Hal Salwasser, PhD, is the Consulting Director for the High Lonesome Institute. He is the Executive Dean, Division of Earth Systems Science, Cheryl Ramberg and Allyn C. Ford Dean of the College of Forestry, Director of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory, and Professor of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. Hal served on the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry, which he chaired in 2003-2005, and chairs the University Programs Subcommittee of the Boone and Crockett Club. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Forestry Center.
Cristina Eisenberg, MA, PhD Candidate, is the HLR Research, Conservation, and Outreach Director, and the Principal Investigator on the Trophic Cascades Involving Humans, Keystone Predators, Elk, and Aspen in North-Central Colorado on the High Lonesome Ranch research project, and Co-Principal Investigator on the Wildlife Disease Research Project. A Boone & Crockett Club Conservation Fellow, she is completing her doctorate in Forestry and Wildlife at Oregon State University. She is the author of The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity. Cristina conducts research in the northern and southern Rocky Mountains on predator/prey interactions involving large carnivores and their deer and elk prey.
Beth Haley, BS, is the HLR Science and Conservation Education Coordinator. She is currently an environmental studies Master of Arts student at Prescott College with a concentration in Environmental Education. Her master's thesis will be a conservation education plan and curriculum for the HLR.
Richard Kennedy, PhD, DVM, is the Database Developer and Research Veterinarian for the HLR, and Principal Investigator on the Wildlife Disease Research Project. He graduated with a DVM and PhD from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1986. In the last 25 years he has worked in mixed animal and large animal practice with special interest in wildlife. He has also participated in epidemiological research both as field veterinarian and as database manager. Currently he is an Associate Editor for the Canadian Veterinary Journal.
Trent Seager, MSc, is the HLR Aspen Ecologist, with a focus on aspen restoration. He also works on aspen restoration projects on National Forests in Oregon and California. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Forest Ecology studying climate change and disturbance using aspen as an ecosystem indicator.
Dr. Michael Soulé, PhD, is a Co-Principal Investigator on the Trophic Cascades Involving Humans, Keystone Predators, Elk, and Aspen in North-Central Colorado on the High Lonesome Ranch and an HLR Science Advisor. A professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he was a founder and first President of the Society for Conservation Biology and The Wildlands Network, and is currently its VP for Science. He has written and edited 9 books on science and has published more than 170 articles on population and evolutionary biology, fluctuating asymmetry, population genetics, island biogeography, environmental studies, biodiversity policy, nature conservation, and ethics.
Dr. Howard Whiteman, PhD, is the Principal Investigator on the Conservation Planning and Trophic Cascades Research for the Kimball Creek Watershed Restoration Project. He is a Professor of Wildlife and Conservation Biology and Director of the Watershed Studies Institute at Murray State University. He has been studying aquatic ecology and evolution in the Elk Mountains of Colorado as a principal investigator at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory for more than two decades. His current research at HLR focuses on the role of trophic cascades in the restoration of stream and riparian ecosystems.
Richard Horwitz, PhD, is a Contract Scientist on the HLR, studying biodiversity. He is the Ruth Patrick Chair of Environmental Research in the Patrick Center at the Academy of Natural Sciences, a non-profit museum and research institution in Philadelphia. He is coordinating Academy work at the ranch, conducting the riparian vegetation assessment, and participating in the ranch bio-inventory.
Doug Wechsler, PhD, is a Contract Scientist for the HLR, studying biodiversity. He is the Director of Visual Resources for Ornithology (VIREO) at the Academy of Natural Sciences, the world's most comprehensive archive of bird photography. He has done bird surveys as a wildlife biologist for the Washington State Game Department and Bureau of Land Management. He is the author of 22 books for children on various ecological topics, many featuring his photography.
Shane Patrick Mahoney, MSc, is the HLR Advisor on International Conservation and Outreach for the HLR. He directs wildlife science programs in Canada, specializing in large-mammal ecology and predator/prey relationships. He is a Professional Member and advisor to the Boone and Crockett Club, Safari Club International, and the Wildlife Society, and a board member of Conservation Force and the International Council for the Conservation of Wildlife.
Mark Elbroch, BS, PhD candidate, is the Principal Investigator on the Garfield-Mesa Lion Project on the HLR. This project is both an intensive study of cougar feeding ecology on and around the HLR, and research on the role cougars play in their larger ecological communities. Mark is also wrapping up a doctorate in Ecology at UC Davis, where his research focused on cougars in Chilean Patagonia.
Scot Peterson, BS, is a graduate student at Murray State University and is a co-investigator on the Conservation Planning and Trophic Cascades Research for the Kimball Creek Watershed Restoration Project. He is gathering baseline ecological data in order to measure the success of the proposed restoration of Kimball Creek, as well as investigating the ability of the stream community to recover from the restoration. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Southern Illinois University, and worked as a research technician and lab manager in SIU's Freshwater Ecology Lab.
Kenyon Fields, BA, is the HLR Private Lands Network Liaison. He is the Strategy Director for Wildlands Network, where he focuses on the Western Wildway Network Initiative -- an international effort to employ the power of networks of people to protect a connected network of conservation lands from northern Alaska's Brooks Range through the Rockies into northern Mexico. He leads their inter-organizational Connectivity Policy Working Group, and is developing our Private Lands Conservation Program.
