CHDN I&M Staff

Network Coordinator (vacant)

Hildy Reiser
Science Advisor (Network Coordinator from Oct 2003-Apr 2009)

Hildy was the first permanent, fulltime employee with the CHDN I&M Program. She served as its first Network Coordinator from October 2003 through April 2009. She now serves as the network Science Advisor and is stationed at White Sands National Monument. The following is a brief recap of some of Hildy’s experiences and interests:

I am a native west Texan who has traveled, lived and worked in a number of locations. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, and my Master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I did research on the effects of chronic lead ingestion in birds of prey. I earned my Ph.D. in Zoology in 1988 from Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ), where I studied aquatic bird communities in Voyageur’s National Park in the wilds of northern Minnesota. I have worked in Big Bend National Park, and worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Minnesota, the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona, and Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. After a 20-year hiatus, I am back with the National Park Service in a job I love; and in a place I love – the Chihuahuan Desert! In my spare time, my husband and I travel to such places as the Pyrennes, Costa Rica, Belize, and Mexico on bird-watching adventures. Treks to Australia, Bhutan, South America, and points in between are also on our list of future places to discover. I also enjoy native plant gardening, camping, hiking, canoeing and white water river rafting.

 

Tom Richie
Data & Information Program Manager

Tom joined the CHDN staff in May 2005. The following is a brief recap of some of Tom’s experiences and interests:

I am originally from Dallas, TX, but I fell in love with the desert Southwest while attending New Mexico Military Institute and never left. I worked at the NASA White Sands Test facility for five years as a computer technician working my way up to the network staff where I was responsible for the development of web sites for the facility. After that I worked at the White Sands Missile Range with the environmental compliance division developing web enabled databases for tracking potential environmental and safety issues, the long-term well monitoring program, the Title V air emissions reporting program, a CERCLA Site Investigation at Green River, Utah and others databases of various types. Most recently I worked for the City of Las Cruces as Network Administrator. I’ve also worked as an air ambulance pilot and flight instructor, and volunteered as a FAA Aviation Safety Counselor for the Albuquerque district. As a database administrator with a love for the desert Southwest I can’t think of a better job than Data Manager for the Chihuahuan Desert Network. I’m looking forward to the experience. Away from work and aside from normal household chores I enjoy gardening in a small vineyard out back, nature/wildlife photography, astronomy, and of course hunting and fishing.

 

Missy Powell
Biological Technician

Melissa (Missy) A. Powell joined the staff in March 2006, and serves as Biological Science Technician. The following is a brief recap of some of Missy’s experiences and interests:

I am a native of Louisiana and worked there as a medical social worker for several years after receiving a master’s degree in social work at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1991. To pursue my passion for ornithology, I enrolled in the LSU Wildlife Management program. Thereafter, I worked for several years as a field technician, studying nesting ducks in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana and in North Dakota, breeding birds in the forests of north Louisiana and northern California, Great Blue Herons in the Florida Keys, and migratory birds on the Louisiana Gulf coast cheniers. As a research associate at LSU, I assisted in summarizing data for a multi-year migratory bird study, and continued this work at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center. This led to an opportunity to survey birds for USGS and Baylor University in a bird-landscape study in Big Bend National Park (NP) for three winters. Later, I was hired as a seasonal biological technician at Big Bend NP to monitor Peregrine Falcon productivity and survey feral hog activity. Prior to my arrival in Las Cruces, I worked as a biological technician with the data management team at the Northern Colorado Plateau Network Inventory and Monitoring Program. I enjoy hiking and studying plants and birds in the field, and am excited to be back ‘home’ in the Chihuahuan Desert.