Staff
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Steve Zack
Arctic Landscape Coordinator
As Pacific West Coordinator in the North America Program of WCS, Steve has initiated and lead efforts in this region on forest management, riparian and stream management, and has worked with birds as indicators of how such management matters for wildlife conservation. Steve helped shape "Healthy Forest" legislation with Congressional testimony, and added wildlife information to federal stream assessment protocols for the first time. In 2001, Steve began migrating up and back with breeding birds to Arctic Alaska and developed an ongoing program evaluating the effects of oil development on wildlife, the effects of climate change, and efforts to create protected areas in the wildlife-rich western Arctic of Alaska where the largest public land, the NPR-A, is about to become developed. Parallel to the Arctic efforts, Steve developed a "Birds-Bison" initiative to boost WCS's "Ecological Recovery of Bison" initiative in 2008. Grassland birds in the Great Plains are the most imperiled group of birds in North America, and grazing management of bison may assist their conservation, according to Dr. Zack. Steve earned his B.S. from Oregon State (1978), his PhD from the University of New Mexico (1985), and then was a post-doc through Purdue before teaching at Yale University (1989-1993). Through these posts he conducted research on birds in Kenya, Venezuela, and then Madagascar before joining WCS in 1997 to become part of the then-new North America Program.
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Steve Zack
Arctic Landscape Coordinator
As Pacific West Coordinator in the North America Program of WCS, Steve has initiated and lead efforts in this region on forest management, riparian and stream management, and has worked with birds as indicators of how such management matters for wildlife conservation. Steve helped shape "Healthy Forest" legislation with Congressional testimony, and added wildlife information to federal stream assessment protocols for the first time. In 2001, Steve began migrating up and back with breeding birds to Arctic Alaska and developed an ongoing program evaluating the effects of oil development on wildlife, the effects of climate change, and efforts to create protected areas in the wildlife-rich western Arctic of Alaska where the largest public land, the NPR-A, is about to become developed. Parallel to the Arctic efforts, Steve developed a "Birds-Bison" initiative to boost WCS's "Ecological Recovery of Bison" initiative in 2008. Grassland birds in the Great Plains are the most imperiled group of birds in North America, and grazing management of bison may assist their conservation, according to Dr. Zack. Steve earned his B.S. from Oregon State (1978), his PhD from the University of New Mexico (1985), and then was a post-doc through Purdue before teaching at Yale University (1989-1993). Through these posts he conducted research on birds in Kenya, Venezuela, and then Madagascar before joining WCS in 1997 to become part of the then-new North America Program.
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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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