Chapter Leadership
President: Elise Gornish
Dr. Elise Gornish is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in Ecological Restoration at the University of Arizona. Her work largely focuses on identifying strategies for successful restoration in arid land systems and integration of restoration approaches into weed management. Originally from New York, Dr. Gornish received her MS and PhD from Florida State University in 2013. She then completed two years of a post doc at the University of California, Davis before becoming a Cooperative Extension Specialist in Ecological restoration at UC Davis. In addition to vegetation management, Dr. Gornish is passionate about STEM inclusion and has recently become the Director of UA GALS (Girls on outdoor Adventure for Leadership and Science). This new program focuses on providing science learning and leadership opportunities to traditionally under-served female high school students through backcountry programming.
Vice President: Ondrea Hummel
Ms. Ondrea Hummel has been active in the field of riverine, riparian and wetland ecosystem restoration efforts in the southwest for the past 23 years. She is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) through the Society of Ecological Restoration.Her PhD research included an analysis of managed versus constructed wetland habitat, difference in surface water-ground water interaction, vegetation and arthropod communities. Ms. Hummel is certified to perform wetland delineations and has experience in permit requirements for CWA Section 404/401 and NPDES. She has also been an instructor at USACE courses such as ‘Stream Bank Stabilization and Riparian Restoration’ and ‘Environmental Considerations in Planning.’
Secretary + Utah Rep: Colin Tucker
Colin Tucker works for the Manti-La Sal National Forest in Southeast Utah doing rangeland management and has worked as an ecosystem ecologist for more than twenty years across the Southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. He completed his PhD at University of Wyoming in 2013, was a postdoctoral researcher at University of Alaska and U.S. Geological Survey in Moab Utah, before moving into applied land management with the U.S. Forest Service. He has authored more than thirty research papers on topics ranging from modeling future vegetation of Arctic ecosystems, shifts in fungal communities in drained peatlands, climate change impacts on desert carbon cycles, and climate-smart restoration of biological soil crusts. He currently is focused on applied ecological restoration and climate-smart management of high-elevation rangelands on the Colorado Plateau, with a special emphasis on hydrologic restoration of streams, springs, and wetlands in Bears Ears National Monument.
Treasurer: Vickie Stubbs
Victoria Stubbs is a passionate, energy centered, solutions oriented business consultant, accountant, and tax preparation professional. With a BSBA in Accounting from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Business, Vickie founded MHR Consulting, LLC in 2005. She is a native Tucsonan, a proud Arizona Wildcat and leads MHR’s Tucson operations – Bear Down! Her employment history includes 23 years with a Fortune 500 Company in operations management, internal audit, and corporate training. Vickie has been a member of the Society for Ecological Restoration since 2008 and is honored to help facilitate SER’s Mission, “to promote ecological restoration as a means of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and re-establishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture,” with the newly formed Southwest Chapter. Vickie was part of the initial SERSW pro tempore leadership that forged the new chapter into existence and obtained the recently awarded 501(c) 3 Determination Letter from the Internal Revenue Service. Beyond accounting, Vickie enjoys working in the yard, sprouting plants/herbs, UofA Basketball, and her absolutely wonderful husband of 27 years, Roger! Professional Affiliations: – National Association of Tax Preparers (NATP) – American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB) – National Society of Accountants (NSA) – National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers (NACPB) – Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor Vickie@mhraccounting.comArizona Rep: Lydia Noel Bailey
Lydia is a postdoctoral researcher at Northern Arizona University. She studies the intersection of plants and soils, with a focus on restoration applications. Her current projects are looking into the use of biocrust in soil stabilization and vascular plant restoration on public lands in the Mojave Desert. Lydia completed her PhD at NAU in 2021. Her dissertation focused on developing and evaluating restoration methods for both biocrusts and rare plants, including the Las Vegas Bearpoppy (Arctomecon californica). She is active in mentorship, helping guide even earlier career scientists than herself and working to ensure that ecology is safe and welcoming to all.
New Mexico Rep: Vacant
Southern Nevada Rep: Tiffany Pereira
Tiffany Pereira is an Assistant Research Scientist, Field Biologist/Range Ecologist in the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Las Vegas, NV. She is honored to be nominated for the Nevada Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) board position and she values the opportunity to represent fellow early-career professionals in the Southwest SER community. Tiffany specializes in the ecology, conservation and management of Mojave and Great Basin Desert flora and fauna. She completed her Master of Science in Biological Sciences at UNLV in the Abella Applied Ecology Lab focusing on seed ecology and germination as well as evaluating long-term change in soil seed banks, fertile islands, and plant communities of conservation-priority gypsum rare plant habitat of the eastern Mojave Desert. After eight years working and partnering with all levels of governmental organizations in the U.S., non-profits, and private consulting companies, her current work involves conducting research and providing guidance on natural resource management in Nevada. As both a scientist and artist, she is also dedicated to effective science communication through scientific illustration and graphic design. She has completed commissions for the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, publications, and private entities.
Southeast California Rep: Monique Marino
Monique Marino is a water resources engineer in Los Angeles, CA. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and a M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UC Davis with a focus in water resources and environmental engineering. Monique’s professional interests include natural waterways and water infrastructure, and what can be done to protect and restore these systems from natural disasters occurring in the southwestern US such as wildfires and drought. Monique has worked in water resources consulting since 2019 and is a licensed civil engineer in the State of California. She looks forward to working with SER in southern California and collaborating with ecological restoration professionals.
Rep at Large: Lisa Markovchick
I began my career in the environmental field teaching plant identification and field monitoring techniques to volunteers and working to restore former Superfund sites to flourishing habitat along the Duwamish River in Seattle, WA. After working on plant conservation, drought, invasive species, and fire related projects for a long time, I began to get curious about how what goes on underground might allow us to address many ecosystem needs simultaneously. I moved to Flagstaff to study how managing and restoring our belowground communities, especially mycorrhizal fungi (which form symbioses with plant roots), can assist in habitat recovery and help plants and ecosystems with drought and fire resilience, including the subtle nuances of ensuring net benefits. I also collaborated with a non-profit (BlueDot Education) and local communities here to bring high school students to our region for hands-on experience restoring habitat, camping for the first time, and learning about our indigenous sovereign human and more than human kin, experiences which always inspire and refresh me. I am currently an ecologist with Grand Canyon National Park, working on protecting our sensitive species and habitats, improving our knowledge of their interactions with fire, and managing and interpreting a long-term ecological data set.