About CSERC

Our Efforts

Meet the Staff

  In 1990, CSERC started with John dealing mostly with forest issues and taking a single slide show program into the schools. Since then, we've reached over 82,000 viewers with free educational programs; we've reviewed countless forest projects and development proposals; we've sat through far more than 1,000 meetings; and we've been fortunate to spend countless days in the forest doing monitoring, fieldwork, and wildlife surveys.

   Here are some photos of our hard-working and dedicated staff. We are your hands at work in the quest to defend the environment and to find solutions to the many threats that face our spectacular ecosystem.

John, CSERC's executive director, attempts to keep up with all the issues and contacts with the media, decision-makers, politicians, various agency specialists, schools, volunteer activists, and our critically important donors and foundations. He's especially happy when he's out doing fieldwork with the rest of CSERC's staff.

Contact: johnb@cserc.org

Brenda Whited

Brenda Whited, our new staff biologist, joined CSERC last year.  Brenda grew up in California, where she spent much of her youth hiking and exploring in the Sierra Nevada.  She completed her Bachelor’s degree in biology at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Master’s degree in ecology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  As CSERC's biologist she helps to conduct wildlife and grazing surveys, respond to development projects, and lead our volunteer workdays.  She is also an avid rock climber and spends much of her free time on the granite in the mountains. 

Contact: brendaw@cserc.org 

Heather has taken on a wide range of tasks over the past few years -- helping with fieldwork, office work and most of our membership contact efforts. Now, during the time she is away from the local area at Humboldt State, Heather utilizes online access to manage and update CSERC's website and to assist John with outreach and membership projects. During summer seasons she assists with meadow monitoring, wildlife surveys, and workday projects.

Contact: heatherc@cserc.org

Julia Stephens comes to us after having worked seasonally as a botany technician for the Stanislaus National Forest. From Maryland originally, she moved to California ten years ago after falling in love with the diversity of the West Coast landscapes. She has spent several years as a trail worker in both California and Alaska, attended school for outdoor recreation and leadership, and is currently studying environmental science and geography at college. Her role at CSERC is to fill in the gaps as needed for fieldwork, grant research, and preparing mailings to our members.

Contact: julias@cserc.org

Tom, a Ph.D. ecologist, teaches at Columbia College, helping students learn about fungi, local wildflowers of the region, natural resources, and biology. In his work for CSERC, Tom heads up our grazing and meadow fieldwork surveys, plus he also periodically testifies at hearings and helps with our wildlife surveys. He is deeply involved in the local community and is active with the local Native Plant Society, the Phoenix Lake Task Force, and other conservation efforts.

Contact: tomh@cserc.org