Annie joined the CBI team in July of 2016. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science with a minor in Environmental Law and Policy from Oregon State University and a graduate certificate in GIS from Penn State University. While working as an intern under environmental lawyers with the intention of becoming one herself, Annie recognized the power of data and spatial analysis in the conservation planning field and changed course to a career in geospatial sciences. She is particularly interested in the management of water resources and sustainable city planning. Prior to joining CBI, Annie worked as an assistant data manager for the National Park Service’s Sonoran Desert Network, developing databases and performing data analysis for the network’s birds, groundwater, springs, and streams protocols.

Annie is a native of Santa Barbara, CA and currently resides in Corvallis, Oregon. She spends her free time rock climbing, hiking, baking, and traveling. 

Dr. Thompson’s background includes a blend of landscape and wildlife ecology, specializing in the relationship between large-scale habitat change and the interactions between predators, competitors, and prey. He has worked with a wide variety of sensitive carnivore species, including black-footed ferrets, island fox, swift fox, bald eagles, and mountain lions in numerous western states. He has served as a technical advisor for wildlife-related issues to numerous organizations and efforts, including the Dinkey Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project in the Sierras, the Blackfoot-Swan Landscape Restoration Project in northern Montana, and the California Academy of Sciences. Currently, he lives in Missoula, MT and is applying this background to the development of resiliency-based forest management regimes in both the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain regions.

Deanne DiPietro is a geographer and conservation biologist with extensive experience applying science and information technology to conservation planning. Deanne has a B.S. in Botany and M.A. in Geography from University of California, Davis.

As Senior Science Coordinator at CBI Deanne manages projects with multi-disciplinary teams that deliver practical solutions for a wide range of conservation issues from endangered species recovery to community wildfire resilience. Her areas of expertise include science communications, data management, decision-support tools, stakeholder engagement, and digital libraries. Deanne’s current focus is conservation action prioritization, wildfire resilience planning, and endangered species monitoring and recovery. 

Deanne lives and works in Sonoma County, California.

Stephanie joined the CBI team in August, 2017. She has an M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University. Prior to joining CBI, Stephanie supported research projects at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon by working as a researcher and project manager for the EPA’s on-site contractor. In this capacity, she managed and participated in studies comparing created and naturally occurring wetlands to provide regulators with information to improve management strategies and wetland mitigation project design. She also managed research to determine the health and status of streams and rivers across the twelve contiguous western states, research in Oregon Coast Range watersheds to evaluate and quantify the influence of human activities on native fish habitat, and managed Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REA) for the BLM in the Colorado Plateau and Sonoran Desert ecoregions. For these and other projects, she trained and managed field crews, performed field work, managed project budgets, tracked and evaluated project deliverables, and managed and facilitated the activities of technical support staff and sub-contractors. A native Oregonian and avid equestrian, Stephanie lives in Corvallis with her two- and four-legged family members.

Heidi joined Conservation Biology Institute in December of 2017. Heidi has a Masters of Environmental Management with a certificate in GIS from Duke University and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University. She worked for 7 years at the InterAmerican Development Bank in the Environmental and Social Safeguard Unit as their GIS analyst screening bank projects for environmental and social issues. She is also experienced in remote sensing and spent two years working as a quality control analyst on a global land cover change project. Her interest in international development and the environment started at  a very early age. She grew up the child of two USAID officers and spent much of her youth in Niger and Morocco. Travel has always been a passion and she even spent two seasons working as science support in Antarctica.
Heidi recently moved to Corvallis with her husband, Bob, and their family. In her free time she likes to explore the outdoors, garden, bake and knit.

Sesha received his Master of Technology in Computer Science from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and Master of Science in Physics from Osmania University and is currently pursuing his MBA from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.  He is an active member of Project Management Institute (PMI) Willamette Valley Chapter, Oregon. He brings over 10 years of experience in the software industry with a focus on IT web applications, quality assurance and management. His highly positive attitude and passion for learning and mastering new technologies makes him an asset for the team.

Sesha’s interests include volunteering and reading fictional and non-fictional books. His two sons study at Oregon State University and he lives with his family in Corvallis.

Lisa Alley joined CBI as an Administrative Assistant in May 2014. She is new to the conservation community, but has spent the last 15 years providing back office support for an organization that provided software used internally within credit unions. She is an incredible asset to CBI, providing support and assisting with deadlines. During her free time she enjoys scrapbooking, camping throughout Oregon and spending time with her wonderful husband, beautiful daughter and equally beautiful son-in-law.

Barry received a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 1991 where his research focused on the effects of climate change on grassland/livestock ecosystems.  Since then, he has worked in Argentina, China, Mongolia, and the US for the United Nations’ Development and Environmental Programmes, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Country Studies Program, and more recently The Nature Conservancy. His research interests include bioclimatology, biogeography, and the influence of climatic variability on the distribution and conservation of plants and animals in grassland and alpine ecosystems.

Justin Brice is a Geospatial Analyst with professional experience applying spatial analysis to help conserve natural landscapes and working lands. He has lived agriculture experience growing up in California’s Central Valley on the family walnut farm and holds a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and minor in Geospatial Sciences from Humboldt State University. With his background in agriculture, wildlife field sampling/surveying work, species distribution, and connectivity modeling, Justin is focused on conserving habitat cores and agricultural lands that act as corridors to allow for wildlife movements. To that end, his recent focus is at the intersection of renewable energy development, protection of valuable farmland, and wildlife conservation as the world races to address our global climate crisis. Collaborative decision support systems will be needed now more than ever so that our decision-makers can have access to a transparent process that allows for scenario planning to make informed decisions using the best available science. Justin is the project manager on several projects involved with the co-production of spatial decision support systems (SDSS) with clients to inform and support decision makers.

Areas of general expertise (other than Geographic Information Systems) include:

Dustin Pearce joined the Conservation Biology Institute in December of 2015. His background in geospatial sciences has focused on the interplay of working agricultural lands, natural lands, and renewable energy development in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, his connection with agricultural and working lands initiated his interest in biology. Watching the seasonal shifts in crops and the wildlife that surrounded the valley all developed his curiosity for the natural world that still drives him today. Finding just as much comfort in plowed fields as the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada, his upbringing has helped him understand the truly complex nature of humans’ interaction with different landscapes.

Dustin holds a M.E.S.M. in Economics and Politics of the Environment from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and a B.S. in Conservation Biology from Arizona State University. His work with the Conservation Biology Institute is focused on stakeholder engagement and smart planning for renewable energy development throughout California.

Dustin lives and works remotely in Santa Barbara, California. He enjoys getting outside as much as possible, woodworking, metalworking, and exploring paved roads on his motorcycle.