Meet Your LERS Leadership

Welcome to the new LERS Board (2023-2025)!

 

Kevin L. Erwin – LERS President

Kevin L. Erwin is a professional wetland scientist and Certified Senior Ecologist with over four decades of experience in large-scale ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and watershed evaluation. Since 1974, he has evaluated, designed, managed, constructed, and monitored numerous ecological restoration, water management and biodiversity projects for governments, UN agencies, industry, and NGOs around the world. He currently serves as the president and principal ecologist at Kevin L. Erwin Consulting Ecologist, Inc. and is also a faculty member at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), where he is currently leading a research initiative in the oligotrophic wetlands of the historical Everglades. Kevin is recognized as an international authority in wetland restoration, and provides expertise to UN Agencies, and organizations like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His work has been honored by creating the Erwin Environmental Ecology Collection at the FGCU Library Archives. You can contact Kevin by email: klerwin@environment.com

Virgil Alexandru Iordache  –  LERS President-elect

Virgil is an Associate professor and a Senior researcher at the University of Bucharest, teaching several environmental management and sustainability science classes in the Department of Systems Ecology and Sustainability. He is also the director of the “Dan Manoleli” Research Centre for Ecological Services – CESEC of the University of Bucharest. His main research interests are in the biogeochemistry of heavy metals, sustainability science, and the philosophical foundations of socio-ecological research. As part of his applied research,  Virgil has worked on Danube’s floodplain restoration, riparian wetlands management and mining area remediation  Europe. For more information, visit his website:  https://virgiliordache.com/

 

 

Daniel-Alexander Cretu – LERS Secretary
As an early-career professional, Daniel is enthusiastic and motivated to see the field of ecological restoration grow, and to restore local ecosystems in the Greater Montreal area, Quebec, Canada. He recently completed his M.Sc. in Ecological Restoration in 2023 (SFU & BCIT, British Columbia, Canada), with a focus on adapting agroforestry systems to restore native biodiversity and increase the climate change adaptation on a farm in Surrey, BC. He wants to continue working in assessing, planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration projects, for forests, wetlands, and grasslands, both in rural and peri-urban areas. With a passion for education, Daniel has developed numerous workshops and games to increase the awareness and skills of local community groups, researchers, and ecologists working in the public and private sector. He presented one of these games, Creative Tinkering, at a workshop for SER2023 in Darwin, Australia.

 

 

Charles Smith

Charles is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) with over three decades of experience in natural resource management, ecological restoration, large-scale project coordination, policy development, and public speaking. He has worked in public lands management overseeing natural resource inventory, planning and management, for systems as large as 23,000 acres. Throughout his career, Charles has worked on various biomes, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, as well as riverine systems, and riparian corridors. He also has a broad background in wildlife management, water quality assessment and monitoring, as well as regulatory review and permitting. He works extensively with non-profit organizations to support research, natural area preservation, local and state policy revisions, outreach and education. Charles also serves on the SER Marketing and Outreach Subcommittee.

 

Martina Gaglioti

Martina is a marine biologist and ecologist with underwater work experience in marine environments, microbial ecology, GIS and habitat mapping applied to environmental conservation. Martina is passionate about ocean literacy, restoration, and addressing issues like marine pollution and coastal habitat degradation. She has coordinated many citizen science initiatives both in freshwater and marine ecosystems, including two Blue School Projects in the Circeo MaB Reserve and surrounding areas, in Italy. She has also worked as a scientific diver and contributed to several restoration initiatives, mainly operating in the Mediterranean Sea and in tropical regions. Martina is currently appointed as the leading scientist of the transboundary initiative “TRASH TALK IN ACTION” and has already trained hundreds of people on marine sciences and diving. Martina also serves the National Decade Committee of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences, the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), the Climate Crisis Commission (CCC) and EMSEA, and is a reviewer for several open-access journals, including the role of expert for IPBES and MedECC reports. Martina’s goal is to create an ocean-literate society. Learn more about Martina’s work: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-g-113b8597/ ; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martina_Gaglioti

 

Samuel Kiboi

Samuel Kiboi is a plant ecologist and associate professor at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. His expertise lies in ecological risk assessment and environmental impact assessment. Samuel has served as an independent expert for the National Biosafety Authority and is a registered lead expert with the National Environment Management Authority in Kenya. He has extensive experience in teaching, supervising student projects, and participating in international environmental programs, such as the Sustainable Living with environmental risk (SLER) program in partnership with 8 universities across Asia and Africa. Samuel’s research focuses on habitat rehabilitation and restoration of degraded ecosystems.

 

Zulukumzuk Pongen

Mr. Zulukumzuk Pongen is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) who holds a four-year BSc degree in Forestry and a postgraduate in Advanced Project Management. He possesses 14 years of experience working with government and multinational donor projects. He has extensive experience in projects related to Project Management, Silviculture, Social Forestry, Agroforestry, Forest Management, Biodiversity Conservation and Management, Tree Breeding, Ecological Restoration, and Capacity Development. He worked for seven years with the UNDP as a Programme Specialist under the UNDP-GEF project titled ‘Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management in Shifting Cultivation Areas of Nagaland for Ecological and Livelihood Security in Nagaland, India. Currently, Mr. Zulukumzuk is affiliated with the Forest and Biodiversity Management in the Himalaya Nagaland project under the Nagaland State Biodiversity Board in India. He brings along all the relevant skills necessary to technically support and lead a project focused on community conservation areas. He has a proven track record in the implementation of participatory rural appraisal methods, Ecological restoration, community-based conservation planning. You can connect with Zulukumzuk Pongen on LinkedIn.

 

Krishan Kaushik

Krishan Kaushik is a PhD candidate at the University of Pecs – Hungary with a research focus on vegetation dynamics and invasion ecology in temperate forests of Europe and the USA. He holds degrees in Plant Biotechnology and Botany, with a M.Phil and a M.Sc. from the University of Delhi, India. Krishan actively contributes to organizations like SER Global, IAVS-EVS, and IUCN-CEM, and has completed certificate courses in ecosystem restoration and forest landscape restoration management by the UNDP, and FAO. He has practical experience in working with NGOs on various social and environmental causes and possesses strong skills in science outreach and digital media. Krishan aims to apply his diverse portfolio in restoration ecology and ecopreneurship to support the mission of LERS. He is also a board member of the IBS education committee, and an affiliated member of ERA-India. Learn more about Krishan’s work: Tweets / Ask@Rgate / Share@LinkdIN

 

 

Hatem Shabana

Hatem Shabana is a dedicated botanist and ecologist based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With over 17 years of experience in conservation management, and a Ph.D. in plant diversity from Malaga University, Spain, Hatem has participated in large-scale restoration projects like the plantation of degraded habitats and implementation of sustainable grazing systems. A notable academic, he has authored over 28 research papers and held prominent roles, such as a Senior Plant Ecology Expert at the King Salman Royal Natural Reserve in Saudi Arabia, where he has participated in large-scale restoration work, including the plantation of one million wild seedlings in degraded habitats. Additionally, he served as a Senior Researcher at the Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium in the United Arab Emirates and an Environmental Researcher at St. Katherine Protectorate in Egypt from 2005 to 2014, where he spearheaded biodiversity monitoring and ecological studies. Hatem’s comprehensive work encompasses plant conservation, collecting, storing, and germinating seeds, preparing and maintaining the herbarium, and ecological restoration. In addition to his professional achievements, Hatem is actively involved in global conservation efforts, voluntarily contributing to the IUCN and participating in workshops over the past 7 years. His commitment to preserving plant diversity, particularly in arid regions, makes him a valuable asset to the board as an At-Large Director.

 

 

Lindsay Teunis

Lindsay Teunis is a Principal Restoration Ecologist and Mitigation Program Specialist at SWCA, based in Colorado, United States. She has more than two decades of experience in ecology and restoration, primarily managing complex multi-benefit natural resource projects. Lindsay’s expertise lies in wetland habitat assessment, as well as restoration design, implementation, and monitoring. Since completing her graduate work at San Diego State University in 2005, where she focused on seagrass ecology and restoration, Lindsay has transitioned to the land/water interface working in rivers, estuaries, vernal pools, and wetlands in general. She focuses on habitat assessments and is currently one of the lead CRAM (California Rapid Assessment Method) trainers. Due to her work on functional habitat assessments, she was invited to join California’s Level 2 Committee in 2012 where she remains an active member. Lindsay is also a board member for the California Society for Ecological Restoration (SERCAL) and co-lead of their diversity committee.