Richard Hutto, Ph.D.
University of Montana
Dr. Hutto has conducted research on migratory landbirds in Mexico in winter, the Southwest during spring and fall, and in the Northern Rockies in summer for more than 30 years. He developed and continues to supervise the USFS Northern Region Landbird Monitoring Program, and he has been studying the ecological effects of fire on bird communities for 20 years.
Mark Harmon, Ph.D.
Oregon State University
Dr. Harmon is the Richardson Chair and Professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. He is also Co-Director of the Cooperative Chemistry Analytical Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. in Botany and Plant Pathology at OSU in 1986, then moved to the Department of Forest Science. Dr. Harmon has done research on numerous projects, including the development of methods and models for estimating the stores and fluxes of carbon from forest lands in the Pacific Northwest region.
Thomas Hardy, Ph.D.
Utah State University
Dr. Hardy’s intersecting interests in hydraulic engineering and aquatic biology have led to the development and application of models that provide water resources management guidance. Over a 25-year career, Dr. Hardy has used these models to project the effects of water allocation activities on stream habitat for fishes, other riverine animals, and recreational values.
Healy Hamilton, Ph.D.
Dr. Hamilton is a Senior Research Associate at Sound Science in the Bay Area, with a research focus on biodiversity and ecological forecasting. Her lab integrates spatial data on biodiversity, environment, and climate from both models and observations to understand biological response to global change. The Hamilton lab collaborates with a wide range of conservation organizations and government agencies, providing science in support of adaptation planning in the U.S. and around the globe. Dr. Hamilton is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, a Senior Research Fellow at the Marine Conservation Institute, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at San Francisco State University. Dr. Hamilton received her masters degree from Yale University and her doctorate in Integrative Biology from the University of California at Berkeley. She is a former U.S. Fulbright Fellow and a Switzer Foundation Environmental Leadership Grantee.
Robert E. Gresswell, Ph.D.
US Geological Survey
Dr. Gresswell’s interests concerning the influence of land-use activities on forested ecosystems have led to research on the relationships among landscape-scale environmental features, in-stream habitat characteristics, and coastal cutthroat trout abundance and distribution in watersheds in western Oregon.
Scott Hoffman Black, Ph.D.
Xerces Society
Dr. Black has extensive experience as a researcher, conservationist, and teacher in endangered species conservation, pollinator conservation, macroinvertebrate monitoring, and forest and range management issues.
Jessica directs our Spatial Analysis Program, with an emphasis on preparing local climate change projections for communities and agencies planning for climate change. She has developed custom python scripts to facilitate the conversion of raw climate data into aesthetically pleasing and educational projection maps. She has a wide range of GIS and cartographic experience at the municipal, planning, and scientific levels. Jessica also assists with the mapping needs of the rest of the programs at the Geos Institute, such as integrating spatial datasets to map forests with high carbon stores, mapping fish habitat and passage impediments to aid aquatic biologists and land managers with restoration efforts, assessing land owners and pollutants within drinking water surface water source areas, and various other program needs as they arise.
She is a Certified GIS Professional (GISP) from the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI), holds a B.A. in Geography from Augustana College in Illinois and a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Portland State University.
Marni brings communities the science they need to make informed decisions and walks them through a process that results in climate change strategies that are integrated across both natural and human communities. Marni has also worked on developing climate-informed conservation blueprints for the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion and the Colorado Plateau. Marni joined the ClimateWise team after completing postdoctoral research with the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. That research investigated the effects of climate change on wildlife and wildlife habitat by working with a team to model climate stress and assess the level of state planning for climate change in the State Wildlife Action Plans. Marni has expertise in climate change effects on wildlife, ornithology, metapopulation ecology, conservation genetics, and invasive species.
Marni holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a M.S. in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Wyoming.
Tonya is the Executive Director of the Geos Institute and the Director of its ClimateWise Initiative, serving as the lead for ClimateWise projects. She has taken a lead role in developing the concept of Whole Community Resilience, which takes a holistic approach to addressing climate change impacts and develops solutions that are both ecologically sound and socially equitable. She and her ClimateWise team help community leaders understand likely future conditions, determine vulnerabilities, and develop strategies to address them that care for both people and nature.
In 2019, she and her ClimateWise team launched Climate Ready Communities, an “assisted do-it-yourself” climate resilience planning program that provides affordable assistance to small, mid-sized, and/or under-resourced communities nationwide. She is a co-author of A Practical Guide to Building Climate Resilience, a free, step-by-step planning guide which serves as the foundation for the Climate Ready Communities program.
As a member of the ClimateWise team, Tonya has helped communities adapt to changing climate conditions in Oregon, California, Montana, Alaska, Texas, Kentucky, Colorado, and Ontario, Canada. In 2012 she co-organized with the Kresge Foundation the first national gathering of adaptation practitioners: The Practitioners Workshop on Climate Change Adaptation: Integrated Strategies for Human and Natural Communities. She has developed climate adaptation curricula for the Association of Climate Change Officers.
Tonya served on the Project Advisory Committee for Community-Based Adaptation in the United States: Understanding How and Why Communities are Taking Action. She is a member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals where she has led working groups to develop climate adaptation program guidance for Congress and incoming administrations. She formerly served as the Treasurer for the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. Tonya holds a B.S. in Biophysical Environmental Studies from Northland College and a M.A. in Community Development from Goddard College.