botanical fieldwork, including desert tortoise medical evaluations and blood work, mixobactor research and development for industrial clients, and botanical research projects. He has managed people and projects ranging from multi-year EIS data collection and analysis for Glen Canyon Dam and Grand Canyon, landscape design and habitat improvement, discovery and cataloging of new bacterial micro organisms, to SPCC data analysis and database, teaching college level biology classes, and leading extended Natural History adventure trips in remote areas around the world. He works in a variety of arenas, from biological surveys and population mapping, to SPCC and other regulatory work, storm water management, and mapping. Specialized trainings include Mexican Spotted Owl (MSO), ArcGIS, Wetland Delineation, Storm Water Management, and Desert Tortoise Handler's credentials and blood work training. Other interests include whitewater rafting, climbing, hiking, mountain biking, travel, photography, ornamental horticulture and cooking.

Office Manager
B.S. Landscape Management, Brigham Young University

Born and raised in beautiful Northern California, Cayly found a new beauty in the Utah landscapes, When she moved to Utah for school she fell in love with the outdoors. Cayly has participated in numerous biological surveys as well as raptor surveys. As the office manager at Western Biota she oversees the marketing, bookkeeping, billing, and other tasks in the Vernal office. In addition she has ArcGIS, Mexican Spotted Owl, and Wetland Delineation training and is a certified pesticide applicator. Her previous experience includes Human Resource Management and field research as a soil scientist. In her year as a soil scientists she analyzed soils primarily in the Southern Utah region for Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, micronutrients and salt content. When she's not running the show at Western Biota she enjoys music, family, friends, camping, reading and just about anything outdoors.

Natural Resource Specialist
B.S. Biology/Mesa State College, Colorado & Central Queensland University, Australia

Tara has been in the environmental consulting industry for four years, focusing on biological surveys. She has extensive experience in TESS surveys and habitat assessment throughout eastern Utah and western Colorado. She has surveyed for noxious weeds throughout western Colorado and implemented noxious weed management plans. Tara has participated in multiple raptor surveys including MSO surveys, and has been a field crew leader for various wildlife and biological surveys. She was involved in an environmental inspection project for the Mt. Callahan region of western Colorado. She has conducted multiple SPCC field evaluations. Prior to her involvement in the consulting industry, Tara worked as a biological technician studying endangered fish throughout the state of Colorado as well as biological pest control for noxious weeds. Special trainings and certifications cover areas in wetland delineating, pesticide applications, storm water inspections, and MSO surveying. Tara's outside work interest include anything involving family, friends and a dose of the outdoors.

Environmental Scientists, Monitoring
B.S. Natural Resources (Minor in Botany)/Weber State University
Working on M.S. Entomology/Brigham Young University

Paul, who recently retired from the BLM, is a fortunate addition to the Western Biota team. With 31 years of experience with the BLM, 27 of those years spent at the Vernal Field Office, he offers expansive knowledge on the permitting process for most projects, as well as unique local insight for the Vernal field projects. His work as a Ranger Conservation Specialist gave him experience in prescribing range projects, water development projects, land treatment recommendations, and NEPA documentation. He spent the past 7 years working in the minerals department permitting gas & oil wells, roads, power lines, and pipelines. His duties also included recommending best management practices for public land impacts, guiding pipeline and road locations, overseeing reclamation, threatened & endangered plant and wildlife species surveys, resource management planning, and the important task of compliance with all NEPA regulations. Paul is trained in desert and semi-desert reclamation and Storm Water Management. Besides fishing as much as possible, he enjoys spending time with his family and a combination of the two is his favorite.

Archaeologist/Paleontologist

Mark is a proven field coordinator with expertise in the archaeology and paleontology, plus oil and gas prospect reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, mining claim staking and work crew supervision throughout the Rocky Mountain region. With 11 years experience in archaeological surveying in Colorado and Utah he is an important and crucial asset to the Western Biota team. In addition to Mark’s technical skills and over 25 years experience in navigating and working in the wilderness and backcountry areas of Utah he makes an easy transition to the office where he can analyze and map data on the computer. When not out looking for artifacts, he enjoys fishing, hunting, and spending time with his family.

Archaeologist
B.A. Anthropology (Archaeology Emphasis)/University of California at Santa Barbara

Chris Roberts is Western Biota’s Lead Archaeologist. He is a local of the Uinta Mountains. Chris received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology with an Emphasis in Archaeology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has over eleven years of experience working with state funded organizations and private cultural resource management firms. He has worked throughout Utah and California, as well as parts of Nevada and Missouri. He has experience in all phases of cultural resource management including Phase I, II, and III projects. He has been a Project Manager on numerous archaeological investigations throughout the Uintah Basin since 2006. His special interests include Spanish and American Colonial historic artifact analysis; ground stone technology, rock art, historic graffiti, and fire cracked rock analysis. He is presently seeking a Master’s of Science Degree in Cultural Resource Management at Utah State University. Chris’ outside interests include driving his ‘81 Landcruiser (with the top off), surfing, mountain biking, yoga, playing his guitar, writing, collecting vintage western shirts, and playing with his dogs. If you’re looking for the perfect pearl snap shirt, check out his website at http://pearlsnap.com/

Field Scientist

Heidi is one of our lead field scientists with extensive experience in botany and small mammals. She also collects GIS data for wildlife and plant mapping. When not out in the field, she puts in overtime on her mother’s cattle ranch, enjoys live music and gardening.

Botanist
B.S. Education/Northern Arizona University

Anne has spent her entire career in the outdoors and the botany knowledge and experience she has accumulated over that time is an important asset to Western Biota. In her numerous field ecology/biology projects she has performed natural resource inventory and assessments for conservation easements, gathered pre & post-disturbance monitoring of ecological restoration areas, carried out vegetation studies including community descriptions and mapping, harvested native seed for reclamation projects, and located and monitored noxious weed communities. Anne co-owned her own landscaping business and has also had extensive experience working in nurseries. She is a trained wetland delineator and also performs raptor surveys, including those for Mexican Spotted Owl (MSO). When she’s not keying out plants for Western Biota, she’s keying out plants of her own and also enjoys world travel, river rafting, hiking, music, gardening, and cooking.