This is the staff of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Choose the links below to learn more about our slough family.
General questions should be directed to .
Becky Suarez
Reserve Manager
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
(831)728-2822 x302
Becky has worked at the Reserve since 1990 as an employee of the California Department of Fish and Game. For the first eight years, she coordinated the Reserve’s education programs, and after a year of serving as both Acting Reserve Manager and Education Coordinator, she became the permanent Reserve Manager in 1998. As Manager, she is responsible for the overall operation of the Reserve which includes supervising the Reserve’s programs such as research and monitoring, K-12 and public education, the Coastal Training Program, habitat stewardship and restoration, facilities construction and maintenance, administration, and the Tidal Wetland Project. Becky graduated from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning, and an emphasis in wildlife. When not navigating bureaucracy, Becky can be found hiking, riding horses, or walking dogs with her husband.
Mark Silberstein
Executive Director
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
(831)728-5939 ext. 231
Trained as a marine zoologist, Mark has worked on the study and conservation of coastal wetlands for three decades. Working with a group of community volunteers, Mark developed the land trust function of the Foundation, which is aggressively working to conserve and restore the Elkhorn Slough, one of the last remaining estuarine wetlands on the central coast. Mark was on a team of conservationists that developed a watershed conservation plan for the Elkhorn watershed that led to significant funding for land acquisitions here. Mark is known for pursuing collaborative approaches to conservation and for a fondness for mud.
Education and Outreach
Peggy Casper - ESNERR Visitor Center Naturalist
Grey Hayes - ESNERR Coastal Training Program Coordinator
Grant Lyon - ESNERR Assistant Coastal Training Program Coordinator
George Merilatt - ESNERR Education Specialist
Kenton Parker - ESNERR Education Program Coordinator / ESNERR Visitor Center Program Coordinator
Varyl White - ESNERR Visitor Center Naturalist / Education Assistant
Tricia Wilson - ESNERR Visitor Center Coordinator and Naturalist / ESF Bookstore Assistant
Research
Nina D’Amore - ESNERR Amphibian and Freshwater Ecologist
Susanne Fork - ESNERR Research Biologist
John Haskins - ESNERR Water Quality Monitoring Scientist
Brent Hughes - ESNERR Estuarine Ecologist
Rikke Kvist Preissler - ESNERR Graduate Research Fellow
Guilherme Lessa - ESNERR Estuarine Scientist
Eric Van Dyke - ESNERR Geographical Ecologist
Kerstin Wasson - ESNERR Research Coordinator
Beth Watson - ESNERR Project Scientist
Land Stewardship
Bree Candiloro - ESNERR Stewardship Specialist
Ken Collins - ESF Land Steward
Kevin Contreras - ESF Land Acquisitions Coordinator
Kim Hayes - ESF Stewardship Director
John Kenney - ESF Farmland Manager
Andrea Woolfolk - ESNERR Stewardship Coordinator
Tidal Wetland Project
Nathan Chaney - Tidal Wetland Project Assistant Project Manager
Bryan Largay - Tidal Wetland Project Director
Erin McCarthy - Tidal Wetland Project Specialist
Monique Fountain - Tidal Wetland Project Manager
Administrative and Facilities Support
Amanda Ankenbrandt - ESNERR Volunteer Coordinator
Michelle Bakker - ESNERR Management Services Technician
Gabriele Estill - ESF Grant Manager
Steve Legnard - ESNERR Fish and Wildlife Technician
Kate Raymundo - ESF Administrative Director
Lorili Toth - ESF Director of Development and Communications
Lisa Zaretsky - ESF Webmaster
