BRC Team Members | Biorc.com

Carl Thelander

President/CEO

Senior Ecologist

Mr. Thelander has over 37 years of experience with natural resource consulting on interdisciplinary projects. His technical specialties include wildlife ecology, natural resources management, endangered species conservation, and ornithology. He is recognized as an expert on wildlife interactions with energy related facilities, including large-scale wind/solar/hydroelectric energy developments, transmission and distribution lines, pipelines, and other large infrastructure.

Seth Sutherland

GeoSpatial Applications Director

GIS Specialist

Mr. Sutherland has extensive knowledge and experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including ESRI’s ArcGIS suites and extensions, as well as mobile data collection technologies and reporting applications. He is a GIS program leader and senior consultant responsible for ensuring timely, organized, predictable delivery of multiple, overlapping projects. He is expert at deriving spatial information from widely varied resource material.

Priscilla Watson-Wynn

Biological Technician

Priscila Watson-Wynn is a graduate of California State University- East Bay, Hayward, CA with a Bachelor of Science: Biological Sciences: Ecology and Conservation. She has Performed California Spotted Owl and Northern Goshawk nest and reproductive success surveys in various project areas. She has assisted in outdoor education programs working with kids to inspire appropriate care of our forest and natural resources. She has created and led interpretive programming for all ages of the public covering the natural and cultural resources.

Travis Byler

Natural Resource Lead Biologist

Mr. Byler is a Wildlife Biologist residing in Bakersfield, CA, who has several years experience working with Endangered & Special Status Species in California and Nevada. This includes radio tracking, translocating, health assessment (under assistance), surveying and monitoring for Desert Tortoise. His experience extends into work with Mojave Ground Squirrel, Burrowing Owl, Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard, Nesting birds, Woodpeckers and other species in the Central Valley, Sierras, Mojave Desert and Southern Nevada.

Katie Grube

Associate Biologist

Katie Grube is an experienced BRC Associate Biologist with experience conducting field surveys and construction monitoring activities involving endangered, threatened, and sensitive animal species. She is an active team member working with a variety of disciplines. Katie has experience with a variety of sensitive wildlife species which includes desert tortoise, Mojave ground squirrel, San Joaquin kit fox, Burrowing owl, as well as many others. Katie has addition experience conducting pre-construction surveys for nesting birds and other sensitive resources including the identification of riparian vegetation and wetland resources.

Steven Neumann

Staff Biologist

Russel Kokx

Senior Biologist

Russel Kokx is an agency approved biologist who has implemented and performed surveys for many listed species including: blunt-nosed leopard lizards, San Joaquin kit fox, Tipton and giant kangaroo rats. He has conducted avian point counts, desert tortoise, and desert kit fox surveys and performed biological assessment and inventory with an emphasis on special status species surveys, especially desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, burrow deer, and American badger and special status plant species. Additionally, he has performed wetland delineations at riparian and stream crossings, vernal pools and swales, he has directed transect surveys for all listed species including: red-legged frogs, tiger salamanders, and fairy shrimp and collected and identified Vernal Pool Target Species.

Rocky Brown

Senior Biologist

Rocky has over 19 years of experience in the environmental consulting industry: planning and leading focused environmental assessments, analyzing regulations, and managing projects and personnel. His skills include developing project proposals that include detailed scopes of work and cost estimates, analyzing projects’ potential impacts and providing pragmatic solutions to address environmental concerns, and drafting concise technical reports presenting findings. He has participated in a wide variety of on-site investigations including hundreds of hours of biological surveys and soil, surface water, and groundwater sampling.

Lauren Lazos

Biological Technician

Jayme Carraway

Biological Technician

Hannah Milroy

Staff Biologist

Danielle Cordani

Biological Technician

Danielle Cordani is serving as a biological technician for BRC in Elko, NV. Danielle designed and co-founded a society to promote bat conservation through scientific research, educational outreach, and field work experience, reaching over 1,300 people within first year. She has developed collaborative systems, delegated projects, and overseen operations of society cabinet. Danielle has organized and led educational workshops, field trips, lectures, and research opportunities as well as coordinated all events and maintained professional relationships with diverse groups.

Chance Ronemus

GIS Technician/Python Specialist

Chance has been an excellent staff member with the GIS department assisting in large scale data processing tasks, tabular data adjudication, and data reporting. He has proven to be skilled with Microsoft Access databases and Python scripting tasks for ArcGIS.

William Neel

Staff Biologist

Anita Thompson

Accounting Specialist

Elizabeth Thelander

Word Processing/Accounting

Jami Yard

Staff Biologist

Jami Yard has focused her experience within the biological sector with an emphasis on ecology, environmental, and conservation work. Her most recent projects include multiple restoration efforts (riparian, chaparral, scrub restoration, etc), invasive plant management, mapping of native flora populations using ArcGIS, data collection, protected tree reports, vegetation monitoring, and local milkweed & monarch conservation efforts. Through her work, she has made connections with local, state, and federal agencies.

Stephen Jones

Senior Botanist

Wetland Specialist

Stephen Jones has over 32 years of experience as a botanist, primarily conducting and managing floristic surveys Southern California. Mr. Jones has conducted rare plant surveys in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, and the southeast coastal plain of the U.S. In California he has conducted rare plant surveys of several species. Mr. Jones is a Clean Water Act permitting specialist and a water quality specialist, having conducted over 1000 jurisdictional delineations.

Jaryd Block

GeoSpatial Applications Specialist

GIS Specialist

Mr. Block is a GIS program specialist supporting multiple, overlapping projects. His work experience includes environmental resource mapping, jurisdictional delineations and impact quantification, alliance level vegetation mapping, mobile solutions using ArcGIS Online, geodatabase organization and management, environmental compliance monitoring, technical report writing, riparian habitat restoration, Python tool scripting, and real-time post processing of biological field data.

Andrew Sandahl

Staff Biologist

Andrew Sandahl has an M.S. in Ecology and Evolution from University of Amsterdam, B.S. in Biology w/ minor in Conservation Biology from UCLA. Mr. Sandahl is a BRC team member with experience identifying native dune plants, eradicating invasive plants, and identifying both snowy plovers and least terns. He is also experienced with herpetological species and has performed surveys and capture of amphibians (plethodontid salamanders, CA tiger salamander, red-legged frog) and reptiles (desert iguana, whiptail, Mojave fringe-toed lizard, chuckwalla, horned lizard, collared lizard, zebra-tailed lizard, desert night lizard, western skink, desert tortoise, rattlesnake, king snake, ring-necked snake, gopher snake). Mr. Sandahl has surveyed for least bell’s vireo and a variety of other species and has experience with raptor identification, in addition to identification of common birds.

Mike Yates

Biologist/Project Manager

Mr. Yates has conducted studies in various U.S. states, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. Species involved have included the peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon, golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, Swainson’s hawk, and various other hawk and falcon species, greater sage-grouse, common loon, American white pelican, brown pelican, white-faced ibis, and desert bighorn sheep. He has served as Principal Investigator or Co-investigator in many of these studies, and authored or co-authored many peer-reviewed publications.

Thomas Jackson

Staff Biologist

Mr. Jackson is a Staff Biologist with experience conducting field surveys and construction monitoring activities involving endangered, threatened, and sensitive animal species. Mr. Jackson has performed environmental compliance monitoring and managed contractor implementation of environmental conditions and mitigation measure as set forth in the Client's Plans and Procedures, and all other permits, clearances, or authorizing documents.