Richard Halsey has given more than 300 presentations and written numerous papers and articles over the past seven years concerning chaparral ecology, how communities can adapt to fire-prone environments, and the importance of nature education. Richard also works with the San Diego Museum of Natural History and continues to teach natural history throughout the state. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was awarded the 2008 Best Nonfiction-Local Interest Book by the San Diego Book Awards Association. He was also trained as a Type II wildland firefighter past the age most would consider reasonable in order to better understand fire.
Richard earned undergraduate degrees from the University of California in environmental studies and anthropology. During graduate work he received teaching credentials in life, physical and social science and a Master's in education. Richard taught biology for over thirty years in both public and private schools and was honored as Teacher of the Year for San Diego City Schools in 1991. Continuing his work in education, Richard provides living history performances focusing on the Middle East in the 1100's and California in the 1800's and is a life-long student of the Chumash Indian culture. He has recently produced the movie, Rites of Passage, a thriller starring Christian Slater, Ryan Donowho, and Kate Maberly. The film's expected release is Fall, 2011.
NPR's Living Earth. May 2, 2008. When you go into a national forest, you expect to see trees, but in southern California the forests are covered with shrubby plants known as chaparral. Living on Earth's Ingrid Lobet visits San Bernardino National Forest and talks with scientists who are trying to protect the dry vegetation. Listen to the audio.
Halsey, R.W. 2009. Chaparral as a natural resource: changing the conversation about chaparral and fire. In Proceedings, California Native Plant Society Conservation Conference, Sacramento, CA (In Press).
Halsey, R.W. 2004. In search of allelopathy: an eco-historical view of the investigation of chemical inhibition in California coastal sage scrub and chamise chaparral. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131: 343-367. Send us an email to request a copy.
David Hogan - Vice President
David Hogan has an extensive background in conservation. He worked for the Center for Biological Diversity for more than 15 years as a public lands conservation specialist, urban wildands/rivers program director, and as a senior conservation advocate. During his time at the Center, David was responsible for all aspects of effective conservation advocacy including project management, grass roots organizing and leadership, public education, policy review and comment, legal research, analysis and litigation, and media. He has extensive expertise in the California Environmental Quality Act, National Environmental Policy Act, state and federal Endangered Species acts, state Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act, and southern California regional habitat conservation planning.
David has also been personally responsible for more than two dozen formal petitions seeking Endangered Species Act protections for imperiled species. He has conducted biological surveys of southern maritime chaparral, vernal pools, and San Diego fairy shrimp, and was closely involved in the design of a vernal pool wetlands restoration project in San Diego County. David founded The Chaparral Lands Conservancy in 2009 to lead habitat restoration and stewardship projects for imperiled plants and animals of the chaparral ecosystem. Selected Publications
Christopher Blaylock worked as a wildland firefighter with the National Park Service in Marin, California. During this time he also served as a public information officer for the Park Service and a GIS mapping technician on five park wildfires and spearheaded a wildfire education program. Prior to this he supervised and trained a top-rated, six-intern team for education and rural fire assistance campaigns in the Ozarks, Missouri as part of the Student Conservation Association and taught English in China.
Christopher has also served as a wildfire consultant for the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County. He was the production manager for a series of wildfire education videos and for the fire education program at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Christopher is certified as an Emergency Medical Techniciann (EMT) and is currently studying law.
Selected Publications
Blaylock, C.M. 2008. Director. Wildfire Zone. DVD. County of San Diego.
Blaylock, C.M., and A.S. Fege. 2007. Wildfire Education for Professionals. Joint Fire Sciences Program. U.S. Department of Interior.
Blaylock, C.M. 2005. Risk Assessment Model. Environmental Impact Statement, Fire Management Plan. Comp. Dept of Interior, National Park Service.
Nica Knite has worked with the Center for Biological Diversity, the Endangered Habitats League, and with several issue-based coalitions throughout the southwest. She crafted the white paper on the Quantification Settlement Agreement for the San Diego County Water Authority-Imperial Irrigation District Water Transfer, and subsequently worked closely with many coalition members and agencies regarding southern California watershed issues, habitat and endangered species protection, water conservation programs, and San Diego regional groundwater concerns.
As a member of Women in Business, International (WIBI), Nica authored and presented white papers to members of the U.S. Congress, and served as the Chairwoman for the WIBI Annual Conference in Washington D.C.
Nica is also the Program Manager for the Southern California region of California Trout, a conservation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of wild trout and steelhead waters throughout California.
