Network Staff
Lisa Garrett
Network Coordinator
Email
208-885-3684
Lisa is a wildlife biologist with a professional background in inventory and monitoring of wildlife species and forest ecology. She holds a B.S. degree from West Virginia University in Resources Management and a M.S. degree from the University of Idaho in Wildlife Biology. She has worked for both state natural resource agencies and the private sector before becoming a program manager with the National Park Service in 2003. Prior to taking her current position, Lisa worked as a forester for the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, an educator at Catawba Science Center, a biotech for Idaho Department of Fish and Game, a research biologist for Washington Water Power, an instructor at Lake Superior State University, and a research associate at the University of Idaho. Lisa also served as the Upper Columbia Basin Biological Inventory Coordinator.
In her spare time, Lisa enjoys spending time fishing, float hunting, scuba diving, and backpacking with her husband and three boys.
Gordon Dicus
Network Data Manager
Email
208.885.3022
Gordon has worked for the National Park Service for 15 years and has a background in wildlife biology, holding a B.S. in Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a M.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana. After 10 years of field-oriented work on various wildlife projects, Gordon's work began focusing on GIS and database development. He serves as Data Manager for the Upper Columbia Basin Network, providing database development and GIS assistance to all of the Network's inventory and monitoring projects.
Gordon and his wife, Andrika, have two young boys, Theo and Shafer. Their family enjoys year-round outdoor activities such as biking, camping, and skiing.
Tom Rodhouse
Network Ecologist
Email
541.318.3726
Tom is an ecologist with training and experience in a broad range of topics including the distribution and abundance of vertebrates, the design and analysis of environmental monitoring, and in the natural history of Pacific Northwest ecosystems. Tom earned B.S. degrees in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University and in Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, and an M.S. in Ecological Biogeography from Oregon State. He has recently enrolled as a Ph.D. student in the University of Idaho’s Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, where he will focus his studies on community assembly and resource selection in bats. Tom has been with the Upper Columbia Basin Network since 2002 and has been instrumental in the Network's inventory and monitoring program. He currently leads monitoring protocol development efforts for several of the Network's vital signs and oversees a variety of other inventory and monitoring projects that have been implemented throughout the Network. Tom lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Casey, and two daughters, Isabel and Violet. Tom spends his (increasingly rare) spare time gardening during the warm season and cross-country skiing in winter.
Eric Starkey
Aquatic Biologist
Email
208-885-3010
Originally from Kansas, Eric received his B.S. in Biology-Fisheries from Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in 2004. In 2007, he also completed a M.S. in Biology at FHSU. Eric's graduate work focused on the seasonal movement of the pistolgrip mussel and their spatial distribution within a freshwater mussel bed in Fall River Kansas. Other research activities have involved the assessment of the growth and recruitment of fawn's foot mussels. Prior to Eric's work with the UCBN he served as a Research-technician on a variety of projects at the University of Idaho and Fort Hays State University. He also served as an editorial assistant for the South Western Association of Naturalists. Eric's main interests are in stream ecology and behavioral ecology.
In his spare time, Eric enjoys fishing, hiking and other outdoor activities with his wife Paulina and dog Mocha.
Paulina Starkey
Biological Technician
Email
208-885-3015
Paulina's professional background is in ecotourism, environmental education and interpretation. She holds a B.S in Ecological Tourism from Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Quito-Ecuador, and an M.S. in Conservation Social Sciences from the University of Idaho. Her graduate research focused on environmental communication and its effects on people's behavior. Prior to moving to the U.S., Paulina worked as a naturalist guide in a private ecological reserve in Ecuador. She also served as a training assistant for a consulting company and was in charge of the organization of environmental workshops in Ecuador and other countries. Serving as the network biological technician, Paulina assists with data collection during the summer, and with the preparation and editing of reports, newsletters, and other network publications. She enjoys photography and also hiking, camping and fishing with her husband and their dog.
Jannis Jocius
Science Communication Specialist
Email
208-885-3014
Originally from California, Jannis attended Boston University as an undergraduate and received a BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is now working towards a MS in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho, creating an invasive plant management plan for Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE). For the past two summers Jannis has been the biological technician at NEPE. She now serves as the UCBN's Science Communications Specialist, Camas Citizen Science Monitoring Program field lead, protocol editor, and author of the UCBN science communication plan. Jannis is currently the UI organic farm manager, and, whenever she can, she enjoys running, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing and exploring.
Mackenzie Shardlow
Research Associate
Email
702-293-8844
Mackenzie received dual B.S. degrees in Wildlife Resources and Natural Resource Ecology & Conservation Biology from the University of Idaho in 2005. She worked for the UCBN as a Biological Technician from 2006-2007 before starting a graduate program at Kansas State University in November 2007. Mackenzie's graduate work focused on the detectability, occupancy, and habitat associations of river otters in eastern Kansas, and she completed her M.S. in Biology in July 2009. Mackenzie is now back with the Network developing a monitoring protocol for American pika in four Pacific West Region parks, including Craters of the Moon NM&P.
Mackenzie lives in Boulder City, Nevada, and enjoys hiking, horseback riding, and hunting with her fiance, Matt, and their dog, Race.