Sue Crispin has been director of the Montana Natural Heritage Program since 1998. She grew up in Michigan, where she earned her M.S. degree in Botany and served as Botanist and Coordinator for that state’s natural heritage program. She worked for several years in Canada, helping Canadian provinces establish similar data centers, and also worked regionally with 8 states and two provinces to document areas of biological significance around the Great Lakes. Altogether, she has spent 26 years working with natural heritage programs, their customers, and partners. She loves living in Montana, where she enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, photography, and "weekend botany."

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Darlene Patzer has been with the Natural Heritage Program since July 2004. She supports the Heritage Project Managers with grants and finance administration. Darlene earned her Associates Degree in Business Administration from Carroll College while working full-time and raising two daughters.

Prior to joining the Heritage Program, Darlene spent a great 16 years with the Helena Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. She learned everything from running check sorters to being the lead accounting analyst and finally the check transportation coordinator in Montana.

A native Montanan, Darlene enjoys working with the Heritage staff to support responsible stewardship of Montana’s natural resources. Her own time is spent pursuing her interest in horses with her daughter and learning new things.

Allan Cox is the Systems and Services Manager for the Montana Natural Heritage Program where he manages the Program’s information services—databases, web services and geographic information systems. Allan has more than 20 years of GIS, natural resource program, and project management experience. Prior to coming to the Natural Heritage Program in 2001, Allan was the Program Manager for the Montana Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC) at the Montana Department of Commerce. From 1998 to 2000, Allan provided private GIS consulting and contracting services. From 1992 to 1998 Allan was Director of the Natural Resource Information System (NRIS), at the Montana State Library. In 1987, Allan joined the Natural Resource Information System and was responsible for the establishment of its GIS Program and served as its GIS Coordinator until 1992. Prior to moving to Montana, Allan worked for the Virginia GIS Project (VIRGIS). Allan has a BA in Communications and an MS in Geography from Virginia Tech

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Karen Walker has been the Biological Data Systems Coordinator for the Montana Natural Heritage Program since September, 2004. She coordinates species and habitat data from submission by field biologists to data exchanges with NatureServe. Karen has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College, and an M.S. in Forestry (emphasizing GIS) from the University of Minnesota. Karen was at the University of Minnesota from 1994 to 2003 working as a data manager and forest ecology technician prior to receiving her M.S. From 2003 to 2004 she was a GIS technician for the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota.

Scott Blum's current focus is reviewing Heritage database records for animal observations: if you’ve submitted an animal observation to NHP, there’s a better than good chance that Scott has given it the once over. Scott was born and aged in Oswego, New York on the shore of Lake Ontario (Official Town Motto: "Oswego, where the water never ends." Unofficial Town Motto: "At least we’re not Fulton."). In fits and starts, he completed a B.S. in Zoology (SUNY Oswego) and an A.S. in Zoo Animal Technology (SFCC Gainesville, Florida); subsequently launching and crashing a brief career as a zookeeper at the Racine Zoo in Wisconsin and the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. After a nine year sabbatical at Pet Pals pet store (Liverpool, NY), he returned to school to chase mountain lions for his M.S. in Ecology from Idaho State University, Pocatello. During and after graduate school he spent time as a technician on various research projects including tracking lynx and coyote around Seeley Lake and collecting bear hair in the Swan Valley. Scott spends his time in and around Helena hiking with his dog, Bug, and honing his bread baking skills.

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Martin Miller's formative years were spent in the San Joaquin Valley in central California. He has a B.S, in Atmospheric Science from the University of California, Davis. After moving to Helena to work for ASARCO as an air pollution meteorologist, he worked for two years in Logan, Utah assisting with the weather modification project at Utah State University. Then, it was back to Helena for a stint with Hydrometrics, Inc. as a computer programmer.

Martin has been wrangling data for the Montana Natural Heritage Program for more than ten years. The early days included working with the Point Observation Database (POD) from very near its inception, and plotting Element Occurrences on paper quad maps using adhesive dots, map margin notes and a mylar overlay to calculate the latitude and longitude. Needless to say, the advancement of GIS capabilities have made those activities seem like relics of the Stone Age. Somewhere along the line, he acquired the responsibility of responding to requests. This is another process that has been evolving, from paper reports provided via snail mail to large zip files accessed on the ftp site.

When it’s time to get out of town, the preferred mode is ultramarathon running. Over a 15 year period, Martin has participated in over 50 ultramarathon events, ranging from 50 km to 100 miles, and include a 24 hour track run and a 48 hour event. Some of the hundred milers he has completed include Western States, Leadville and Hardrock (twice).
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Dave Ratz ("Ratz") was an Air Force Brat, born in Okinawa, raised everywhere, finally settling down in the Rocky Mountains.  He has worked in computers for 20+ years, but has tried his hand at everything.  At age 25, Ratz suffered a quarter-life crisis: sold everything, bought a backpack, and lived in the woods for eight months.  Alas, for every time there is a season, and now he can't get by without his 80's music, internet scrabble, cell phone, and golf clubs.

Certified Mensa Member.

Voted:  Most likely to have a mullet.

Motto:  Arms Up, Eyes Wide.

Scott Mincemoyer started at the program in May 2004. Since that time, he has focused on increasing the data content of botany program databases, improving spatial data accuracy and precision, reviewing species’ ranks and rank criteria, improving data tracking methods and increasing efficiency of rare plant data entry. In the field, the focus has been on globally rare vascular plant species, including Silene spaldingii and Spiranthes diluvialis, and on plant Species of Concern in several large geographic areas with a focus on shrub and grassland systems of eastern and south-central Montana.

Prior to working at Heritage, Scott spent 8 plus years working on various fire ecology research projects at the Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula. These projects included the effects of fire on invasive weeds, the ecology and restoration of whitebark pine in the Northern Rockies and the mapping of vegetation and fuels in large areas of New Mexico and Utah. In 2003, after leaving Missoula, he completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Afterwards, he continued his affiliation with the Firelab, working for a short while on the interagency LANDFIRE national fuels mapping project, before coming to the Heritage Program. Scott has a B.S. in Forest Resource Management from the University of Montana (1995) and a diverse background and interest in botany and plant ecology. Botanical interests include many different vascular plant families and genera with a particular interest in Montana Salix.

Linda Vance has a Ph.D in Conservation Ecology from the University of California, Davis, where her dissertation research examined watershed-level factors affecting the distribution of steelhead and coho in coastal rivers. Prior to joining the MTNHP, she was an aquatic ecologist with the Pacific Southwest Research Station in Albany, California, studying frog, fish, and reptile interactions in the Sierras. Her work with MTNHP involves multiple-scale watershed and wetland assessments, and developing GIS- and field-based approaches to characterizing watershed ecological integrity. Her current projects include analyzing the extent and condition of geographically isolated wetlands in Montana, and identifying the landscape factors that predict wetland health.

Area of Expertise: Watershed and wetland assessment, monitoring and analysis; landscape ecology; geospatial analysis; environmental law and policy.

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David Stagliano is the first Aquatic Ecologist for the Montana Natural Heritage Program and has been in this position for 3 years. In that time his boots have been in 100’s of Montana’s streams from the Yaak to the Powder, the Big Hole to the Big Muddy. He came over from Moscow, Idaho in 2003 after working at an environmental consulting firm. He received a M.S. degree in aquatic ecology from Kansas State University on prairie streams (2000), and his B.S. from Cornell University in Ecology (1992), minoring in fisheries. In between those degrees, he worked professionally for the USGS in Denver, CO, the TVA in Tennessee, the University of Alabama, and after the master’s, 2 field seasons with the Michigan Natural Heritage Program. But now he doesn’t plan to leave Montana, which has the perfect mix of outdoor opportunities (fishing, hiking, skiing, hunting, biking, etc.) to stay busy outside the field season.

David has 12 years of professional experience in stream & river ecological studies. Principal areas of expertise include the field collection, ecology and taxonomy of aquatic invertebrates, mussels and fish communities for use in environmental assessments of stream and river integrity. Additional expertise includes landscape-level ecological studies and conservation of aquatic ecosystems, including work wth threatened & endangered species.
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Karen Newlon has an M.S. in Biology from Montana State University and a B.A. in Biology from Hiram College. She joined the Montana Natural Heritage Program in May 2008 as an Ecologist/Project Manager. Since then, she has developed a fondness for the wetlands and grasslands of eastern Montana after conducting hundreds of wetland assessments and vegetation surveys throughout that portion of the state. Her current projects include conducting wetland assessments and vegetation surveys, refining and validating assessment methodologies, refining ecological system descriptions for Montana, and integrating data into spatial and tabular databases. Prior to coming to the Heritage Program, she worked in the more topographically varied parts of Montana. During her most recent position as an ecologist at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, she developed a refuge vegetation map, established a landbird monitoring program, assisted in writing conservation plans, and developed, maintained, and organized refuge geospatial data.

She spent many years as a "bio-gypsy" throughout the West working on various projects focused mainly on avian breeding biology and habitat studies. Her areas of expertise include wetland and upland assessments and monitoring, identification of vegetation communities, avian identification and ecology, geospatial analysis, and aerial photointerpretation.

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Meghan Burns began working for the Montana Natural Heritage Program December 2007 as a Wetlands Digitizing Technician. After receiving a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Geographic Information Science from Michigan State University, Meghan worked as an Environmental Health Specialist at the Ingham County Health Department in Lansing, Michigan and then returned to the Center for Global Change & Earth Observations at Michigan State University to study Buruli Ulcer, an emerging infectious disease. Additionally, Meghan was employed with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, from 2002 – 2004, where she updated the database of threatened and endangered species.

Sloane Gray joined the Montana Natural Heritage Program in January 2008 to perform wetlands delineation for the Wetland and Riparian Mapping Center. Sloane’s interest in conservation GIS has allowed her to work in eight states for such organizations as Ducks Unlimited, the Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center and The Nature Conservancy. She has a B.S. in Biology from Metropolitan State College.

Bryce Maxell grew up dogsledding in the mountains of Utah, swam competitively in high school and college, and is passionate about natural history. Bryce completed a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Economics at the University of Puget Sound in 1994 where he studied the demography of kelp species in the Puget Sound and was an NAIA All-American in the 200-yard Breaststroke in 1992 and 1993. After undergrad, he received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a year long independent study of the Natural History of Australia and New Zealand in 1994 and 1995. Bryce went to graduate school in the Wildlife Biology Program at the University of Montana with a focus on Montana's amphibian species and is still in the process of finishing his dissertation research on the landscape ecology and demography of Columbia Spotted Frogs. Bryce has spent the last nine years conducting field inventories and demographic studies of a number of Montana's amphibians. During his time in Montana he has authored or coauthored two books, eight peer reviewed publications, and 25-plus professional reports on amphibians, reptiles, and fish. Bryce's main interests are natural history, conservation biology, biogeography, and the effects of exotic species. He is also interested in conducting broad based, statistically sound, baseline surveys for, and applying advanced techniques in conservation biology to, a wide variety of non-game taxa. Although interested in working with all taxa, Bryce is especially interested in working with amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, bats, and birds. Bryce is also interested in raising awareness about the natural history and status of these species so that issues associated with their management are properly addressed in management plans and so that they can be properly appreciated by current and future generations.

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Paul Hendricks has been a zoologist with the Montana Natural Heritage Program since 1996. After spending most of his formative years in Billings, Paul received his education at the University of Montana in Missoula (B.A. 1975, M.A. 1987) and Washington State University in Pullman (Ph.D. 1993). Paul has a broad interest in natural history, and his work for the Natural Heritage Program has allowed him to pursue this interest with a variety of invertebrates as well as the vertebrates he is most familiar with. He is co-author of the book “Amphibians and Reptiles of Montana” (Mountain Press 2004). When not working, he is dreaming of or pursuing birds and alpine experiences.

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Susan Lenard joined the Zoology program with a particular interest and experience in bird conservation and research. With degrees in biology and mathematics, she’s lucky enough have worked in the field in Indonesia, Arizona, Wyoming, California, and Pennsylvania, in addition to Montana. Because of the diversity of projects the Heritage Program allows, Susan’s particular interests have broadened beyond the avian, especially to those involving bat acoustics and forays in search of pygmy rabbits.

In her off-work time, Susan’s tries to find a balance between a love of being outdoors and a variety of recreational activities, an appreciation of fine food and drink, and her arts addiction – being involved in an assortment of hand crafts such as spinning (wool), weaving (fiber), throwing (pottery), and dyeing, especially experimenting with natural dyes (sometimes, by chance, rather malodorous ones), much to the dismay of both of her housemates – husband Phil, and dog Teasel.

Coburn Currier moved to Montana in the spring of 2002 to work for the Montana Natural Heritage Program as a Field Biologist/Project Specialist. Since then he has worked on many projects in incredible and remote areas of the state. Prior to coming to the Zoology program, Coburn was an Assistant Zoologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory where he worked for almost 2 years beginning his professional career. Also in Michigan, Coburn went to graduate school at Central Michigan University as well as to Michigan State University as an undergraduate.

For the Zoology program Coburn works on a wide variety of taxa including grassland birds, forest raptors, bats, and terrestrial mollusks. His personal and professional passion has always been with birds, bird distribution, and bird conservation. However, he has more recently been focusing his attention and personal interest towards other flying creatures, mainly dragonflies and butterflies; the latter with his 6 year old daughter who loves to catch them in her butterfly net – she leaves the identification to dad.

Melissa Hart has an MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and a BA in Biology and Environmental Science from Willamette University. Her interest in GIS began in the early 90s when she worked as a spotted owl biologist on the Umpqua National Forest in southwestern Oregon. Forced to manually calculate acres of habitat surrounding owl nests over and over again as managers changed their minds about the size of the area to be analyzed, she decided there had to be a better way to capture and store information. And so she went to graduate school, learned GIS, and never went outside again. (Except on weekends.)

For the past 15 years, she has worked at the Spatial Analysis Lab on a variety of wildlife-related projects, from passerine birds to wolverines. She was project coordinator for Montana Gap Analysis, completed in 1998. Currently she is assisting with the development of an Ecosystem Management Decision Support system for the Northern Region of the Forest Service. Her most time-consuming project over the past 5 years has been Margaret (pictured).

Ute Langner has a MS in Earth Sciences (GIS) from Montana State University, and a MS in Biology from Kazan State University (former USSR). In the past few years she worked as a GIS analyst on a variety of wildlife, ecosystem and natural resource related projects at the Wildlife Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Montana, and prior to that at the Landscape Biodiversity Lab at Montana State University. Before making Montana home for her family she worked in the Nature Conservation Department of a State Environmental Protection Agency in unified Germany and at the Institute of Landscape Research and Nature Conservation in the former East.