The CPP Board of Directors is charged with charting the direction of the Coastal Prairie Partnership and fostering collaborative ventures between institutions involved in coastal prairie restoration, acquisition, and education.

2012-2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

• Jaime González, President, Katy Prairie Conservancy
• Vice President - Nomination Pending Approval
• Pat Merkord, Secretary, Native Prairies Association of Texas
• Doug Simons, Treasurer, Texas Master Naturalists - Coastal Prairie Chapter 

About our Board Members

Dick Benoit - Texas Master Naturalist, Galveston Bay Chapter
Dick Benoit has been a Science and Environmental Studies Teacher for half a century and is an active member of the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist.
He and his wife Ginny have five children, and 12 grandchildren.


Jaime González, Community Education Director, Katy Prairie Conservancy
Jaime Gonzalez is responsible for developing and implementing an annual schedule of activities and outreach programs to augment public access and awareness of the Katy Prairie. Jaime's work also involves expanding collaborative efforts with other organizations and agencies, including local universities.He earned a Master of Education in Curriculum & Instruction - Science Education (2007) and a B.S. in Biology (1996) both from the University of Houston-Main Campus. Mr. Gonzalez serves as a member of the Texas Children in Nature Coalition Steering Committee and as a board member for Citizen's Environmental Coaltion - Houston. He has been awarded the Alban-Heiser Award from the Houston Zoo (2011), the Elizabeth Hull Abernathy Award (2011) from the Garden Club of America and the Army & Sarah Emmott Conservation Award (2009) from the CEC for his prairie conservation efforts.

Areas of focus: prairie ecology and restoration, urban ecology, environmental education, children in nature, amphibian biodiversity issues, new media and technology and its role in conservation. 

Greg Green, Regional Biologist - Texas Gulf Coast, Ducks Unlimited
Mr. Green has more than 13 years experience in the environmental field with an education background that includes a Master of Science in Rangeland Ecology and Management from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation from Louisiana Tech University.  His experience includes development, design, implementation and management of a variety of habitat improvement projects in coastal marshes, freshwater wetlands, riparian forests, and native grasslands.  He oversees the delivery of Ducks Unlimited’s conservation efforts on properties in Texas owned by public agencies, as well as municipalities, corporate entities and other NGOs.  Mr. Green has worked for DU since 2003 in Texas and California.  Prior to his employment with Ducks Unlimited, Mr. Green was a Restoration Specialist for the Galveston Bay Foundation, where he coordinated and implemented several Community-Based Restoration projects for events such as Marsh Mania and Trash Bash.

Flo Hannah, Urban Sanctuaries Manager, Houston Audubon Society
Flo Hannah is the Sr. Sanctuary Steward for Houston Audubon Society since 2002. Her responsibilities include co-managing Houston Audubon's 17 sanctuaries. She has a Master of Science in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University. She is a current Board member for the Native Plant Society of Texas-Houston Chapter, Outdoor Nature Club, and the Coastal Prairie Partnership. She participates in bird banding and surveying for the USFWS. She owns Hannah Native Grasses, Inc., a small business that grows native coastal prairie grasses and wildflowers.

Pat Merkord, Native Prairie Association of Texas, President - Bluestem Environmental Consultants 

Pat Merkord has served on the Board of Directors of the Native Prairie Association for the past two years as Board Secretary. She is also an active member of the Maddin Prairie Committee. A retired high school biology/chemistry teacher, she has a master’s degree in Biology with a specialty in Wildlife. Active birders for many years, she and her husband Glenn also spend time restoring their “urban acre” in Conroe with native plants. She is currently the owner of a consulting business called “Bluestem Environmental Consultants.” Her past business endeavors include wildlife management plans, wildlife and endangered species surveys, plant surveys and watershed evaluations. She is especially interested in prairie conservation and restoration in Texas.

Sonia Najera,Texas Grasslands Program Manager, The Nature Conservancy, Texas
Marc Pastorek has been a landscape designer, contractor and manager since 1985. He and his wife Candi are owners of Pastorek Habitats, LLC, a meadow consulting and restoration firm located in Covington, Louisiana. Since 1993, Marc has had a strong interest in the dynamics of prairies and savannas of Louisiana and Mississippi, logging many hours in the field with Dr. Charles Allen and Dr. Malcolm Vidrine, founders of the Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society. He collects and processes native seed from his farm in Pearl River County, Mississippi and from other prairies and savannas in the two-state region including the Cajun Prairie Society's restoration site in Eunice, Louisiana, proudly referred to as "the best restored prairie in the United States." He is past-president of the Mississippi Native Plant Society and the Cajun Prairie Society and is an adjunct teacher at the School of Landscape Architecture, LSU.

Tom Olsen, Naturalist/Interpreter, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Sheldon Lake SP
 & EC
Tom Olson is the Education Coordinator at Sheldon Lake State Park & Environmental Learning Center on the NE side of Houston. He has 28 years of experience in park management and environmental education. He is working to develop trails and educational and service learning opportunities for the Sheldon Lake prairie and wetland restoration project.

Marc Pastorek, Landscape Designer/Owner, Pastorek Habitats LLC.
Marc Pastorek has been a landscape designer, contractor and manager since 1985. He and his wife Candi are owners of Pastorek Habitats, LLC, a meadow consulting and restoration firm located in Covington, Louisiana. Since 1993, Marc has had a strong interest in the dynamics of prairies and savannas of Louisiana and Mississippi, logging many hours in the field with Dr. Charles Allen and Dr. Malcolm Vidrine, founders of the Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society. He collects and processes native seed from his farm in Pearl River County, Mississippi and from other prairies and savannas in the two-state region including the Cajun Prairie Society's restoration site in Eunice, Louisiana, proudly referred to as "the best restored prairie in the United States." He is past-president of the Mississippi Native Plant Society and the Cajun Prairie Society and is an adjunct teacher at the School of Landscape Architecture, LSU.

Cecila (CC) Richmond, Louisiana Native Plant Initiative Nursery Manager,  McNeese State University
CC Richmond is active in the Louisana Native Plant Intiative and before working for McNeese State work for the Acadiana Resource Conservation and Development Council Louisiana Native Plant Initiative as a  Nursery Manager from 2007 to June 2009.  She oversees the day-to-day operations of native plant nursery, including but not limited to:  assignment, training, and oversight of student workers’ daily activities; maintenance of plant plots and production areas; harvesting, cleaning, and storage of seed materials; public outreach and education; assist in design, implementation, and data collection of research projects; organize and lead native seed harvest field trips; prepare reports as required by funding organizations; and coordinate with Louisiana Native Plant Initiative Nursery Managers at other nursery sites.   

She has been awarded numberous awards including, the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts Area IV Outstanding Non-Supervisor in 2006 and 2007, the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts Area IV Distinguished Service Award in 2007 and 2009 and the Coastal America 2003 Partnership Award for contributions to the Cameron Creole Marsh Terracing Project.

Matt Singer, Conservation Lands Manager, Galveston Bay Foundation
Matt Singer signed on with Galveston Bay Foundation in March 2010. Prior to joining GBF, Matt earned his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University in 2005 and spent 4 1/2 years as a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Matt is serving as the land manager for the Foundation’s conservation properties. He is working to restore, enhance, and maintain natural habitats around Galveston Bay.

Fred Smeins, Ph.D., Professor, Texas A&M University-College Station
Dr. Smeins is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A&M University. He received his BA (1963) in Biology from Augustana College and his MA (1965) and Ph.D (1967) in Plant and Animal Ecology from the University of Saskatchewan. From 1967 to 1969 he was Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of North Dakota. He joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1969 as an Assistant Professor; he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1973 and to Professor 1979.

Dr. Smeins teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in ecology and natural resource management. He has received several university and professional society awards for excellence in teaching. His research focuses on understanding the structure and dynamics of rangeland (grassland, wetland, savannah) ecosystems as influenced by herbivory, soil, fire and weather. Factors that control the pattern and rate of plant succession and retrogression are primary objects of study. Primary production, plant competition, woody/herbaceous plant interactions, soil seed banks, species diversity patterns and endangered species are investigated. Research is conducted in tallgrass prairies, Edward's Plateau savannah, longleaf pine savannah and coastal marshes. He has conducted research and development work in Kenya, Somalia, Morocco, Venezuela and Italy. Over 85 technical papers, book chapters and bulletins have been published. Current research includes life history and successional studies of Ash juniper, life history studies of Olney bulrush, impact of snow geese on coastal marsh plant communities, habitat features of Golden Cheeked Warblers, influence of summer burning on Edward's Plateau rangelands and Blackland Prairie Restoration.


2012 ADVISORY BOARD 

• Jim Willis, Wildlife Habitat Federation

CPP COMMITTEES

SAVE THE PRAIRIE COMMITTEE

• John Jacob, Ph.D., Texas Seagrant, Co-Chair
• Greg Green, Ducks Unlimited, Member
• Jaime González, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Member

RESTORATION COMMITTEE

• Carolyn White, Harris County Flood Control, Chair
• Fred Smeins, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, Member
• Larry Allain, USGS, Member
• Tom Solomon, Texas Master Naturalist - Galveston Bay, Member
• Dick Benoit, Texas Master Naturalist - Galveston Bay, Member
• Flo Hannah, Houston Audubon
• Prairie Hunters (Advisory Group)

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

• Jaime Gonzalez, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Chair
• Malcolm Vidrine, Ph.D., LSU - Eunice, Member
• Tom Olsen, Texas Parks & Wildlife, Member

2012 STATE OF THE PRAIRIE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

• Pat Merkord, President of Board - Native Prairies Association of Texas, Co-Chair
• Cheryl Sedivec, Texas Master Naturalist - Coastal Prairie Chapter,  Co-Chair
• Susie Doe, Texas Master Naturalist - Coastal Prairie Chapter, Member
• Fred Smeins, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, Member