Staff
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Molly Cross
Climate Change Coordinator and Climate Adaptation Fund Advisor
Molly Cross is the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for the North America Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Her work focuses on bringing together experts in the fields of climate change, ecology, conservation-planning and land management to translate broad-brush climate change adaptation strategies into on-the-ground conservation actions. Molly is leading climate change planning efforts involving government agencies and diverse stakeholders at several landscapes across North America, focused on a range of targets from individual species to more complex ecosystems. She has been researching, writing reports, and coordinating outreach with stakeholder groups on the potential ecological and socioeconomic impacts of climate change in North America for over a decade. Molly got her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied ecosystem responses to climate warming and plant diversity loss in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
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Molly Cross
Climate Change Coordinator and Climate Adaptation Fund Advisor
Molly Cross is the Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for the North America Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Her work focuses on bringing together experts in the fields of climate change, ecology, conservation-planning and land management to translate broad-brush climate change adaptation strategies into on-the-ground conservation actions. Molly is leading climate change planning efforts involving government agencies and diverse stakeholders at several landscapes across North America, focused on a range of targets from individual species to more complex ecosystems. She has been researching, writing reports, and coordinating outreach with stakeholder groups on the potential ecological and socioeconomic impacts of climate change in North America for over a decade. Molly got her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied ecosystem responses to climate warming and plant diversity loss in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
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Erika Rowland
Climate Change Ecologist
Erika Rowland has been engaged in research focused on vegetation dynamics and their interaction with changing climate for several years. Past projects include work in Alaska and the Northeastern US, examining population and disturbance dynamics in forest ecosystems during recent centuries, as well as in longer-term paleoecological contexts. More recent work at the University of Arizona applied multi-discliplinary approaches to address the climate change challenges facing natural resource managers at multiple spatial scales in several regions in the Western US. These research themes coupled with professional experience in land conservation and management provide background for her role working on climate change issues in the the North America Program. Erika earned a PhD in Forest Resources from the University of Maine and a MS in Botany (ecology and Quaternary sceince) from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
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Erika Rowland
Climate Change Ecologist
Erika Rowland has been engaged in research focused on vegetation dynamics and their interaction with changing climate for several years. Past projects include work in Alaska and the Northeastern US, examining population and disturbance dynamics in forest ecosystems during recent centuries, as well as in longer-term paleoecological contexts. More recent work at the University of Arizona applied multi-discliplinary approaches to address the climate change challenges facing natural resource managers at multiple spatial scales in several regions in the Western US. These research themes coupled with professional experience in land conservation and management provide background for her role working on climate change issues in the the North America Program. Erika earned a PhD in Forest Resources from the University of Maine and a MS in Botany (ecology and Quaternary sceince) from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
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Bob Inman
Wolverine Project Coordinator
Bob Inman completed his MS degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management at the University of Tennessee in 1997. He has focused on carnivore research and management in the Rocky Mountians of the western United States, specifically black bears and wolverines. Bob now coordinates WCS's long term site in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. His work on wolveirnes in Greater Yellowstone is advancing the concept of Yellowstone as a protected area to that of a node within a network of protected areas that spans the Rocky Mountains.
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Bob Inman
Wolverine Project Coordinator
Bob Inman completed his MS degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management at the University of Tennessee in 1997. He has focused on carnivore research and management in the Rocky Mountians of the western United States, specifically black bears and wolverines. Bob now coordinates WCS's long term site in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. His work on wolveirnes in Greater Yellowstone is advancing the concept of Yellowstone as a protected area to that of a node within a network of protected areas that spans the Rocky Mountains.
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Jenni McDermid
Fish Conservation Research Scientist
Jenni McDermid completed her PhD in Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Toronto, Canada where her work focused on variation and sustainability of lake trout. Her position with WCS Canada has fostered her passion for conservation biology and freshwater fishes. Her research program with WCS is aimed at minimizing and mitigating threats to freshwater fish in northern Ontario from human development activities.
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Jenni McDermid
Fish Conservation Research Scientist
Jenni McDermid completed her PhD in Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Toronto, Canada where her work focused on variation and sustainability of lake trout. Her position with WCS Canada has fostered her passion for conservation biology and freshwater fishes. Her research program with WCS is aimed at minimizing and mitigating threats to freshwater fish in northern Ontario from human development activities.
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Jerry Jenkins
Project Coordinator for Forest Management and Conservation Easements
Jerry Jenkins is an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society Adirondack Program. He is the author of Climate Change in the Adirondacks: The Path to Sustainability, a newly-released book on the local implications of climate change, published through Cornell University Press. Jenkins brings decades of research experience in the field and the library to his current projects. In addition to focusing on energy and climate, his work has included botanical and ecological inventories, research on sugar maple regeneration and acid rain, and a focus on the ecological value of conservation easements.
Jenkins is the lead author of several comprehensive books on the Adirondack region, including The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park, coauthored by Andy Keal, and published as a project of the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2004. The Atlas is cited as one of the most comprehensive volumes of information available on the Adirondack region. Jenkins is also the lead author of Acid Rain in the Adirondacks: An Environmental History, published in 2007. He recently was honored by the Ecological Society of America with the William S. Cooper award for his role in a botanic survey of Harvard Forest published in collaboration with Forest staff.
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Jerry Jenkins
Project Coordinator for Forest Management and Conservation Easements
Jerry Jenkins is an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society Adirondack Program. He is the author of Climate Change in the Adirondacks: The Path to Sustainability, a newly-released book on the local implications of climate change, published through Cornell University Press. Jenkins brings decades of research experience in the field and the library to his current projects. In addition to focusing on energy and climate, his work has included botanical and ecological inventories, research on sugar maple regeneration and acid rain, and a focus on the ecological value of conservation easements.
Jenkins is the lead author of several comprehensive books on the Adirondack region, including The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park, coauthored by Andy Keal, and published as a project of the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2004. The Atlas is cited as one of the most comprehensive volumes of information available on the Adirondack region. Jenkins is also the lead author of Acid Rain in the Adirondacks: An Environmental History, published in 2007. He recently was honored by the Ecological Society of America with the William S. Cooper award for his role in a botanic survey of Harvard Forest published in collaboration with Forest staff.
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Joe Liebezeit
Arctic Alaska Field Coordinator
As an Associate Conservation Biologist for the WCS Arctic Program, Joe develops and implements collaborative research projects investigating how energy development and climate change are impacting wildlife in Arctic Alaska, with a particular focus on nesting birds. Joe’s work involves all aspects of project development and execution from fundraising, study design and development, leading crews conducting field research in remote parts of the Alaskan Arctic, to analyzing and writing up our project results in reports and publications. Joe works closely with diverse stakeholders including governmental agencies, other NGOs, and private industry in order to achieve project objectives and conservation goals. In addition to his work as a conservation biologist, Joe also oversees operation of the Portland, Oregon WCS office. Joe is a recent Alcoa Practitioner Fellow and is on the executive committee of the Alaska Shorebird Group. Joe has a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Management (2001) and a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire (1990). Joe first joined WCS in 2001. With his nearly 20 years of experience as a biologist involved in diverse projects around the United States and internationally, Joe has helped the Arctic Program grow and diversify its conservation efforts.
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Joe Liebezeit
Arctic Alaska Field Coordinator
As an Associate Conservation Biologist for the WCS Arctic Program, Joe develops and implements collaborative research projects investigating how energy development and climate change are impacting wildlife in Arctic Alaska, with a particular focus on nesting birds. Joe’s work involves all aspects of project development and execution from fundraising, study design and development, leading crews conducting field research in remote parts of the Alaskan Arctic, to analyzing and writing up our project results in reports and publications. Joe works closely with diverse stakeholders including governmental agencies, other NGOs, and private industry in order to achieve project objectives and conservation goals. In addition to his work as a conservation biologist, Joe also oversees operation of the Portland, Oregon WCS office. Joe is a recent Alcoa Practitioner Fellow and is on the executive committee of the Alaska Shorebird Group. Joe has a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Management (2001) and a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire (1990). Joe first joined WCS in 2001. With his nearly 20 years of experience as a biologist involved in diverse projects around the United States and internationally, Joe has helped the Arctic Program grow and diversify its conservation efforts.
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Joel Berger
Muskox Program Coordinator
Dr. Berger directs a number of projects for WCS; among these are the pronghorn migration corridor conservation project and the impact of energy development on wildlife projects in Greater Yellowstone, the impacts of climate change on musk ox in the Alaskan Arctic and the saiga antelope conservation project in Mongolia. Joel received his doctoral degree in biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and subsequently worked for the Smithsonian Institution for 7 years before becoming a tenured full professor at the University of Nevada, Reno (16 years). His current research focuses on the conservation of species and intact ecosystems. He has written 4 books on wild horses, rhinos, bison, and fear in prey species. Joel is also the John J. Craighead Chair in Wildlife Biology at the U of Montana.
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Joel Berger
Muskox Program Coordinator
Dr. Berger directs a number of projects for WCS; among these are the pronghorn migration corridor conservation project and the impact of energy development on wildlife projects in Greater Yellowstone, the impacts of climate change on musk ox in the Alaskan Arctic and the saiga antelope conservation project in Mongolia. Joel received his doctoral degree in biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and subsequently worked for the Smithsonian Institution for 7 years before becoming a tenured full professor at the University of Nevada, Reno (16 years). His current research focuses on the conservation of species and intact ecosystems. He has written 4 books on wild horses, rhinos, bison, and fear in prey species. Joel is also the John J. Craighead Chair in Wildlife Biology at the U of Montana.
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John Weaver
Senior Conservation Scientist
John Weaver is a carnivore conservation biologist for WCS based in Missoula, Montana with field programs in the western United States and Canada that are focused on large landscape conservation, wildlife connectivity and adaptation to climate change.
Over the past 25 years, John has played many key roles in large carnivore conservation in the United States and Canada. His dissertation research was on the ecology of wolf predation in the high-diversity ungulate environment of Jasper National Park, Alberta. John has held leadership positions with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on endangered species and has served on several recovery teams, including for both wolves and grizzly bears.
Over the years, he has perfected hair snaring techniques for lynx and bear surveys and invented a lynx lure that is now widely used. He has authored more than 20 scientific publications and served as a reviewer for five scientific journals. John has an academic appointment at the University of Montana. He is particularly interested in conservation strategies that address the resiliency mechanisms of vulnerable species.
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John Weaver
Senior Conservation Scientist
John Weaver is a carnivore conservation biologist for WCS based in Missoula, Montana with field programs in the western United States and Canada that are focused on large landscape conservation, wildlife connectivity and adaptation to climate change.
Over the past 25 years, John has played many key roles in large carnivore conservation in the United States and Canada. His dissertation research was on the ecology of wolf predation in the high-diversity ungulate environment of Jasper National Park, Alberta. John has held leadership positions with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on endangered species and has served on several recovery teams, including for both wolves and grizzly bears.
Over the years, he has perfected hair snaring techniques for lynx and bear surveys and invented a lynx lure that is now widely used. He has authored more than 20 scientific publications and served as a reviewer for five scientific journals. John has an academic appointment at the University of Montana. He is particularly interested in conservation strategies that address the resiliency mechanisms of vulnerable species.
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Leslie Karasin
Program Manager and Community Planning Project Coordinator
In her role as Program Manager, Leslie coordinates both programmatic and operational aspects of the Adirondack Program. She is currently focusing on applying her land use experience to community outreach projects promoting ecologically-sensitive development patterns. Named a Kinship Conservation Fellow in 2010, Leslie is also exploring opportunities for market-based tools to be used in funding regional carbon mitigation projects and implementing the Adirondack Climate Action Plan. Since joining the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2001, Leslie has worked collaboratively on a variety of research and community outreach projects, including development and implementation of a Local Waterfront Revitalization Strategy for the Towns of Clifton and Fine, black bear, Bicknell’s thrush, and all-terrain vehicle research, and a variety of initiatives to engage with local government officials on collaborative sustainable development projects. Prior to joining WCS, Leslie worked as an environmental consultant, taught at a community college, and worked as a backcountry environmental educator in the Adirondack High Peaks. After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in math and economics, Leslie was awarded a Susan Rappaport Knafel Traveling Fellowship, during which she divided her time between hiking and volunteering with a variety of environmental organizations on four continents. In her community, Leslie chairs the Village planning board and serves on the Comprehensive Planning Committee, a multi-year volunteer effort. She also serves on the Boards of Northern New York Audubon and the New York Planning Federation.
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Leslie Karasin
Program Manager and Community Planning Project Coordinator
In her role as Program Manager, Leslie coordinates both programmatic and operational aspects of the Adirondack Program. She is currently focusing on applying her land use experience to community outreach projects promoting ecologically-sensitive development patterns. Named a Kinship Conservation Fellow in 2010, Leslie is also exploring opportunities for market-based tools to be used in funding regional carbon mitigation projects and implementing the Adirondack Climate Action Plan. Since joining the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2001, Leslie has worked collaboratively on a variety of research and community outreach projects, including development and implementation of a Local Waterfront Revitalization Strategy for the Towns of Clifton and Fine, black bear, Bicknell’s thrush, and all-terrain vehicle research, and a variety of initiatives to engage with local government officials on collaborative sustainable development projects. Prior to joining WCS, Leslie worked as an environmental consultant, taught at a community college, and worked as a backcountry environmental educator in the Adirondack High Peaks. After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in math and economics, Leslie was awarded a Susan Rappaport Knafel Traveling Fellowship, during which she divided her time between hiking and volunteering with a variety of environmental organizations on four continents. In her community, Leslie chairs the Village planning board and serves on the Comprehensive Planning Committee, a multi-year volunteer effort. She also serves on the Boards of Northern New York Audubon and the New York Planning Federation.
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Michale Glennon
Adirondack Landscape Science Coordinator
As Science Coordinator for the Adirondack Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Michale serves a leading role in the ecological research conducted in the Adirondacks. Her research interests lie primarily at the intersection between land use management and ecological integrity, with a number of projects ranging from the impacts of low density, exurban development on wildlife to the potential changes to Adirondack lowland boreal communities resulting from climate change. Together with colleague Heidi Kretser, Michale has conducted a number of studies focused on exurban development in the Adirondacks in an effort to understand the specific impacts on avian communities, the area around residential homes in which wildlife communities are most strongly altered, the habitat characteristics and human activities associated with exurban development that most impact wildlife, and the characteristics of wildlife communities before and after residential development. She has also worked to predict changes in avian communities resulting from future development, and together with Heidi, has explored how wildlife communities react to residential development across widely differing ecosystems by examining these questions in both the Adirondack and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems. She continues to expand upon this work to answer critical research questions for our region and to provide information from local research that can be used to inform land management and planning decisions. Michale joined WCS in 2003 after completing a Ph.D. at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry where she explored the effects of land use management on bird and small mammal communities in the Adirondack Park. She was instrumental in the application of the Landscape Species Approach in the Adirondacks, applying the tools of the WCS Living Landscapes Program to provide site-based conservation priorities for the park based on a suite of landscape focal species. She has also worked on the potential impacts of ski area development on Bicknell’s thrush, a Neotropical migrant of high conservation priority in the east, and on a project to understand the rapidly expanding moose population in the Adirondacks and its relatedness to nearby populations in neighboring states and provinces. In addition to her exurban development work, Michale is currently working to understand the status and distribution of a suite of lowland boreal birds in the Adirondack Park and the potential impacts of climate change on these vulnerable species. Michale serves on the advisory board of the Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station, the Technical Advisory Committee for the Adirondack Park Agency, the Biodiversity Conservation Advisory Committee for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Forest and Land Management Task Force of the Adirondack Climate Action Plan, the Avian Taxonomic Working Group of the Adirondack All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, and the Paul Smiths College Fisheries and Wildlife Science Advisory Board.
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Michale Glennon
Adirondack Landscape Science Coordinator
As Science Coordinator for the Adirondack Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Michale serves a leading role in the ecological research conducted in the Adirondacks. Her research interests lie primarily at the intersection between land use management and ecological integrity, with a number of projects ranging from the impacts of low density, exurban development on wildlife to the potential changes to Adirondack lowland boreal communities resulting from climate change. Together with colleague Heidi Kretser, Michale has conducted a number of studies focused on exurban development in the Adirondacks in an effort to understand the specific impacts on avian communities, the area around residential homes in which wildlife communities are most strongly altered, the habitat characteristics and human activities associated with exurban development that most impact wildlife, and the characteristics of wildlife communities before and after residential development. She has also worked to predict changes in avian communities resulting from future development, and together with Heidi, has explored how wildlife communities react to residential development across widely differing ecosystems by examining these questions in both the Adirondack and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems. She continues to expand upon this work to answer critical research questions for our region and to provide information from local research that can be used to inform land management and planning decisions. Michale joined WCS in 2003 after completing a Ph.D. at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry where she explored the effects of land use management on bird and small mammal communities in the Adirondack Park. She was instrumental in the application of the Landscape Species Approach in the Adirondacks, applying the tools of the WCS Living Landscapes Program to provide site-based conservation priorities for the park based on a suite of landscape focal species. She has also worked on the potential impacts of ski area development on Bicknell’s thrush, a Neotropical migrant of high conservation priority in the east, and on a project to understand the rapidly expanding moose population in the Adirondacks and its relatedness to nearby populations in neighboring states and provinces. In addition to her exurban development work, Michale is currently working to understand the status and distribution of a suite of lowland boreal birds in the Adirondack Park and the potential impacts of climate change on these vulnerable species. Michale serves on the advisory board of the Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station, the Technical Advisory Committee for the Adirondack Park Agency, the Biodiversity Conservation Advisory Committee for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Forest and Land Management Task Force of the Adirondack Climate Action Plan, the Avian Taxonomic Working Group of the Adirondack All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory, and the Paul Smiths College Fisheries and Wildlife Science Advisory Board.
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