Keynote:

April 30; 8:30 – 9:15 a.m.

Topic:

Speaker Name:

V.L. Holland

Title:

Biological Sciences Chair

Affiliation:

California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo

E-mail:

Bio:

Session 1:

Coastal Dune Ecology – (April 30; 9:15 – 10:30 a.m.)

Topic:

Western Snowy Plover Nesting Preference

Speaker Name:

Krista Fahy

Title:

Associate Curator

Affiliation:

Santa Barbara Natural History Museum

E-mail:

kfahy@sbnature2.org

Bio:

Krista Fahy is a graduate student (Ph.D.) at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  She is completing her thesis titled "Habitat Selection and Adaptive Response: Does Natural Selection Influence Nest-site Preferences of the Western Snowy Plover?" while working full-time as an associate curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.  Krista has been involved monitoring Snowy Plovers at the Unocal site since 1994.

Session 1:

Coastal Dune Ecology – (April 30; 9:15 – 10:30 a.m.)

Topic:

Soil moisture requirements for seedling survival and seed germination of La Graciosa Thistle

Speaker Name:

Ann Huber

Title:

Lab/Research Manager

Affiliation:

UC Berkeley

E-mail:

ahuber@nature.berkeley.edu

Bio:

Ann Huber is a graduate student (M.S.) at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo.  She is currently working on the analysis/writing of her thesis, “Soil Moisture Limitation to Seedling Survival of Cirsium loncholepis (La Graciosa Thistle)” while working full time as a lab/research manager at UC Berkeley.  At UC Berkeley, she manages Barbara Allen-Diaz’s lab, which studies spring-fed wetland vegetation responses to livestock grazing and other ecosystem-level vegetation relationships to environmental factors.

Session 1:

Coastal Dune Ecology – (April 30; 9:15 – 10:30 a.m.)

Topic:

Wildlife of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes

Speaker Name:

Julie Schneider

Title:

Consulting Biologist

Affiliation:

SPECI

E-mail:

schneiderj@earthlink.net

Bio:

Julie Schneider is a biological consultant, employed by her own company, Small Planet Ecological Consulting, Inc. or SPECI for short.  Her primary area of biological expertise is in wildlife ecology, but her background is very broad and includes education and experience in the fields of botany, conservation genetics, and natural resource planning.  She has worked in many different habitats ranging from marine to alpine and from wetlands to deserts.  She started working in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in 1999, primarily for Guadalupe Restoration Project where she is subcontracted to serve as the Wildlife Task Leader, but she has also worked for California State Parks on the Ecological Reserve of Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.  Her experience with wildlife has encompassed a wide array of species ranging from North America’s largest animal, the American bison, to some of its smallest, including bats, amphibians, and marine invertebrates.

Session 2:

Dune Restoration – (April 30; 10:45 – 12:00 p.m.)

Topic:

Revegetation of the C8 Excavation:  Results after 30 Months

Speaker Name:

Michael Curto

Title:

Research Associate

Affiliation:

Biological Sciences, Cal Poly State University,
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

E-mail:

mcurto@calpoly.edu

Bio:

Michael Curto earned a BS in Ecology & Systematic Biology from Cal Poly State University.  His interests and experience center on plant biogeography, ecology, and systematics, especially of Western North American grasses.  Over the past twenty years, Michael has worked for the California Department of Parks & Recreation, the San Diego County Department of Agricultural, the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Cal Poly State University research projects, and as a private botanical consultant to various projects.  In addition, he has taught regular university courses in Plant Taxonomy and Grass Identification.  Over the past three years, Michael has contributed his skills to the ongoing effort to remediate the Former Guadalupe Oil Field.

Session 2:

Dune Restoration – (April 30; 10:45 – 12:00 p.m.)

Topic:

A Decade of Restoration on a NWR

Speaker Name:

Andrea Pickart

Title:

Ecologist

Affiliation:

US Fish & Wildlife Service – Humboldt Bay NWR

E-mail:

Andrea_Pickart@r1.fws.gov

Bio:

Andrea Pickart is the Ecologist for Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Arcata, California. Her background is in plant ecology with an emphasis on dune and wetlands.  Andrea previously worked for The Nature Conservancy as a preserve manager and then Area Ecologist. Much of her job revolves around invasive plant species control and restoration ecology.

Session 2:

Dune Restoration – (April 30; 10:45 – 12:00 p.m.)

Topic:

Speaker Name:

Lew Stringer

Title:

Ecologist

Affiliation:

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

E-mail:

Bio:

Lew recently graduated with a M.S. in Land Rehabilitation from Montana State University in Bozeman, where he focused on plant ecology.  His master's research was conducted in Glacier National Park, where he examined techniques for restoring spotted knapweed infested prairies.  During graduate school Lew also worked as a seasonal botanist for Glacier National Park.  From 1997-2000, Lew worked in various capacities - including a period as Revegetation Manager - for the Crissy Field coastal dune and salt marsh restoration project in the Presidio of San Francisco.  In December 2003, Lew returned to Golden Gate National Recreation Area as an NPS ecologist working to restore rare and endangered plant species and dune habitats to remediated Army landfills in the Presidio.

Session 3:

Dune Resource Management – (April 30; 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.)

Topic:

Management of Dunes in a SVRA

Speaker Name:

Laura Gardner

Title:

Affiliation:

Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area

E-mail:

Bio:

Session 3:

Dune Resource Management – (April 30; 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.)

Topic:

In the Dunes: GIS Mapping & Setting Priorities for Restoration

Speaker Name:

Jasmine Watts

Title:

Botanist

Affiliation:

Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo

E-mail:

JasmineW@special-places.org

Bio:

Jasmine has been working for the Land Conservancy since 2001 as a field botanist since finishing her studies as an Ecology and Systematic Biology Major at Cal Poly. Her work began in the dunes assisting biologist Claudia Makeyev with data collection for each and every land management unit delineated for the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes complex. When Claudia left to go back to college, Jasmine became the primary manager of the dune data. She finished developing the GIS maps and database, and established the monitoring protocols now being implemented in the dunes by Wendy Thackery, a student from Cal Poly hired to assist Jasmine with data collection.  Recently, Jasmine with the help of her project manager Paul Holmes, published a reference guide to the Rare & Sensitive Plants of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes for the Dunes Collaborative.  This document features her work of GIS mapping and plant photography, as well as descriptions of the plants occurrences in regards to the Land Conservancy’s restoration work.

Session 3:

Dune Resource Management – (April 30; 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.)

Topic:

Habitat Inventory and Ecological Database using GIS

Speaker Name:

Wayne Vogler

Title:

Affiliation:

(sd)²ecology

E-mail:

wayne@sd2ecology.com

Bio:

Roundtable Discussion:

Invasive Species Management  - (April 30; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.)

Topic:

A Review of Weed Threats and Strategies in the Dunes

Speaker Name:

John Chestnut

Title:

Consultant

Affiliation:

E-mail:

Bio:

Roundtable Discussion:

Invasive Species Management  - (April 30; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.)

Topic:

A Review of Weed Threats and Strategies in the Dunes

Speaker Name:

Mark Skinner

Title:

Affiliation:

Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo

E-mail:

Bio:

Mark Skinner has been working for the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County since 1997 beginning with re-vegetation work at the San Luis Obispo Creek. He has been devoted to invasive plant removal work in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes since 1999 when he obtained his Qualified Applicators License from the DPR. His work involves Veldt grass, European beachgrass, Arundo and Cortaderia species. He holds a 1984 BS in Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has been an active member of CNPS since 1983 and more recently with California Invasive Plant Council.

Roundtable Discussion:

Invasive Species Management  - (April 30; 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.)

Topic:

A Review of Weed Threats and Strategies in the Dunes

Speaker Name:

Greg Nowell

Title:

Affiliation:

All Seasons Weed Control

E-mail:

Bio:

Keynote:

May 1; 8:30 – 9:15 a.m.

Topic:

Speaker Name:

Christopher J. Barr

Title:

Refuge Manager

Affiliation:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes NWR

E-mail:

Bio:

Chris is the Refuge Manager for the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes NWR and has been working to promote partnerships, and protect coastal dune habitats on coastal National Wildlife Refuges in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties.  Chris has worked on a number of high profile endangered species recovery programs and chairs the Dunes Collaborative, a partnership working to manage the dunes as one ecosystem.

Session 1:

Natural and Cultural History of the Nipomo Dunes
(May 1; 9:00 – 10:15 a.m.)

Topic:

Geomorphology of Central Coast Dunes

Speaker Name:

Jeff Parsons

Title:

Earth Scientist/Geomorphologist

Affiliation:

Geoarchaeology Consultant

E-mail:

geoarch@tcsn.net

Bio:

Jeff is a geomorphologist with extensive experience in the Pismo-Guadalupe Dunes. Working exclusively for archaeologists and Native Americans for 20 years, Jeff is a contributor to publications, technical reports, and public interpretive displays, a field trip leader, and a community and professional group speaker. Jeff has been successful in applying soil and landform geomorphology to the evaluation of archaeological sites, and has pioneered geologic techniques to identify archaeological sites buried in the subsurface.

Dunes are unique environments and support rich habitats. Dunes inspire artists and spiritualists, they are fun places. The geology of the dunes and the Santa Maria Valley watershed offers a hidden view of factors that help shape and support the variety of habitats found within the dunes. Jeff will discuss how some of the unique geology of the area affects the dunes, how the dunes originated and their evolution over time, the age of the dune fields, processes of sand movement and dune landforms, and the effects of prehistoric and modern land use on the dunes.

Session 1:

Natural and Cultural History of the Nipomo Dunes
(May 1; 9:00 – 10:15 a.m.)

Topic:

History of the Chumash

Speaker Name:

Elaine Schneider

Title:

Affiliation:

E-mail:

Bio:

Session 2:

The Future of the Nipomo Dunes – (May 1; 10:15 – 11:45 a.m.)

Topic:

Together We Can: Future of Your Coastal Resource Areas

Speaker Name:

Dunes Stewardship Collaborative Members

Title:

Affiliation:

E-mail:

Bio:

Session 2:

The Future of the Nipomo Dunes – (May 1; 10:15 – 11:45 a.m.)

Topic:

Future of the Guadalupe Dunes Center

Speaker Name:

Gillian Andrews

Title:

Executive Director

Affiliation:

Dunes Center

E-mail:

Bio:

Gillian is the Executive Director of the Dunes Center, a non-profit organization, located in Guadalupe.  With a mission of promoting the conservation of the dunes through education, research, and the support of cooperative stewardship, the Dunes Center offers a wide array of public outreach programming and is the Administrator of the Dunes Stewardship Collaborative.

Session 2:

The Future of the Nipomo Dunes – (May 1; 10:15 – 11:45 a.m.)

Topic:

Future of the Guadalupe Restoration Project

Speaker Name:

Gonzalo Garcia

Title:

Executive Director

Affiliation:

UNOCAL

E-mail:

Bio:

Gonzalo is the operation team manager for the Guadalupe Restoration Project on the former Unocal Oil Field.  Gonzalo has extensive experience in remediation and restoration of the site.