Featured Scientist

Mia holding a federally endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), helping environmental scientist counterparts from Region 4 with their annual population surveys in West Kern County.


Mia handling San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) in Bakersfield.


In an effort to control a mange outbreak affecting the kit fox population in Bakersfield, Mia and other scientists were providing a helping hand to do some wellness checks for individual animals.

Mia Roberts is an environmental scientist for CDFW’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR). She is part of the Fairfield-based field response team, tasked with responding to oil spills throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She previously worked on the response team in Bakersfield.

Mia began her career with the department as a scientific aid working on the Delta Smelt and Coastal Pelagic Species programs. She then served a brief stint in the private sector, working as a scientist for an environmental consulting firm that specialized in electrical transmission projects. She returned to the department in her current role at OSPR about three years ago.

Mia earned a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has diverse professional experience in natural resources management and environmental compliance. She is also a fluent Spanish speaker after spending time studying abroad in Costa Rica.

Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?

My inspiration to pursue a career in natural resources protection came from my mother. She taught me to care for the environment around me, even if that meant picking up one piece of trash a day. She encouraged outdoor play, and many of our family outings were spent outdoors. In addition to my mother, Jane Goodall was (and still is) a powerful role model for me.

What got you interested in working with CDFW?

Not everyone is lucky enough to know what they want to “be” when they grow up, but I had a general idea of what I wanted to do since I was very young, which was to protect animals. My career goals evolved and matured over time as I accumulated professional and life experience, but my core interests have always stayed the same – speaking for the voiceless.

I have worked in private industry, the federal government and in non-profit organizations, but my favorite and most fulfilling work experiences have always been with CDFW. The work I have done, and continue to do, has always aligned with my childhood aspirations of protecting the natural world. I work alongside some amazing people at CDFW, and I have learned so much from them along the way. I hope to continue learning as much as possible with the department while simultaneously contributing to the protection of our state’s beautiful and unique natural resources for future generations.

What is a typical day like for you at work?

Being on the Northern Field Response Team means we are some of the first people on scene during an oil spill. My schedule could be full of oil spill drills, contingency planning and training activities, but it could all be dropped if the team has to respond to an oil spill. I love having a profession where I never know what my day is going to look like, because it keeps me on my toes and I never get bored.

I love working with a team to solve a problem, and being part of the response team provides endless opportunities to do that. Every spill we respond to is different and comes with its own challenges. Our main goal as the field response team is to safely clean up oil spills while causing the least environmental harm. I very much enjoy working with my fellow responders to accomplish that goal.

Over the course of your career, was there a discovery or an incident that surprised you?

My time with OSPR has been full of surprises, but the biggest one so far was learning about the history of oil in California. I had no idea that California played such a large role in oil production for the nation. Seeing the extensive Central California oil fields was a huge eye-opener, and it felt like I was on a whole new planet that I did not know existed. Here was black, sticky oil literally oozing out of the ground from natural seeps! The same seeps that created the tar-pit-death-traps for countless prehistoric creatures! How did I miss this my whole life?

If you had free reign and unlimited funding, what scientific project would you most like to take on?

I would love to train an oil detection dog to aid with oil spill response. Dogs are amazing creatures and can perform many tasks that could benefit the spill response community. Their capacity for scent detection and differentiation could really change the way we respond to oil spills in the state, and the department already has a wonderful infrastructure to support this type of project.

Do you have any advice for people considering careers in science or natural resources?

Get as much experience early on as you possibly can! The competition for entry-level natural resources and science jobs can be fierce, and oftentimes it is that little bit of volunteer time you had at that lab, or the summer you spent doing field work banding birds that can make all the difference.

The field of science is extremely broad, so I would recommend trying to identify the specific job you would like to do and spend your time gaining experience relevant to that position. During college, I spent a lot of my undergraduate time as a research assistant on various research projects, working for graduate students and research labs on campus. These jobs can provide you with the hands-on experience employers look for when hiring for entry-level positions.

###

CDFW Photos courtesy of Mia Roberts. Top Photo: Mia Roberts helping perform kangaroo rat surveys in West Kern County with our fellow environmental scientists from Region 4. The animal she is holding is a federally endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens).

Backpacking remains one of Evan’s outdoor passions – along with gardening, fishing and hunting. He’s pictured here in 2016 near Bishop Pass on the southeast side of the Sierra.


Evan King shows off a lingcod he caught last year off of Morro Bay.


Evan, his wife, Renee, and their dog Madison hike in the Mineral King area within Sequoia National Park.
 

Since 2010, Evan King has been CDFW’s wildlife biologist for Kings and Tulare counties. He is based in Visalia, just about two hours south of where he grew up. Born in Turlock and raised in Denair, Evan King is a third-generation biologist. His grandfather, Frank H. King, worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and his father, Holman E. King, spent more than 30 years as a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game assigned to Stanislaus County.

Evan got an early education in Central Valley wildlife as he often accompanied his dad on deer and waterfowl surveys and human-wildlife conflicts. He later earned a degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University.

Given your family background, was it inevitable that you would one day work for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife?

My dad encouraged me to go to Humboldt State because a lot of people he worked with at the department also went to Humboldt and because wildlife always has been something I was interested in. But getting a job with the department wasn’t necessarily a goal or a push or anything. It just happened to be the right fit for me.

How did you come to work for CDFW, then?

When I graduated from Humboldt, some roommates and I attempted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I did all of California – the whole state, just shy of 1,600 miles in over 100 days. Thirty miles from the Oregon border, I got word of a scientific aid job opening with the Wildlife Investigations Lab near Sacramento. A friend of mine worked there and had put in a good word. I didn’t have a huge plan about what I was going to do after the hike so I dropped off the trail and took the job working for Dr. Pam Swift in the lab.

Four months after that, I got hired permanently as a biologist at the Mendota Wildlife Area. Full-time positions were hard to find back then, and as far as I was concerned it was a dream job for me at the age of 25. It was a permanent job with good pay and was an hour and a half away from where I grew up. I could go home on weekends and spend time with my family.

How long did you work at Mendota?

About four years. I was there from 2006 to 2010. I was in charge of all the water for the 13,000 acres of property. I did raptor surveys, breeding waterfowl pair surveys, duck banding, pheasant counts. I talked to all the hunters. I also learned how to repair irrigation problems, fix damage caused by beavers, and maintain flood control structures. It was a great place to cut your teeth as a biologist. Plus, I lived on the property and got to have my dog with me all the time. I hunted all the time. Life was good.

Many Californians have never visited Kings or Tulare County. What can you tell us about those places?

Kings County is mostly agricultural. Central Valley agriculture dominates the landscape and there are a lot of dairies. We’ve got some sensitive species there – tricolored blackbirds and San Joaquin kit foxes. Swainson’s hawks migrate from Argentina to spend their summers in Kings County. It’s more diverse than most people think.

Tulare County is pretty amazing. There are two national parks, a national forest and three wilderness areas all within the county. We’ve got Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, the Sequoia National Forest and parts of the Golden Trout Wilderness and South Sierra Wilderness. It encompasses the crest of the Sierra. If I were to drive from one end of Tulare County to the other, it would take me several hours.

What do you like best about your job?

I like the diversity. One day I am out darting a bear that’s in a backyard and the next day I’m checking for signs of porcupine in the national forest. One day  I could be writing a report and another day I could be out trapping nutria. I’m about to learn how to be a drone pilot. So it’s a lot of fun, and I get to use a lot of different skills.

There are people who volunteer and take time off of their work to come and do my job – to help on deer surveys or band doves or whatever the project might be that needs extra hands. For the past 10 years, I haven’t felt like I’ve gone to work at all. I enjoy it so much. It’s not just a job. It’s a big part of who I am.

We don’t hear much about porcupines. What’s happening with porcupines?

There’s a statewide study taking place. We’re trying to develop a technique to detect porcupines without using cameras. Porcupines are salt-driven. They want salt, need salt in their diet. So if we take a stick that is really salty and put it out there in the forest, will a porcupine be drawn to it and, if so, will they chew on it? If they do chew on it, are the chew marks distinctive enough to positively identify the animal as a porcupine or do we need to use a trail camera? Trail cameras are expensive. I can put out a thousand salty sticks – but not a thousand trail cameras.

So how are porcupines doing?

Well, it’s concerning since I haven’t detected one yet. We have biologists in Tuolumne, Madera and Fresno counties that are helping me with this project who haven’t detected them either. Porcupines once were quite common in our forests and now we never see them. They’ve had detections in Yosemite so at least we know they are up there. We are trying to detect them over an area that includes three national forests so there is a lot of ground to cover, but I am hopeful that we will find one eventually.

You were among the first wildlife biologists in the state assigned to the nutria eradication effort. What’s one message you’d like to share about nutria?

I think people just need to know the potential destructiveness. Nutria have the potential to destroy what is left of our native habitat – the very small amount of wetlands we have left that millions of waterfowl and other native species rely on. To have an animal that is not native potentially destroy our native habitat and make it disappear – people need to know that impact. People need to understand how important it is to identify nutria and let us know where they are. 

Tell us something about yourself people would be surprised to learn.

I met my wife, Renee, banding doves and we got married on the property where I still band doves. I was living on the same street as I do now in Visalia. I needed a place to band doves, and 500 yards down the street was her parents’ property. Their son is a biologist, and I asked them if I could use their property, put out some traps. I got to know the family. They invited me to dinner, and I met Renee. We got married in May.

Photos courtesy of Evan King. Top Photo: Surveying local deer and elk populations is a routine part of Evan’s responsibilities. Here he collects vital statistics from a tule elk near the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County.

1994, Henkel performing work with Bald Eagles


1995, Henkel performing work with Tufted Puffins


2010, Henkel performing research on Western Grebes


2010, Henkel works on Rhinoceros Auklet restoration project

Laird Henkel is a senior environmental scientist-supervisor with CDFW’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), where he serves as director of the department’s Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center (MWVCRC) in Santa Cruz. Laird joined OSPR in 2007 as the statewide oiled wildlife response coordinator. He moved to his current job in 2010. The MWVCRC is the primary care facility for oiled sea otters and serves as a center for research on the health and pathology of sea otters and marine birds.

Laird grew up in Connecticut and moved to California to attend UC Santa Cruz, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where he studied the spatial distribution of marine birds on Monterey Bay. Prior to working for CDFW, Laird worked on a variety of research projects with birds including marbled murrelets and snowy plovers.

Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?

I’ve always been inquisitive, and enjoyed science books as a kid. I also spent quite of bit of time with other kids checking out critters living under rocks, and – probably like most kids – thought  Jacques Cousteau (a famous marine explorer in the 70s and 80s) was awesome. But when I left for UC Santa Cruz, I was not necessarily planning on studying science. A variety of factors led me to major in biology and once I was in, I was hooked. 

What got you interested in working with wildlife?

In college, I took some great natural history classes, including one working with elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Reserve, and an ornithology class, which led me to become fascinated with the lives of animals. The summer before my senior year, I assisted on a project assessing mountain goat behavior related to population size in Idaho, and right after graduating I had a great volunteer job working on a remote island in Alaska monitoring diet and growth of tufted puffins. Field biology was fascinating and a great way to see some amazing places, from Alaska to Maine to Costa Rica.

Who or what brought you to CDFW? What inspires you to stay?

I first worked for CDFW as a scientific aid for Senior Environmental Scientist Rob Titus in 1995, working with winter-run Chinook salmon. That was a short-term position. Then I moved back to Santa Cruz and had a variety of other field jobs with birds, earned a master’s degree in marine science, and worked at an environmental consulting firm for several years. One of my other jobs included conducting aerial surveys for marine birds and mammals under a contract with OSPR. Through that work, OSPR seemed like a great place to work and was in the right place at the right time when my current dream job opened up. I feel lucky to have it. I am inspired to stay because of the great work we do!

What is a typical day like for you at work?

I typically deal with various logistical issues—I’m responsible for my staff and for a complicated (and aging) facility. The facility is set up for oiled wildlife response including pools plumbed with seawater and a state-of-the-art necropsy facility (necropsies are the equivalent of autopsies but on non-human animals—here mostly sea otters and seabirds, but we’ve had an occasional great white shark or leatherback sea turtle). But all this logistical work can be rewarding. Planning projects and providing strategic vision for staff allows our team to respond effectively to oil spills, and allows my staff to work on exciting scientific work investigating health of sea otters and seabirds.

What is the most rewarding project that you’ve worked on for CDFW?

Our primary role at OSPR is response to oil spills and although we never look forward to them, the experience can be rewarding (albeit stressful). Spill response allows an opportunity to put our training to use and have a positive influence, hopefully making a bad situation better. My first big spill response was the Cosco Busan incident in the San Francisco Bay in 2007, only a month after I started. That was a great learning experience for me. Since then there have only been a few spills affecting substantial numbers of animals, most recently the Refugio spill in Santa Barbara in 2015. All of this work on oil spills is rewarding, especially to see cleaned and rehabilitated wildlife released back into the wild.

If you had free rein and unlimited funding, what scientific project would you most like to do?

There are many projects that would be intellectually stimulating and fun, and also a lot of conservation projects in desperate need of funding. But I think one way to have a big influence on recovery of threatened species would be to put more funding into investigating ways to minimize the impacts of corvids (ravens, crows and jays) on threatened species. Through our work on oil spill restoration projects, I’ve seen corvid impacts (corvids eating eggs or young of threatened species) as a common theme limiting recovery of multiple species. Corvids are very smart birds and they’ve done a great job of adapting to and benefiting from humans. Because humans are responsible for huge population increases in corvids, it would be great if we could do something to minimize their impacts on other species. But this is not an easy issue to address – thus the need for more funding.

What is the best thing about being a wildlife scientist?

Discovery. There will always be new things to discover, and that is the whole point of science. 

The world of science and managing natural resources is often confusing or mysterious for the average person. What is it about the work you do that you’d most like us to know?

The natural world is indeed so mysterious! But I guess one thing for non-scientists would be not to let numbers and mathematical formulas scare you. Ecology as a science has become more mathematical over the years, and even we scientists have a hard time keeping up with new statistical methods and fancy mathematical models. Scientific studies should still be done in a way that makes sense – if you can see past the formulas and understand how a study or an experiment was set up, it is usually not too difficult to understand the results.

Is there a preconception about scientists you would like to dispel?

I think one misconception might be that scientists have all the answers. Any good scientist will tell you there is still a lot to learn, and the better you are at science, the more likely you are to acknowledge that we are not sure about a lot of things. Uncertainty is a big part of science, and properly assessing that uncertainty is important. (To be clear: global climate change is NOT something with a lot of uncertainty).

Any advice for people considering careers in science or natural resources?

Be curious and have an open mind. Science is all about not having pre-conceived biases, and being willing to accept findings that may be surprising or even in conflict with previously-held beliefs.

Photos courtesy of Laird Henkel. Top Photo: In 2010, Laird Henkel participated in the Deepwater spill response.