What is PARC’s Federal Agencies Steering Committee?
The Federal Agencies Steering Committee, or FASC, is comprised of representatives from 12 federal agencies. The FASC operates under a Memorandum of Understanding , the purpose of which is to provide a framework for cooperation and coordination in achieving the objectives of the FASC , and in matters relating to the conservation of amphibians, reptiles, and their habitats. The Committee provides a unified forum to facilitate herpetofauna communication and management among federal partners through the PARC network, and assists in implementing the PARC Strategic Plan. It is co-chaired by two voluntary representatives from member agencies. Co-chairs rotate on an offset two-year basis. FASC Co-chairs also serve as members on PARC’s Joint National Steering Committee, which is the governing body of PARC. The FASC conducts monthly coordination calls and meets annually.
What does the FASC do?
- Assists with strategic planning and priority setting for PARC, FASC, and our agencies.
- Facilitates cross-agency collaboration for conservation and management of amphibians and reptiles.
- Shares emerging issues and opportunities related to amphibian and reptile conservation with other federal agencies on the FASC.
- Contributes to the salary and benefits of the National Federal Coordinator and to various PARC conservation actions.
Who is on the FASC?
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Dionne Mendoza
Dionne Mendoza is a Staff Officer/Wildlife Biologist for USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Service’s Operational Support Staff in the agency’s headquarters in Riverdale, Maryland. Her emphasis is Threatened/Endangered Species, Migratory Birds, Section 7 Consults, Invasive Species and Aquaculture. Prior to her current position, Dionne served as the Wildlife Services (WS) liaison with Nebraska Department of Roads, assisting them with migratory bird conservation, threatened/endangered species protection and wildlife damage management; with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Iowa as a Soil Conservationist specializing in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetland Reserve Program, and Environmental Quality Incentives Program; and as a WS airport biologist in Nebraska. She also proudly served in the US Air Force in the medical field. Dionne has a BS in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Andrew Hubble
Andrew Hubble is a Staff Officer/Wildlife Biologist for USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Service’s Operational Support Staff in the agency’s headquarters in Riverdale, Maryland. Andrew Hubble started his career with USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services as a Colorado State University (CSU) Work Study student for the National Wildlife Disease Program located at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. Andrew earned his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from CSU in the Warner College of Natural Resources – School of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology.From 2007 to 2015, Andrew was a FAA Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologist for Wildlife Services at Los Angeles International and surrounding airports. In 2015, Andrew returned to Colorado and the National Wildlife Disease Program as a staff wildlife biologist focusing on Avian Influenza Surveillance and wildlife disease outbreak response. Before beginning his current position in June of 2018, Andrew was working for USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Bureau of Land Management
Brad Jost
Brad Jost is the Wildlife and Riparian Program Lead for the BLM in Wyoming. Brad coordinates statewide terrestrial and aquatic habitat and population inventory, monitoring, and restoration initiatives, and collaborates with State and Federal partners on associated local, regional, and national efforts. Prior to his current position, Brad worked as a Wildlife Biologist for the BLM in Idaho and as a Rangeland Management Specialist for the US Forest Service in California. He has BS degrees in Wildlife Science and Rangeland Resources from Utah State University.
Chris Otahal
Chris Otahal is currently the Wildlife Biologist at the Bureau of Land Management, Barstow Field Office in California. Chris has held this position for almost 10 years. Prior to this position, Chris worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 6 years out of the Carlsbad, California, Field Office and the US Forest Service for 2 years out of the Foresthill Field Office, California. Chris has conducted field surveys for reptiles and amphibians, worked on many local herpetofauna restoration projects, conducted formal consultations with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and has participated in several regional wildlife planning efforts. Chris is also currently a member of the Desert Tortoise Recovery Implementation Team-West Mojave Working Group. In addition to working with the Desert Tortoise, Chris has participated in projects involving the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard, Mojave Fringe-toed Lizard, and Southwestern Pond Turtle. Chris holds a BS in General Biology and an MS in Wildlife Biology, both from San Jose State University.
Department of Defense
Alison Dalsimer
Alison Dalsimer is a Department of Defense (DoD) Natural Resources Program Manager with nearly 30 years of experience, most of which working for the DoD. Prior to her current position Alison served in DoD’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, and as the Legacy Program Coordinator. She also worked for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Alison has undergraduate degrees in English and Psychology and a Master’s degree in Public Policy with an Environmental Law and Economics track. Alison completed extensive coursework through the USDA Graduate School and Audubon Naturalist Society. She has been involved with PARC to varying degrees since the 1999 formative meeting in Atlanta.
Robert Lovich
Robert (Rob) Lovich is a Senior Natural Resource Specialist for the US Navy in San Diego, California, and has been studying amphibians and reptiles throughout the southwest for nearly 20 years. Rob serves as Program Director for DoD Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), as Assistant Editor of Herpetological Conservation and Biology, and is a member of the Herpetologists’ League Conservation Committee. Rob has several dozen publications and co-published the book, Lizards of the American Southwest. Rob has a BS in Zoology from the University of Hawaii, and a MS and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Loma Linda University.
Chris Petersen
Chris Petersen is a Senior Natural Resources Specialist for the US Navy in Norfolk, Virginia. Prior to his current position, Chris has worked as a Natural Resource Specialist in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic’s Environmental business line, as an intern in the Navy’s Professional Development Center Program, and a Research Associate for the Old Dominion Research Foundation. Chris has a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and is a graduate of the Navy’s Leadership Development Program. Chris has several publications in scientific journals, conducted dozens of technical presentations at workshops and conferences, and received numerous recognitions and awards. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the Herpetologists’ League. Chris serves as the National Representative for DoD PARC and was a lead author of the Strategic Plan for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and Management on Department of Defense Lands.
US Army Corps of Engineers
Jim Castle
Jim is a Wildlife Biologist with the Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District at the Tri-Rivers (Ice Harbor) Project Burbank, Washington. Jim received his BSc. in Integrated Biology from Humboldt State University Arcata, CA and MSc. in Biology with emphasis in Avian Behavioral Ecology and Conservation Biology from Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA. Jim is responsible for the wildlife and habitat management of 31 Habitat Management Units (HMUs), along 123 miles of the lower Snake and mid Columbia Rivers in eastern Washington. Before the Corps Jim worked for a number of environmental consulting firms and seasonally for several government agencies. Jim’s herpetofauna experience includes: Working with Federal and State T&E and sensitive species; modeling and research design of surveys and development of protocols; scope of work and government cost estimate development of field surveys and monitoring; education and outreach; western herpetofauna systematics and technical reviews. Jim serves as a DoD PARC Representative and participates in NW PARC workshops and meetings.
Environmental Protection Agency
Farm Service Agency
David Hoge
Entering his 28th year with USDA, David has served with the Southern Region of the US Forest Service, state and private forestry, and more recently with the Farm Service Agency (FSA), in its National Headquarters. David currently serves as the forestry and wildlife specialist with the FSA Conservation and Environmental Programs Division, spending the majority of his time helping the agency determine policy for the CRP. David received a BS in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
National Marine Fisheries Service
Jennifer Schultz
Jenny Schultz is a Fishery Biologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Washington D.C., and focuses on the listing and critical habitat designations for sea turtles under the Endangered Species Act. Prior to her current position in NMFS, Jenny worked as an academic researcher at the University of Hawaii and as a forensic scientist for the Illinois State Police. Jenny has a BS in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Hawaii.
National Park Service
Mike Wrigley
Mike Wrigley is the Wildlife Conservation Chief for the Biological Resources Division of the Natural Resources Stewardship and Science (NRSS) Directorate in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to this position, he spent 2 years as the Biological Resources Chief in the NRSS Directorate in the Intermountain Region (IMR), before which he was the IMR Regional Wildlife Biologist for 4 years. Prior to working for the National Park Service (NPS), Mike worked as a Forest Wildlife Biologist for 11 years with the US Forest Service in Colorado. He also was employed with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Arizona. He spent 12 years living and working in the Pacific Northwest in several jobs: as a Wildlife Program Manager/Biologist for an Indian tribe on the Washington coast, US Forest Service, and as Wildlife Biologist for an environmental consultant. He began his professional career as an NPS seasonal at Olympic National Park. Mike was born and raised in Missouri, where he earned his BS in Wildlife Conservation and Management at Missouri State University.
Tara Chestnut
Tara Chestnut serves as an ecologist for Mount Rainier National Park. Prior to her current position Tara served as a hydrology co-lead for the US Geological Survey (USGS) Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) Program for the Pacific Northwest region in Portland, Oregon. Tara has master’s degrees in Aquatic Ecology from Portland State University and Environmental Policy from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She also has a PhD from Oregon State University. Tara served on the board of the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology for 11 years, which was home to Northwest PARC’s predecessor, the Pacific Northwest Amphibian and Reptile Consortium.
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Danielle Flynn
Jennifer Anderson Cruz
is a state biologist for the USDA NRCS in Champaign, Illinois. Prior to her current position Jennifer served as NRCS state biologist in Georgia and in Iowa. Jennifer holds a BS in Environmental Science from Marycrest International University in Iowa, a MS in Biology from Western Illinois University, and studied community and landscape ecology in Iowa State University’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology doctoral program. Jennifer has experience and expertise in the restoration and management of wetland, grassland, forest, savanna, and stream ecosystems, plant community ecology, landscape ecology, and herpetology.
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Mark Chase
Mark Chase is Chief of the Natural Resource Program Center for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to his current position, Mark served as Chief of the Division of Refuge Law Enforcement in headquarters and has worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service at various field stations including: Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Yuma, Arizona; Little River NWR in southeast Oklahoma; Izembek NWR in Cold Bay, Alaska; Kenai NWR in Soldotna, Alaska; and on the Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District in Minnesota. Mark has a BS in Wildlife Science from New Mexico State University.
US Forest Service
Margrett “Gretta” Boley
Margrett “Gretta” Boley is the director of the U.S. Forest Service (FS) Southern Region’s Biological and Physical Resources. Gretta oversees 10 program areas within the most biologically diverse Forest Service region in the country encompassing 13.3 million acres of National Forest lands across 13 southern states and Puerto Rico.
Gretta grew up on a farm in rural northeast Louisiana, and has a bachelor’s of science in agronomy from Southern University and postgraduate work in forestry and soils at the University of Arizona. She began her career in 1979 as a soil scientist on the Coronado National Forest in Tucson. She later served as Forest Supervisor for National Forests in Mississippi and the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana.
Gretta has served as acting director for civil rights in the FS Southern Region and as a team member for the Land Care Program in South Africa. She also has served as an appeals and litigation specialist in the FS Pacific Southwest Region, a budget coordinator for the FS Washington Office’s soil, water and air staff and deputy forest supervisor for the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Gretta is actively involved in PARC and supervises partnerships with PARC and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy to implement on-the-ground amphibian and reptile conservation projects.
Brian Logan
Brian Logan serves as the US Forest Service National Wildlife Program Leader in Washington, DC. Prior to his current position, Brian worked for the US Forest Service as a wildlife biologist throughout the western US and Alaska. He has also worked for The Nature Conservancy in southeast Arizona, and led birdwatching tours in Arizona, Southern California, Sonora, and the Northern Rockies, and also conducted field studies in Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, and Alberta, Canada, and Sonora, Mexico. Brian has a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from the University of Arizona and a MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana.
Kevin Leftwich
Kevin Leftwich is a Regional Aquatic Ecologist for the US Forest Service, Southern Region in Asheville, North Carolina. Kevin has worked as an aquatic ecologist for the US Forest Service for the past 23 years specializing in aquatic ecosystems and has over 30 years work experience with aquatic organisms and their habitat. Kevin has a graduate degree in Fisheries Science from Virginia Tech and is actively involved in PARC. He works closely with PARC and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC, the non-profit organization that supports PARC) to implement on-the-ground conservation projects for amphibians and reptiles.
US Geological Survey
Michael Adams
Mike Adams is a Research Ecologist and National Lead for ARMI for USGS at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center in Corvallis, Oregon. His research focuses on providing useful information related to amphibian conservation for resource management agencies. Research topics include invasive species, climate change, grazing, wetland mitigation, forest management, restoration, and disease.