CCB People
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Michael F. Allen Director Professor of Plant Pathology and Biology |
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My interests focus on the regulation of community and ecosystem processes by soil organisms with special emphasis on mycorrhizal fungi. My current research concentrates on global change dynamics and structure of undisturbed areas, and how that information can be utilized in the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems. |
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John Rotenberry Associate Director Professor of Biology Director of UC Nature Reserves |
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My laboratory studies community ecology and conservation biology, particularly how environmental factors interact to determine species diversity and community composition, and how the relative importance of those factors varies. My research has focused on communities in semi-arid shrubsteppe habitat, with emphasis on birds, shrubs, and arthropods; annual plants and their pollinators in old-field ecosystems; and conservation biology of vertebrates from a landscape ecological perspective. |
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Rick Redak Profesor of Entomology Chair of the CCB Steering Committee |
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Currently, my lab is involved in studies investigating 1) The use of whole insect communities to assess community recovery following fire or restoration, 2) The impact of land management practices on insect community structure and 3) The importance of insect community structure and biomass distribution in determining the habitat quality of endangered species of vertebrate insectivores. |
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Tom Scott Associate Director Cooperative Extension |
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My interests are biogeography, conservation biology, wildlife management. Some of my recent projects are wildlife conservation in fragmented and altered landscapes, including studies of wildlife movement, habitat use, and population biology in oak woodland, sage scrub, and riparian habitats; behavioral changes and adjustments in habitat use of woodland bird species in response to human activities; the conservation and management of island bird species through captive propagation, predator control, and habitat restoration. |
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Cameron Barrows Assistant Researcher |
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I am currently an Assistant Research Ecologist coordinating the Center for Conservation Biology’s Desert Studies Initiative.The focus of the Desert Studies Initiative has been to develop risk assessments for desert flora, fauna and natural communities relevant to the implementation of regional conservation programs. Specific research has examined the influence of suburban-natural area interfaces, minimum habitat sizes for population persistence along precipitation gradients, the influence of exotic species on natural community composition, drivers of population dynamics, and modeling current and historic species distributions to objectively measure habitat loss. We are also exploring programs to enhance the secondary level science education in surrounding schools. |
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Kathleen Dawn Fleming Lab Assistant |
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I currently hold a position as a Laboratory Assistant at the CCB assisting with database management, administrative duties, and monitoring of sensitive species listed under the Coachella Valley and Western Riverside County MSHCP’s. My research interests include how to increase conservation efforts for desert ecology through local environmental education initiatives, including identifying how to build on local knowledge and awareness of conservation issues. By doing so, I hope to optimize the design and function of integral issues of ecology within developing Habitat Conservation Plans and the surrounding communities. |
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Kristine Preston Assistant Researcher |
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My research interests focus on how organisms respond to environmental change at multiple scales. For my dissertation, I studied behavioral and reproductive responses of an arid shrubland-dwelling songbird to experimental manipulation of food availability and nest predation risk during a period of extreme variation in annual precipitation. As a post-doctoral research fellow, I am collaborating with other researchers at the Center for Conservation Biology to develop niche models predicting habitat suitability for sensitive plant and animal species in Southern California and Baja California, Mexico. I am interested in modeling how changing environmental conditions resulting from human activities might affect the distribution of species and the composition of communities. These research projects have direct applicability to the conservation and management of sensitive species and natural communities in our region. |
| Robert F. Johnson Assistant Specialist | |
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I provide geospatial support for research; my services include spatial data procurement, analysis, processing, organization, and visualization. My background is in archaeology with a specialization in a field mapping. I have become more involved with biology during the past few years. This started during work on my masters degree in geographic information systems when I researched solutions to produce geographic coordinates for the described locations of museum collections. |
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Veronique Rorive Academic Coordinator |
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I am responsible for the administration and coordination of the CCB projects, as well as the development of research initiatives in Mexico's two peninsulas: Yucatan and Baja California. A bachelor's degree in anthropology coupled with a master's thesis in environmental education, strengthened my interests on how conservation and management of biodiversity efforts successfully integrate and interact with local community development objectives. |
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Matthew Davis Junior Specialist |
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| I am currently working on various endavors spanning several of the CCB's projects. Last year we completed the Riverside Conservation Authority (RCA) Project showing the loss of wilderness areas in the last 60 years. More recently I've been working with Cam Barrows in association with the Desert Studies Initiative finding, editing, and cimpiling point data for rare and endagered species as well as working on satellit ecoverages of key areas of interest. I have also been lucky enough to work on the still-ongoing Conservation Area Project with the goal of creating an accessible database of wilderness/recreation areas, state parks, reserves, wildlife corridors, etc. which will be used as a research resource for upcoming events. I also have various CV MSHCP related sub-projects going on. | |
| Cecelia Morentin Administrative Assistant | |
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I have been an Administrative Assistant with the University of California, Riverside since 1996. At the Center for Conservation Biology I facilitate travel, various aspects of personnel, purchasing, grants and proposals, as well as day to day activities. It is a pleasure to work with everyone in the department and be a part of an extraordinary work environment. |