We welcome the following speakers at the 2020 ELS Symposium
Keynote speakers:
Charlton “Chuck” Bonham was appointed as Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, effective September 6, 2011. Prior to his appointment as Director of Fish and Wildlife, Mr. Bonham served in a number of roles for Trout Unlimited over ten years, including since 2004 as the organization’s California director.
Mr. Bonham was responsible for developing, managing, and implementing TU's programs in California. These programs include the California Water Project, Sportsmen’s Conservation Project, and restoration and watershed projects in both northern and Southern California. In addition, Mr. Bonham was a senior attorney for the organization.
Mr. Bonham also served on the Board of Directors of the Delta Conservancy, whose mission is to conserve, sustain and enhance the cultural, agricultural, recreational, wildlife and natural habitat resources of the River Delta region, as well as develop and promote sustainable protection, management and stewardship programs through research and education.
Mr. Bonham received his J.D. and Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, in Portland, Oregon. Before Trout Unlimited, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa, and an instructor and guide at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, in Bryson City, N.C.
Holly Doremus, Professor of Environmental Regulation, Berkeley Law; Co-Director, Law of the Sea Institute; and Co-Faculty Director, Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity
Holly Doremus is the James H. House and Hiram H. Hurd Professor of Environmental Regulation at the University of California, Berkeley, Co-Director of the Law of the Sea Institute, and Co-Faculty Director of the UC Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She holds a B.S. in biology from Trinity College (Hartford, CT), Ph.D. in plant physiology from Cornell University. Doremus received her JD and Environmental Law Certificate from Berkeley Law, where she was an articles editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly and a member of the Order of the Coif honor society. She then clerked for Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, practiced municipal and land use law with the firm of Eickelberg & Fewel in Corvallis, Oregon, and taught at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University before beginning her law teaching career at UC Davis in 1995, where she taught for 13 years before moving to UC Berkeley. In addition to her law school teaching experience, she has taught in the graduate ecology program at UC Davis, in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley, and at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara. She has been a principal investigator on two major NSF IGERT interdisciplinary training grants and a multidisciplinary grant dealing with hydropower relicensing in California. Her scholarship focuses on biodiversity protection, the intersection between property rights and environmental regulation, and the interrelationship of environmental law and science.
Panel 1
Brendon Boudinot, PhD Candidate, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Brendon is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis, advised by Dr. Phil Ward. He received his B. S. in Entomology at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where he also worked as a Fellow of the Natural History collections and participated in biodiversity surveys of Mesoamerica. He is broadly interested in the origin and evolution of complex phenotypic systems and specializes in the morphological evolution of insect skeletomusculature and the taxonomy of ants. His dissertation, soon to be submitted, includes a new general theory of insect genital homologies and evolution, a phylogenetic analysis of the ant fossil record, and the first global guide for the identification of male ants. Brendon has been the president of the Entomology Graduate Student Association for three years, served as co-chair for several committees, and organized and twice led an introductory entomology course taught by graduate students. He has acted as editor for the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity, and has published 16 peer-reviewed articles plus two book chapters.
Dr. Angela Laws, Endangered Species Conservation Biologist, Xerces Society
Angela Laws, Ph.D., Endangered Species Conservation Biologist. Based in Sacramento, CA, Angela is working on habitat restoration for pollinators and monarch butterflies in the Central Valley. Her role at The Xerces Society also involves incorporating climate resiliency into pollinator restoration projects. Angela has over 20 years of experience studying arthropods in grassland habitats, including studies of how climate change can affect species interactions. She received a M.S. in Ecology from Utah State University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Arthur Shapiro, Distinguished Professor, UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology
Dr. Shapiro attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Biology, with the famous ecologist Robert MacArthur as his undergraduate adviser and mentor, graduating with a B.A., magna cum laude in 1966. He received his Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University in 1970. While attending a National Science Foundation Summer Institute in Population Biology at the University of Houston in 1971, he was encouraged to apply for a position in the Zoology Department at U.C. Davis. He did so, got the job, and relocated to Davis during Winter 1971/72. He has been at Davis ever since. In 1977 he initiated a long-term project in the Andes and Patagonia and has “commuted” to South America as circumstances have allowed. His non-biological interests include meteorology and journalism.
At U.C. Davis Art has taught General Zoology, General Biology, Chemical Ecology, Philosophy of the Biological Sciences, Animal Evolution, Introduction to Ecology, Ecology of Tropical Latitudes, Principles of Systematics, Evolution of Ecological Systems, Biogeography, and numerous seminars and special topics courses in Ecology, Biogeography, and Population Biology as well as freshman and senior undergraduate seminars. To date he has produced 11 Ph.D.s
Dr. Shapiro is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the California Academy of Sciences, the Royal Entomological Society of London, and the Explorers Club and has received the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award and the Outstanding Adviser Award at Davis and has been a Fellow of the Davis Humanities Institute.
Dr. Lynn Kimsey, Professor of Entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; Director; Center for Biosystematics; and Director, Bohart Museum of Entomology
Dr. Kimsey is currently the Director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and Professor of Entomology at the University of California, Davis. Her specialties include insect diversity, urban entomology, civil forensics and insect-related industrial hygiene. She is currently Executive Director of the Bohart Museum Society in addition to my faculty position. Through her leadership the Bohart Museum of Entomology now houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America of nearly 8 million specimens, annually provides public programs to more than 13,000 school children throughout northern California, and diagnostic services to the public, governmental agencies and business, as well as supporting the international research community. She has more than 160 publications, including books, refereed journal articles, and reports.
Panel 2
David Woodsmall, Attorney, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
David Woodsmall is an attorney for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he primarily works on California Endangered Species Act and large-scale conservation planning matters. Prior to joining state service, David worked on environmental issues at a law firm and environmental nonprofit. David received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Matthew Sanders, Clinical Supervising Attorney and Lecturer, Stanford Law School
Matthew Sanders received his B.A. from Carleton College and his J.D from Stanford Law School. Matthew is a supervising attorney and lecturer in the Environmental Law Clinic, where he trains second- and third-year law students in the practice of environmental law. Matthew also teaches Advanced Legal Writing – Public Interest Litigation.
Matthew brings diverse experience to Stanford Law School, having previously served in his current position and as an appellate attorney in the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, a deputy county counsel for the County of San Mateo, an attorney in two law firms, and a clerk for Judge Consuelo M. Callahan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has also taught legal writing at American University’s Washington College of Law.
Matthew is editor-in-chief of Trends, a national publication of the American Bar Association’s Section on Energy, Environment, and Resources.
Damien Schiff, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Currently a Senior Attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, Damien joined PLF in 2005. His practice has focused on federal and state environmental and land-use issues. Damien was counsel of record in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a groundbreaking decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of landowners to challenge Clean Water Act compliance orders issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to the Clean Water Act, Damien’s practice includes direct litigation and friend-of-the-court briefs in cases arising under the federal and California Endangered Species Acts, as well as other environmental laws. He has appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, and has been quoted in The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
Damien obtained his law degree magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University.
Panel 3
Daniel Rubin, Chief Counsel, California Department of Pesticide Regulation
Daniel Rubin was appointed chief counsel of the Department of Pesticide Regulation in 2018 where he previously served as acting chief counsel and staff attorney since 2013. Daniel is a graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School.
Dr. Neal Williams, Professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Dr. Williams has his BSc from University of Wisconsin, Madison and his PhD from State University of New York, Stony Brook. His lab focuses on building a spatially informed understanding of population and life history for wild bees in space and time. He is interested in how bee movement, landscape structure and habitat quality intersect with intrinsic characteristics of bees to determine individual and population responses.
Dr. Josette Lewis, Director of Agricultural Affairs, Almond Board of California
Dr. Lewis oversees research for the Almond Board, spanning aspects of almond production, sustainability, nutrition, and biomass utilization. Dr. Lewis has worked in agriculture for twenty five years, spanning government, industry, university and non-governmental organizations. Most recently, she led the Environmental Defense Fund’s collaborations with grower organizations, food companies, and policy makers to promote sustainable agriculture practices. Dr. Lewis helped launch of the World Food Center at UC Davis and worked in international business development with Arcadia Biosciences. Before Arcadia, Dr. Lewis spent 16 years at the US Agency for International Development. As Director of the Office of Agriculture at USAID, she worked with senior levels of the U.S. government in the development of a $1 billion per year global food security initiative. Dr. Lewis has served on the US Secretary of Agriculture’s advisory committee on Agricultural Biotechnology in the 21st Century, the Foundation for Agricultural Research’s Food Systems Innovation Advisory Committee, the James Beard Foundation Impact Program Advisory Committee, and is a member of the board of directors for the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation.
Dr. Jhalendra Rijal, Integrated Pest Management Advisor, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
Dr. Rijal was born and raised in a small family farm in Nepal. He completed the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Entomology in 2006 from the Tribhuvan University-Nepal. Rijal earned his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2014, did a postdoc at UC Davis for a year after than before joining the current position with the University of California-Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) in 2015 as the Cooperative Extension Advisor focusing on IPM (Integrated Pest Management) issues. The current responsibilities include conducting applied pest management research and dissemination of the science-based information to the grower community in the northern San Joaquin Valley region. The overall goal of his program gears towards finding practical solutions to the insect pest related issues through collaborative research and extension activities. Dr. Rijal’s research areas include understanding the biology, ecology, and finding IPM solutions for invasive (e.g., brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), spotted wing drosophila), endemic (e.g., navel orangeworm, walnut husk fly), and native (e.g., Pacific flatheaded borer) pest species. Dr. Rijal has been at the forefront of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug research and educational efforts in California. Dr. Rijal’s research has contributed to the adoption of the mating disruption technique - a behavioral method of pest management focusing on navel orangeworm, the most damaging pest of nut crops in California. The mating disruption is a ‘green’ pest management method with no to minimal impact on the non-targets and the environment.
Dr. Rijal has active collaborations with other land-grant universities, USDA-ARS, and state and local-level agencies, growers’ organizations, and commodity boards. He has organized and spoken at over 120 presentations in several venues, including the professional society meetings. He has authored over 18 peer-reviewed articles and 50 extension articles and contributed to several newsletters, mass media, podcasts, and other news media including KCRA3, abc10 addressing various agricultural issues.
Panel 4
Dr. Stuart Weiss, Founder and Chief Scientist, Creekside Center for Earth Observation
Stu Weiss, Ph.D. (Stanford University) is Chief Scientist of Creekside Science, which provides scientific and conservation expertise to diverse organizations as they cope with the rapidly changing 21st Century environment. He has researched the Bay checkerspot butterfly and serpentine grasslands since 1979, and has authored numerous scientific papers concerning climate/microclimate, population dynamics, nitrogen deposition, and conservation ecology. Creekside Science executes many hands-on restoration projects, including butterfly reintroductions, propagation of endangered plants, and habitat monitoring and management. His research into nitrogen deposition impacts on biodiversity and passionate advocacy were instrumental in the development of the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan. He is Science Advisor for the Bay Area Conservation Lands Network. For more information see www.creeksidescience.com
Dr. Daniel Karp, Assistant Professor, UC Davis Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
Daniel Karp is an assistant professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis. Daniel completed his Ph.D. in 2013 and undergraduate studies in 2009 at Stanford University’s Department of Biology. Following his graduate studies, Daniel became an inaugural NatureNet postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and the Nature Conservancy. He then received a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at The University of British Colombia.
Daniel’s interests center on developing innovative methods for harmonizing food production with the conservation of biodiversity. His research thus focuses on developing innovative solutions for reconciling conservation activities with food production practices. His research program has three domains. First, he develops and applies ecological theory to understanding and managing wildlife in agricultural landscapes. Second, he quantifies the effects of wildlife on agricultural production. Third, he investigates how identifying tradeoffs among agricultural and conservation management can inform development of multifunctional landscapes.
Liz Luu, Marketing and Events Manager, UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center
Liz Luu graduated from University of California, Davis, with a degree in Food Science and Technology. Her passion for food innovation and environmental sustainability led to an interest in entomophagy—the human use of insects and arachnids as food—and the creation of cricket hamburger patties with a student product development team. Furthering this interest, in 2014 she organized the Robert Mondavi Institute’s Bugs and Beer: Why Crickets and Kölsch Might be Matches Made in Heaven, an event that paired insect dishes with a variety of beers, and spotlighted the importance of insects as sustainable sources of protein. For the Honey and Pollination Center, Luu has organized symposia, short courses, lectures, tastings, and in 2017 she was the Social Media and Entertainment Manager for the first-ever California Honey Festival in Woodland, Calif., which drew a crowd of nearly 20,000.
Moderators
Dr. Karrigan Bork
Professor Bork graduated with Distinction and Pro Bono Distinction from Stanford Law School in 2009, and completed his PhD dissertation in Ecology at UC Davis in September 2011. He received the Shapiro Family Award in 2011 as the Outstanding PhD Graduate in Ecology at UC Davis. He clerked for Tenth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe, U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson, and Judge Janice Karlin on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas.
Professor Bork graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kansas in 2002, and was named a Truman Scholar in 2001 and a Switzer Fellow in 2010. Professor Bork's publications run the gamut from the definitive text on the history and application of California Fish and Game Code Section 5937 to a hatchery and genetic management plan for spring-run Chinook salmon. Professor Bork is currently examining legal and ethical issues in ecological restoration. His past work has focused on the management of guest species, those invasive species that managers invite in and make comfortable, and on the evolution of law via administrative actions. He is currently working on local governance issues in ecosystem management
Brian Leahy
Brian Leahy served as the Director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation as an appointee in the Governor Brown Administration and as Assistant Director of the Department of Conservation in charge of the Division of Land Use Protection as an appointee in the Governor Schwarzenegger Administration. Before joining state service his roles included Executive Director of California Certified Organic Farmers; Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of Nebraska; and owner/operator of Cherokee Ranch, a 900-acre organic/wildlife friendly rice farm.
Albert Lin
Al Lin is a professor here at the UC Davis School of Law, where he specializes in environmental and natural resources law. His research interests include toxic torts, public nuisance, and the governance of emerging technologies. Prior to joining the law faculty, Al worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland and Ninth Circuit Judge James Browning.He is the author of Prometheus Reimagined: Technology, Environment, and Law in the 21st Century and the co-author of a widely used environmental law casebook, and his scholarship has appeared in the Harvard Environmental Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Southern California Law Review, and UCLA Law Review.