STAFF
Tim L. Hiller
Executive Director and Senior Ecologist
B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, Iowa State University
M.S. in Wildlife Ecology, Oklahoma State University
Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology, Michigan State University
With nearly two decades of experience as a wildlife professional, Tim has both management experience at a state wildlife agency and applied research experience in academia. Consequently, Tim can identify with the social, political, and economic components of agency decision making while developing and implementing research projects. His research interests include a diversity of game and non-game avian and mammalian taxa in an equally diverse array of ecosystems, but Tim focuses on furbearers and galliforms. Tim has published numerous technical and management plans, scientific articles, and book chapters; served on several state and national wildlife research and management committees; and is Certified Wildlife Biologist® with The Wildlife Society. Click here to contact Tim. Click here to download Tim's abbreviated curriculum vitae.
Executive Director and Senior Ecologist
B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, Iowa State University
M.S. in Wildlife Ecology, Oklahoma State University
Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology, Michigan State University
With nearly two decades of experience as a wildlife professional, Tim has both management experience at a state wildlife agency and applied research experience in academia. Consequently, Tim can identify with the social, political, and economic components of agency decision making while developing and implementing research projects. His research interests include a diversity of game and non-game avian and mammalian taxa in an equally diverse array of ecosystems, but Tim focuses on furbearers and galliforms. Tim has published numerous technical and management plans, scientific articles, and book chapters; served on several state and national wildlife research and management committees; and is Certified Wildlife Biologist® with The Wildlife Society. Click here to contact Tim. Click here to download Tim's abbreviated curriculum vitae.
Jamie E. McFadden
Ecologist and GIS Analyst
B.S. in Zoology and Cultural Ecology, Juniata College
M.S. in Natural Resource Sciences & Adaptive Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ph.D. (Candidate) in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Mississippi State University
Jamie, originally from Pennsylvania, has been involved with a diversity of ecological projects across the U.S., from federally listed avian species to forest carnivores. She has nearly 10 years of wildlife research and educational outreach experience. Her research interests generally focus on using adaptive management when applicable to improve the efficacy of wildlife management, and how natural and anthropogenic perturbations affect wildlife habitat and populations. Jamie has extensive field, research, and GIS skills to help meet the Institute’s mission. Click here to contact Jamie.
Ecologist and GIS Analyst
B.S. in Zoology and Cultural Ecology, Juniata College
M.S. in Natural Resource Sciences & Adaptive Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ph.D. (Candidate) in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Mississippi State University
Jamie, originally from Pennsylvania, has been involved with a diversity of ecological projects across the U.S., from federally listed avian species to forest carnivores. She has nearly 10 years of wildlife research and educational outreach experience. Her research interests generally focus on using adaptive management when applicable to improve the efficacy of wildlife management, and how natural and anthropogenic perturbations affect wildlife habitat and populations. Jamie has extensive field, research, and GIS skills to help meet the Institute’s mission. Click here to contact Jamie.
Andrew Tyre
Quantitative Ecologist
B.S. (Honours) in Zoology, University of Alberta
M.S. in Behavioral Ecology, Simon Fraser University
Ph.D. in Agriculture, University of Adelaide
Drew is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His main area of interest revolves around helping people to make good wildlife management decisions, especially when very little is known about the wildlife population. Drew enjoys engaging with agency decision makers and framing their management problems to identify "robust" decisions that ensure good outcomes, even when inaccurate information must be used. He focuses his attention on extracting the most information possible from available data to address decision making. Click here to request Drew's current CV,
Quantitative Ecologist
B.S. (Honours) in Zoology, University of Alberta
M.S. in Behavioral Ecology, Simon Fraser University
Ph.D. in Agriculture, University of Adelaide
Drew is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His main area of interest revolves around helping people to make good wildlife management decisions, especially when very little is known about the wildlife population. Drew enjoys engaging with agency decision makers and framing their management problems to identify "robust" decisions that ensure good outcomes, even when inaccurate information must be used. He focuses his attention on extracting the most information possible from available data to address decision making. Click here to request Drew's current CV,
Sonja Rasmussen
Secretary to Board of Directors
B.S. in Accounting, Iowa State University
Sonja is currently working towards becoming an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service and is employed with McGregor Tax & Accounting in Omaha, Nebraska. She has worked in public accounting for many years, including experience in non-profit accounting, and previously owned an accounting business. Sonja and her family live in southwestern Iowa.
CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Secretary to Board of Directors
B.S. in Accounting, Iowa State University
Sonja is currently working towards becoming an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service and is employed with McGregor Tax & Accounting in Omaha, Nebraska. She has worked in public accounting for many years, including experience in non-profit accounting, and previously owned an accounting business. Sonja and her family live in southwestern Iowa.
CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Andrea Martinez
Andrea Martinez is a sustainable development advocate who strives to promote the coexistence between society and the environment. She is an international environmental lawyer currently working at the Inter-American Development Bank on enhancing the tracking system to implement recommendations that promote institutional learning and development effectiveness. Ms. Martinez also assisted the Republic of India, via arbitration, in resolving the Indus Waters Kishenganga dispute with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – concerning the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the Kashmir area. She is the co-author of Freshwater Law & Governance: Global and Regional Perspectives for Sustainability and of Magna Carta and the Rule of Law.
Former professional experiences include her work at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Center for International Environmental Law, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Organization of American States. Ms. Martinez has a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law (2011), where she was the Senior Editor for the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief and a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Andrea Martinez is a sustainable development advocate who strives to promote the coexistence between society and the environment. She is an international environmental lawyer currently working at the Inter-American Development Bank on enhancing the tracking system to implement recommendations that promote institutional learning and development effectiveness. Ms. Martinez also assisted the Republic of India, via arbitration, in resolving the Indus Waters Kishenganga dispute with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – concerning the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the Kashmir area. She is the co-author of Freshwater Law & Governance: Global and Regional Perspectives for Sustainability and of Magna Carta and the Rule of Law.
Former professional experiences include her work at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Center for International Environmental Law, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Organization of American States. Ms. Martinez has a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law (2011), where she was the Senior Editor for the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief and a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Holly Michael
Holly Michael retired in 2015 from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Holly has worked for 40 years across the nation in fish and wildlife research, management, and policy. She spent the last 10 years as Conservation Policy Coordinator in the ODFW Director’s office. She is now contracting with the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) as Coordinator for the Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool program (CHAT). This program, covering 17 western states, provides data and spatial maps of fish, wildlife and habitats for use in planning and conservation of landscape-scale projects, and for identifying and managing crucial habitats and connectivity corridors. Holly was the Oregon Governors’ representative for CHAT from its inception in 2007.
Holly is also the U.S. Co-Chair of the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, which is an international partnership between the U.S. and Canada committed to conserving crucial habitats for migratory birds. This Joint Venture has been advancing avian habitat conservation since 1991, in 5 western states and British Columbia. She also serves as the Conservation Affairs Network Representative for the Northwest Section of The Wildlife Society. As such, Holly coordinates with several western state chapters of The Wildlife Society (TWS) to advance wildlife conservation policy issues at the national, regional, and local levels. She is Past-President of the Oregon Chapter of TWS, and served 2 terms as a Board member. She spends much of her retirement time travelling the world.
Holly Michael retired in 2015 from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Holly has worked for 40 years across the nation in fish and wildlife research, management, and policy. She spent the last 10 years as Conservation Policy Coordinator in the ODFW Director’s office. She is now contracting with the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) as Coordinator for the Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool program (CHAT). This program, covering 17 western states, provides data and spatial maps of fish, wildlife and habitats for use in planning and conservation of landscape-scale projects, and for identifying and managing crucial habitats and connectivity corridors. Holly was the Oregon Governors’ representative for CHAT from its inception in 2007.
Holly is also the U.S. Co-Chair of the Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture, which is an international partnership between the U.S. and Canada committed to conserving crucial habitats for migratory birds. This Joint Venture has been advancing avian habitat conservation since 1991, in 5 western states and British Columbia. She also serves as the Conservation Affairs Network Representative for the Northwest Section of The Wildlife Society. As such, Holly coordinates with several western state chapters of The Wildlife Society (TWS) to advance wildlife conservation policy issues at the national, regional, and local levels. She is Past-President of the Oregon Chapter of TWS, and served 2 terms as a Board member. She spends much of her retirement time travelling the world.
Tom Walker
Tom Walker is a native of southwest Iowa. He served in the Army 1967-1970 spending 1968 in Viet Nam. After the Army, Tom attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Iowa Western Community College and graduated from Bellevue University with a BA in Business. Equipped with a lifelong passion for all things outdoors, he began a 13-year career as a full-time wildlife artist. Time and circumstances led to other jobs and formal retirement from the Iowa Dept. of Human Services. There was never a retirement from the love of wildlife and art. This will continue a lifetime.
Tom witnessed the resurgence of the bald eagle and other species from the DDT era and also witnessed the severe decline of pheasant, quail and gray partridge due to loss of habitat. As a self-taught naturalist, learning from writings of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Sigurd Olson and many others, he believes things can be fixed or prevented. He believes in research and intelligent application to help solve current wildlife and habitat issues. The quality of life depends on it.
Tom Walker is a native of southwest Iowa. He served in the Army 1967-1970 spending 1968 in Viet Nam. After the Army, Tom attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Iowa Western Community College and graduated from Bellevue University with a BA in Business. Equipped with a lifelong passion for all things outdoors, he began a 13-year career as a full-time wildlife artist. Time and circumstances led to other jobs and formal retirement from the Iowa Dept. of Human Services. There was never a retirement from the love of wildlife and art. This will continue a lifetime.
Tom witnessed the resurgence of the bald eagle and other species from the DDT era and also witnessed the severe decline of pheasant, quail and gray partridge due to loss of habitat. As a self-taught naturalist, learning from writings of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Sigurd Olson and many others, he believes things can be fixed or prevented. He believes in research and intelligent application to help solve current wildlife and habitat issues. The quality of life depends on it.
PAST BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dave Vesely
Dave has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, a B.F.A. in Illustration from Oregon State University, and a M.S. in Forest Science also from OSU. He is presently a co-executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Institute. Dave has been a wildlife ecologist for more than 20 years, specializing in the assessment of the effects of human land use on wildlife populations and their habitats. His professional interests include restoration planning for wildlife, natural resource inventory and monitoring designs, and modeling approaches to understand land management effects on wildlife habitats. He has conducted research on threatened/endangered species and wildlife communities of the Oregon Coast Range, Oregon Cascades, and the Willamette Valley. Dave lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
We are grateful to have had Dave service and expertise on our Board during 2015-2017.
Dave has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, a B.F.A. in Illustration from Oregon State University, and a M.S. in Forest Science also from OSU. He is presently a co-executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Institute. Dave has been a wildlife ecologist for more than 20 years, specializing in the assessment of the effects of human land use on wildlife populations and their habitats. His professional interests include restoration planning for wildlife, natural resource inventory and monitoring designs, and modeling approaches to understand land management effects on wildlife habitats. He has conducted research on threatened/endangered species and wildlife communities of the Oregon Coast Range, Oregon Cascades, and the Willamette Valley. Dave lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
We are grateful to have had Dave service and expertise on our Board during 2015-2017.
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