Adam Canter – Co-Chair
Natural Resources Specialist, Wiyot Natural Resources Department
Adam has been working as a biologist and botanist on the North Coast for 15 years, focusing on ecological restoration, rare species conservation, sensitive natural communities, geographic information systems, and ethnobotany. Adam has been with the Wiyot NRD since 2014, where he hopes to prepare and preserve tribal cultural resources in the face of SLR and climate change.
Dr. Eileen Cashman
Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Cashman’s research includes: Water Resource Engineering, Watershed Modeling for Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration, Sediment Transport Modeling (Physical and Numerical), Engineering Education Curriculum Development and Assessment
Dr. Joice Chang
Associate Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Chang is an associate professor in the Department of Politics at Cal Poly Humboldt. Her research focuses on intersections of public policy and law.
Dr. Yvonne Everett
Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Everett has been educating at Humboldt since 1998. Her research interests include forest ecology and watershed management, community forestry, public and cross-jurisdictional land use planning and management, and participatory research and planning processes.
Dr. Jim Graham – Co-Webmaster
Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Graham has been with Cal Poly Humboldt for 5 years teaching GIS and researching habitat suitability. Before Humboldt, Jim was a post-doc at Oregon State University and a researcher with Colorado State University. His research includes marine habitat modeling and using UAVs (a.k.a. drones) for data collection.
Nayre Herrera
Graduate Student, Cal Poly Humboldt
Nayre holds a BS in Environmental Science & Management and is currently in Dr. Richmond and Jen Marlow’s graduate research lab as part of the NSF Coastline and Peoples Hazard Research Hub.
Bente Jansen
Cal Poly Humboldt Alumnus
Bente holds a BA in Environmental Science and Management: Policy and Planning, and a minor in Applied Statistics. Bente is a coastal planner and aspires to aid communities in planning and implementing projects that will increase their resiliency against climate change.
Jennifer Kalt
Director, Humboldt Baykeeper
Jennifer has worked for Humboldt Baykeeper since 2005. She launched the Humboldt Bay King Tides Photo Initiative in 2011 and tracks Sea Level Rise issues in local plans and policies. She is also a Lecturer in Humboldt’s Department of Environmental Science & Management.
Aldaron Laird
Greenway Partners
Aldaron has been an environmental planning consultant for 30 years, specializing in sea level rise adaptation planning on Humboldt Bay. Recently, he authored a portion of the 4th California Climate Change Assessment that described sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation opportunities on Humboldt Bay. He completed a diked shoreline sea level rise adaptation feasibility study of Humboldt Bay, vulnerability assessments for Humboldt County, City of Eureka and Arcata, adaptation plans for Communities at Risk on Humboldt. He was a founding co-chair of the SLRI.
Jen Marlow
Associate Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Jen Marlow is an Assistant Professor in the Science and Environmental Management Department. She is licensed to practice law in Washington and Alaska, and her special research interests are in climate law, climate justice, and climate–induced displacement.
Kristen Orth-Gordinier – Secretary
Cal Poly Humboldt Alumnus
Kristen graduated with a M.S. in Environmental Science & Management in 2022. Her master’s research focused on regional coordination of SLR planning and adaptation. She works at GHD as an Environmental Planning focusing on habitat restoration and coastal resilience projects.
Dr. Jason “Jay” Patton – Co-Webmaster
Adjunct Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Patton has been studying how tectonics contribute to sea level in coastal northern California for over 2 decades.
Dr. Laurie Richmond – Co-Chair
Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
Dr. Richmond’s research focuses on developing collaborative relationships with natural resource-dependent communities to examine how they navigate both political and ecological changes in their resource systems. Dr. Richmond was a founding co-chair of the SLRI.
Sandrine Thompson
Graduate Student, Cal Poly Humboldt
In Humboldt State University’s Biology program, Sandrine studies the microbial ecology of coastal wetlands in Dr. Cuellar-Gempeler’s laboratory. Sandrine works at the Arcata Marsh Research Institute where she conducts various water quality projects. Her primary goal is to develop a career where her contributions to microbial and ecosystem science will support indigenous communities, traditional ecological knowledge, and the mitigation of climate change in Pacific Northwest coastal communities.
Alexandra Toyofuku
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Cal Poly Humboldt
Alexandra is earning a BS in Environmental Science and Management: Planning and Policy with a minor in Geospatial Analysis. She is currently working with the Cascadia Research Hub to examine decision-making bodies involved in hazard mitigation planning. Additionally, she is working with Humboldt Baykeeper to map toxic sites around Humboldt Bay. She is interested in issues of environmental equity.
Joe Tyburczy
Extension Specialist, California Sea Grant
Joe is focused on conducting collaborative, applied research to fill gaps in knowledge that will promote sustainable use of marine resources, environmental conservation, and long-term security and prosperity of coastal communities – especially those along the North Coast.
Amelia Vergel de Dios
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Cal Poly Humboldt
Amelia is pursuing a BS in Environmental Science & Management: Planning and Policy, and a minor in Geospatial Analysis.
