Leadership Team
David C. Evers, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Chris DeSorbo, M.S.
Raptor Program Director
Lucas Savoy, B.S.
Deputy Director
Iain Stenhouse, Ph.D.
Center for Waterbird Studies Co-Director
Kate Taylor, B.S.
Director of Operations
Tim Tear, Ph.D.
Center for Climate Change and Conservation Director
Wing Goodale, Ph.D.
Senior Science Director
David C. Evers, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Titles: Executive Director, Chief Scientist, Co-director Center for Mercury Studies
Education: Ph.D., Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, 2001
Topics of Expertise: Conservation of endangered species; exposure and effects of methylmercury on wildlife in temperate, tropical, arctic, and marine environs; ecology, natural history, and conservation of the Common Loon and other loon species
Publications: 160
As a conservation biologist, Dr. Evers believes it his responsibility to provide decision makers with scientific findings from an unbiased viewpoint. Dr. Evers often testifies or presents scientific results to Congressional committees, state legislative committees, and other regulatory branches of government.
Dr. Evers specializes in research on ecotoxicology with an emphasis on the patterns of methylmercury and oil exposure and effects in wildlife, especially birds such as the Common Loon. Current projects include research and conservation efforts with various loon species across North America, as well as assessments of mercury in fish and wildlife across Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. Through BRI’s Center for Waterbird Studies, Dr. Evers oversees the largest conservation project on the Common Loon in partnership with state and federal governments.
Through BRI’s Center for Mercury Studies, he oversees several ongoing national and international mercury monitoring networks and database summary efforts for the United Nations Environment Programme and other UN agencies. He has overseen the completion of Minamata Initial Assessments for 26 countries, with 11 more pending, and is working to execute other mercury-related projects around the world for the UN. He is also the co-lead for the Fate and Transport Global Mercury Partnership Group of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
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- david.evers@briwildlife.org
Chris DeSorbo, M.S.
Raptor Program Director
Titles: Raptor Program Director, Senior Research Biologist
Education: M.S., Environmental Studies and Conservation Biology, Antioch University, 2007
Topics of Expertise: Raptor toxicology, migration ecology, raptor movement studies and applications to management and conservation decision-making
Publications: 20
Chris joined BRI in 1998, and oversaw a Common Loon behavioral ecology and toxicology study in Maine’s Rangeley Lakes region. As BRI expanded its mercury research to include other species, the raptor program was born. Through the program, Chris initiated what has now become the most extensive Bald Eagle sampling and banding effort in Maine’s history. Recent BRI raptor program projects have emphasized various studies of migrating raptors, and using individual tracking technologies to inform conservation and management decision-making relevant to Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, and other raptor species.
Chris’s current projects at BRI include evaluating mercury and lead exposure in adult resident Bald Eagles and Common Loons, assessing mercury exposure and risk to North American migrant raptors, and evaluating the use of offshore wind energy areas along the Atlantic coast by migrating Peregrine Falcons and Merlins.
In addition to raptor work, Chris also oversees BRI’s projects related to wildlife and solar energy development.
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- chris.desorbo@briwildlife.org
Lucas Savoy, B.S.
Deputy Director
Titles: Deputy Director; Co-director of the Center for Waterbird Studies
Education: B.S., Environmental Sciences, Unity College, 2001
Topics of Expertise:Loon and waterfowl conservation, sea duck population delineation, satellite telemetry, contamination accumulation and impacts on loon and waterfowl
Lucas Savoy joined BRI in 2000 as a wildlife research biologist. Early in his tenure, he focused primarily on Common Loon contaminant and breeding ecology field studies across North America, while also developing an interest in waterfowl conservation.
As BRI’s deputy director, and with more than 22 years of hands-on bird research experience, he continues to build BRI’s loon program and to develop partnerships with a focus on loon conservation in North America and internationally. His primary research studies have included the exposure and risks of contaminants to water birds, and the migratory and seasonal movements of marine birds in relation to offshore wind power developments.
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- lucas.savoy@briwildlife.org
Iain Stenhouse, Ph.D.
Center for Waterbird Studies Co-Director
Titles: Director, Marine Bird Program; Co-Director, Center for Waterbird Studies
Education: Ph.D., Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003
Topics of Expertise: Avian behavior and ecology, long-distance migration in seabirds, conservation of endangered avian species
Dr. Stenhouse’s passion for seabirds and remote islands was forged on the rugged west coast of his native Scotland. On completing his undergraduate degree, he worked as a research ornithologist with Scottish Natural Heritage, studying increasing goose populations and their interactions with agriculture. He moved to Newfoundland to take on graduate research studies. During his time in eastern Canada, Iain investigated the habitat use and breeding success of Leach’s Storm-Petrels in Newfoundland, and the reproductive and behavioral ecology of Sabine’s Gulls in the eastern Arctic.
Iain came to BRI from the National Audubon Society’s Science Office, where he was the senior scientist for the national IBA Program. Although much of his recent work at BRI has focused on offshore wind and wildlife, Iain is particularly interested in tracking seabirds’ long-distance migration. In 2007-2008, he was involved in a study tracking Arctic Terns from Northeast Greenland to Antarctica and back again—recording the longest animal migration ever measured at that time—an average annual return journey of more than 70,000 km!
Iain is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine-Orono. He has authored many peer-reviewed papers on the ecology of marine birds, including three species accounts in the acclaimed Birds of North America series.
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- iain.stenhouse@briwildlife.org
Kate Taylor, B.S.
Director of Operations
Titles: Director of Operations
Education: B.S. University of XXX
Topics of Expertise: Environmental conservation
Involved in loon conservation since 1995, Kate brings a wealth of experience to her position as BRI’s Director of Operations. Before joining BRI, she spent 12 years overseeing the scientific program for the Loon Preservation Committee in New Hampshire.
She is a contributor to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Status and Assessment Plan for the Common Loon in North America and co-authored the Common Loon Species Profile and Loon Recovery Plan for the New Hampshire Fish and Game. She is the co-author of a series of books by Willow Creek Press about the Common Loon and the Northwoods.
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- kate.taylor@briwildlife.org
Tim Tear, Ph.D.
Center for Climate Change and Conservation Director
Titles: Director of the Center for Conservation and Climate Change; Director of the Tropical Program, Director of the Climate Change Program
Education: Ph.D., Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences, University of Idaho, 2004
Topics of Expertise: Integration of natural climate solutions and ecosystem services, return-on-investment and soil carbon, community based conservation
Tim has over thirty-five years of experience directing and managing conservation programs with organizations such as Wildlife Conservation Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the Frankfurt Zoological Society.
He came to BRI in July 2020 as the International Senior Scientist, overseeing international research and policy priorities with a focus on BRIs Tropical Program, and an emphasis on expanding projects in Africa. Tim will continue to focus on work in Africa and the tropics, and is developing the Climate Change Program, including the development of soil carbon projects in African rangelands. He is also working on mercury contamination as it relates to ASGM activities, biomonitoring, and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
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- timothy.tear@briwildlife.org
Wing Goodale, Ph.D.
Senior Science Director
Titles: Senior Science Director
Education: Ph.D., Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2018
Topics of Expertise: Determining contaminant exposure and population density of seabirds in Maine and New England
Goodale is the Senior Science Director at Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) and adjunct research faculty at the University of Maine. His research is focused on the interaction of wildlife with offshore wind energy. Goodale has in-depth knowledge of the cumulative effects, offshore wind farm wildlife literature, and environmental assessments.
At BRI, Goodale takes a leadership role in developing organization-wide projects, making strategic decisions, facilitating daily operations, and managing over 40 employees. He has conducted or managed more than 80 conservation biology projects. He was the PI on a Department of Energy funded project that developed a stereo-optic camera system to track birds and bats around wind turbines. Goodale has served on municipal committees, environmental nonprofit boards, professional boards, and college boards, including the governor appointed Maine Board of Environmental Protection.
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- wing.goodale@briwildlife.org
All BRI Staff
Evan Adams, Ph.D.
Director, Quantitative Wildlife Ecology Lab
Bridget Bowden
Human Resources Manager
Rich Brereton, Ph.D.
Senior Project Manager
Carl Brown, M.S.
Wildlife Biologist
Mark Burton, M.E.M
Senior Ecological Analyst; Geospatial Scientist
Mike Chickering, B.S.
Facilities and Equipment Manager
Lori Davis, B.S.
Finance Director
Carol DiBacco
Accounting Administrator
Sarah Dodgin, M.S.
Ecological Analyst
Eleanor Eckel, MELP
Science Policy Coordinator
Emily Fellows, B.S.
Wildlife Biologist
Sandy Fogg
Accounting Coordinator
Bri Frankina, B.S.
Bat Biologist; Drone Pilot
Ethan Gilardi, B.S.
Mammal Program Field Coordinator; Bat Specialist
Andrew Gilbert, M.S.
Senior Geospatial Scientist; Technology Director
Holly Goyert, Ph.D.
position
Josh Guilbert, Ph.D.
Mammal Program Director
Julia Gulka, M.S.
Marine Biologist
Megan Ferguson, Ph.D.
position
Bill Hanson, B.S.
Waterbird/Fisheries Specialist
Merra Howe, M.S.
Protected Species Scientist
Edward Jenkins, M.S.
Avian Ecologist; International Research Lead
Patrick, Keenan, M.S.
Outreach Program Director; Avinet Research Supplies
Steve Knapp, B.S.
Wetlands Program Director
Leigh LaMartina, J.D.
Permitting and Compliance Director
Jessie Lilly
Assistant Finance Director
Deborah McKew, M.S.
Communications Director
Wilson Olunchai Kasaine
position
Dustin Meattey, M.S.
Waterfowl Program Director
Micah Miller, Ph.D.
Director of Loon Program
Shearon Murphy, B.S.
Wildlife Biologist
Sharon Oehmig
Billing and Budget Manager
Chris Persico, B.S.
Senior Wildlife Biologist
Logan Route, B.S.
Wildlife Biologist
Tahli Ali Shah, B.S.
International Environmental Specialst
Rebecca Stanley, B.S.
Ecological Analyst
Julia Stepanuk, Ph.D.
Quantitative Ecologist
Korik Vargas, M.S.
Lead Wetland Scientist
Tim Welch, B.S.
Fisheries Program Director
Kate Williams, M.S.
Center for Research on Offshore Wind Director
Mike Windsor
Seabird Specialist
