Featured Scientist

Hailey Marie Harrell is an Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) environmental scientist working as part of the Northern Field Response Team. She graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 2013, with a double major in Plant Biology and English.

Hailey was initially hired as a scientific aid for CDFW’s Habitat Conservation Planning Branch’s Native Plant Program. There, she had the opportunity to do field work with skilled botanists on some of California’s most sensitive plants, conduct census surveys and issue California Endangered Species Act scientific collection permits. She promoted to a permanent role with OSPR in 2016, and has been immersed in the world of oil spill prevention and response ever since.

A relative newcomer to CDFW in terms of job tenure, Hailey has a very fresh perspective on working as an OSPR environmental scientist.

Who or what inspired your love of natural resources?

I’ve spent countless hours in the woods and along waters of this state and I have observed many wonderful and fascinating things within them. I was raised by avid hunters and fishermen who instilled in me an admiration of our truly beautiful natural resources. They hammered home the importance of conservation and taught me to take care to leave places as good as, if not better, than I found them.

How did you come to work for CDFW?

I chose to study plants instead of animals when I got to college because they were a form of life I knew very little about. I was encouraged by a few professors who liked my writing style to take English courses while in college because it is rare to find someone who loves science and also enjoys writing. They saw me as a bridge between technical information and the layperson.

After college, I took a job as a technical writer for a privately contracted aerospace and defense company. After several months, I had learned all the ins and outs of the position and no longer felt challenged. I spent every minute of every 40-hour workweek sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen. In the small bits of time I could manage, I took every opportunity to network with people that were already working in various natural resource agencies. Through these interactions, I got to know some great employees of CDFW who gave me advice and let me do some volunteer work to gain experience for my resume. I eventually landed a scientific aid position with CDFW’s Native Plant Program where I learned my way around the intricacies of state service as I assisted in surveying some of California’s amazing threatened and endangered plant species and issued permits for their protection.

Why did you change your focus from native plants to oil spill response?

I didn’t know if I could love a job as much as the one I had with the Native Plant Program, but knew I couldn’t stay a scientific aid forever so I applied for environmental scientist positions. The OSPR position I have now was the only one of many applications I submitted that gave me a call back. I went into my interview knowing nothing about OSPR except what I had scrambled to learn about it before the interview. I was ecstatic, but at the time had no idea how truly lucky I would be to be offered this position.

Was there a tough learning curve?

The learning curve when joining OSPR was very steep, initially. I think the most challenging aspect was figuring out all the acronyms that are used. In working with the Native Plant Program I scrambled to learn the intricacies of working for a government agency, but the language itself was straightforward because I was exposed to plant terminology throughout college. OSPR was a whole different ball game. For example, it took some time just for me to realize that they were saying “T and E” species (referring to threatened and endangered wildlife) instead of “teeny” species. I would hear the question, “Were any teeny species impacted by the spill?” and would quietly wonder why they were only concerned with little organisms.

In your new position at OSPR, what are your typical duties?

As a first responder to petroleum spills, I work with a wide variety of our state’s natural resources and travel to many beautiful places across California. I get to work closely with our game wardens, the U.S. Coast Guard, private industry and other local, state and federal government agencies. At some spills, I will be the first person on scene and will have to convey my initial findings to my team to determine what level of response we will need to resolve the issue. Sometimes I will be on my own to resolve the issue, sometimes there will be a small group of us working together and sometimes there will be a large contingency of federal, state and local agencies involved to help resolve the incident. Each incident has a unique set of obstacles that need to be overcome. I fill whatever role is necessary to help get the job done as quickly as possible.

This job is also full of surprises. Few days are the same as a first responder to petroleum spills. One minute you think you’ll be in the office all day and the next minute you’re in the car driving to the coast to walk the shorelines and look for oil, or responding to a sunken vessel, or getting to the scene of a truck crash, etc. Weird reports sometimes come in that challenge your knowledge and your strategies for managing problems. It is hard to get bored, and that is one of the many things I love about it.

What has been the most exciting or enjoyable aspect of working at OSPR for you so far?

I think that the most exciting part of the job has to be emergency response. When you go on call you never really know what kind of spills you are going to get. When you get a report of a spill that warrants a response you generally know where you need to go, but there’s almost always some ambiguity regarding what you are going to find. I love working in a position where there’s so much variety.

The networking, training and interagency collaboration are equally enjoyable aspects of the job. For example, one of my first oil spill drills played out a scenario at an oil refinery in San Pablo Bay. It was a large drill with key representatives from the refinery, government agencies, county hazmat, etc. No more than a month later, there was a response to that very same refinery and almost all of those key players I met at the drill were in the command post during a real event. It felt like déjà vu being there and seeing everyone again. It helped put into perspective just how important it is to practice with drills and meet the key players that will be involved during real spills. It builds trust and understanding between those parties involved and helps to demonstrate that we are all working towards a common goal.

You’re still early in your career. Where do you think you will be, professionally speaking, in five years, or 20 years?

I can really see myself sticking with OSPR for the long hall through to retirement. From discussions with friends and family, this really is a unique and amazing position I am in that is unlike any they have heard of before. I need variety to keep myself content and OSPR certainly has that.

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

Having a job where I could contribute to prolonging our natural resources and get out in the outdoors to enjoy them as much as possible has been a dream I did not know I would achieve, but that was my goal and I fought for it. You may have to scrape by and do things that you don’t want to for a while (maybe even a long while), but if you have enthusiasm, determination and a true love of conserving our natural resources, keep working towards your goals. Talk to people, volunteer your time and keep climbing the ladder. Eventually, if you remain persistent, you will find yourself somewhere you never thought you’d be, with a job that you can’t imagine being without.

Joe Croteau is an environmental program manager with the Timberland Conservation Program in CDFW’s Northern Region. He oversees a team of scientists and administrators responsible for conservation and regulatory compliance on approximately 5 million acres of non-federal timber production lands in the Northern Region. The team includes dedicated people working in Fort Bragg, Eureka, Yreka and Redding. Joe’s office is in Redding, but his job takes him to all corners of the region, occasionally headquarters in Sacramento, and to the hidden forests in between.

An avid outdoorsman, Joe has been a member of The Wildlife Society, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, The Wild Turkey Federation and the California Licensed Foresters Association. He served as President of a local unit of the Backcountry Horseman’s Association and is a Hunter Education Instructor.

Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?

The “who” is my mother. She made sure I could go fishing, play in the poison oak and bring home lizards and snakes … and she took me to the doctor’s office when I was reckless. She turned me on to Wild Kingdom where I latched on to Marlin Perkins’ conservation movement. I immediately connected with Marlin and his friend Jim Fowler as they explored all critters, both safe and dangerous.

The “what” is just an innate curiosity and admiration of fish and wildlife … and my mom informing me I could actually earn a degree and have a career doing this kind of stuff.

How did you come to work for CDFW?

I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University in 1990, and came to CDFW’s toxicology laboratory in Elk Grove in 1991 as a scientific aid. The Cantara spill happened in July 1991 and so I participated in the evaluation of that ecological disaster. A train car fell into the Upper Sacramento River spilling about 19,000 gallons of the herbicide metam sodium. I was part of a team that was responsible for evaluating the damages and measuring lethal doses to aquatic species. After bouncing around a bit, I finally landed in in the Timberland Conservation Program.

You’ve been with the Timberland Conservation Program since 2001. What is the purpose of the program, and why is it important?

The California Forest Practice rules require an entity that wants to harvest timber on non-federal lands to first file a timber harvesting document. CDFW is the trustee agency that reviews and provides recommendations for the proposed harvesting plan. Our top priority is to ensure the conservation of fish, wildlife, and plants on land where timber harvesting is going to occur. We think of ourselves as a Swiss army knife and can tackle just about any conservation challenge.

What is a typical day like for you at work?

Personally, my typical day includes correspondence or a meeting to make sure our team has the funding, tools and inspiration to do their jobs. The better story is a typical day in the Timberland Conservation Program. Today, one of our staff members is probably walking in the woods with a forester to look at a timber harvesting plan, a proposed bridge and a meadow restoration project. A couple others are administering grants for Yreka Phlox and Townsend’s big-eared bats. Two or three others are working through the challenges of developing safe harbor agreements for Humboldt Martens, Great Gray Owls, Gray Wolves and Coho Salmon. Somebody is probably at their computer looking at multiple monitors to model wildlife habitat or a decision support tool. Somebody is thinking about how to incorporate drones and bio-dogs into our workplace. Somebody is working on regulatory rules to conserve sensitive plants. Several are involved with various working groups like the one dealing with barred owl impacts to northern spotted owls, or doing strategic planning. Certainly, somebody is preparing for, attending, or summarizing a meeting. The supervisors are looking forward, motivating and enabling their staff to challenge the system.

Every one of them is thinking about how best to monitor the effectiveness of everything we do. Oh, and there is the whole email thing … we call it “whack a mole.”

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

I would go back to the Great Gray Owl project that I was encouraged to tackle by my manager in 2008. The Great Gray Owl is a state endangered species we knew very little about. At the time, we were aware of breeding pairs in Yosemite and in Southern Oregon, but we weren’t sure if there were any in our region. I pursued a state wildlife grant that enabled us to look for breeding pairs, and nine different private and federal landowners allowed us to conduct surveys on their properties. We found two reproducing pairs during the study and have identified a couple more since. I remember getting a text message around midnight from a scientific aid in the first month of the study. It said, “If or when you wake up, call me. Male GGO!” That was an awesome moment.

Websites, conservation strategies and textbooks were later modified based on that work. Scientific aids from that project went on to become environmental scientists. Safe harbor agreements are being crafted because of our study. That’s the personal project that makes me proudest.

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

Wow, fun. I would like to create a fire-resilient landscape that enhances deer, elk, pronghorn and sage grouse carrying capacity. I would probably eliminate all but the few oldest junipers from the landscape, and I would work with our internal and external experts to return our cheatgrass-infested basins to support low sage and bitter brush habitat. I would try to bring our mountain meadows back to life by removing suppressed conifers and restoring hydrologic connectivity. I would then hire enough people to investigate and brag about all the good we are doing.

What is it about the work you do that you find most interesting or rewarding?

I often miss getting on the ATV, chasing down an owl or a fish, and just getting dirt on my clothes. But – and this is somewhat surprising to me – the best part of my job is probably not handling a fish, bird or plant. What I really enjoy is recruiting people to our team, helping somebody else prepare for an interview, and seeing people promote and move on to bigger challenges. Allowing people to seek training, explore new information technology and feeling safe to challenge the system is enormously rewarding.

I am most grateful to be associated with a team and a department loaded with hardworking, intelligent and dedicated people. This is what I brag about to family and friends.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Remembering to strive to be an inspirational leader so that staff can embrace our most difficult challenges. Reminding myself what I represent, who I represent, and thinking forward with a vision … the ability to do that is not something anybody is born with. Those are learned behaviors, and it’s always a work in progress for me.

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

Be persistent, and know that it is not for material gain that any of us do this. You need to be willing to move around a bit, embrace uncomfortable challenges, and strive to become really good at what you do.

Richard Brody is a Southern California native who grew up “a stone’s throw” from the CDFW project he now manages, the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve. Like many CDFW scientists, he took a circuitous route to working for the department, dabbling in early punk rock, owning an employment agency, home building and delivering large sailboats on the open ocean. Eventually he married, settled back into school and began a career in environmental science. Richard did his undergraduate work in water policy at Cal, and then went to graduate school at UCLA, studying Fluvial Geomorphology and Wetland Restoration. Today, he and his wife are raising two daughters in the open space of Topanga Canyon.

How did you come to CDFW?

After graduate school, I worked in the world of environmental consulting for over a decade. I was a wetland delineator and restoration specialist, and I got to know and highly respect the work CDFW was doing. In my mind, the holy grail of private restoration work was to one day manage a wetland reserve and have the time to concentrate on making a solid difference at one important location. Through my relationships at CDFW, I learned of the Ballona Land Manager position and was told that I would be an asset to CDFW. I was fortunate enough to be offered the position after a very competitive process.

What does the Region 5 lands program encompass?

The South Coast Region’s lands program manages coastal and inland properties from Santa Barbara County to the border of Mexico. These properties include maritime chaparral and sage-scrub communities, oak woodlands, grasslands, coastal bays, lagoons and estuaries. We manage these threatened habitats to protect them, but there are some passive recreation and educational uses allowed also. These vary from reserve to reserve.

What is Ballona and why is it important?

The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is the largest and last remaining opportunity for major coastal habitat restoration in Los Angeles County. It is located on the edge of one of the largest concrete jungles on the planet and also along the Pacific Flyway. Historically, this area provided a much larger stopover, resting and foraging area for migratory birds than is available today. There are corners of the Reserve that provide some estuarine and aquatic function, but only after years of coordination with our federal and local partners to restore some tidal flow. These areas are now a case study of what is possible and the immense potential this degraded Reserve offers. In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, the world’s largest man-made small craft harbor was dredged out right next to where the Reserve now sits. Dredging of this harbor, channelizing Ballona Creek and building the surrounding community all contributed to the reduction of the once approximately 2,000-acre wetland to less than 600 acres today. Very little of the remaining wetland has any describable function anymore. In fact, the Howard Hughes Corporation accepted more than 3 million cubic yards of fill from the marina dredging to be dumped in the former wetlands.

This is the biggest challenge ahead of us – getting the Reserve back down to sea level and reconnecting Ballona Creek with its floodplain so the land can function as a coastal wetlands again. Restoring Ballona will offer hundreds of now-unavailable acres to wetland-dependent species that have been displaced all along our coastline and are now clinging to existence in the Los Angeles area. I tell my kids that the Once-ler came through Ballona and left a mess and that it is my job to help make the pond wet again and bring back the Swomee-Swans and the Humming-Fish. (The Once-ler is the narrator and a character in The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.)

If you had unlimited money for Ballona what would you do?

I would fast-track the restoration, acquire all other nearby available land for more open space and build a world-class visitor and research center at the Reserve.

What is your vision for Ballona?

Aside from the obvious restoration effort, Ballona has always been a politically charged place of many factions and competing interests. One of my top priorities is bringing people closer together here. The overwhelming majority of us have the same goal in mind – to make this a special place along the California coast. We don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue, but we have already made progress in communication. That’s the best place to start.

What species are documented at Ballona and what do we think will come there (or return) when the restoration is complete?

We currently have three species that are listed as threatened and/or endangered, as well as 11 species of special concern. This is compared to 18 threatened and endangered species and nearly 100 species of special concern that are documented to have once existed at Ballona, or are still in the area but have insufficient habitat to return. I am the eternal optimist who feels that if we get this restoration off the ground, we have the potential for most, if not all, of these species to be documented here again.

The El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) is federally endangered and listed by the state as critically imperiled. It’s the cutest little butterfly on the planet. It used to be primarily restricted to the LAX dunes about five miles away, but the Friends of Ballona worked tirelessly over the last decade clearing iceplant and planting seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium). This is the only host plant for this species that it uses in all of its life stages. Once it was planted, the butterflies came. The highest count we have seen recently was more than 500 butterflies. This is a huge success story and testament to how successful restoration can be at Ballona. Every summer, the Friends hold a butterfly festival in honor of all their hard and successful work.

In addition to the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, other threatened and endangered species breeding or overwintering at Ballona now include the Belding’s savannah sparrow and the least Bell’s Vireo. Our species of special concern include the legless lizard, burrowing owl and Orcutt’s pincushion, among others. We would like to someday reintroduce Ventura marsh milkvetch, a plant species formally thought to be extinct.

What would you tell a high school student who wants to study environmental science?

Choose a field that suits your lifestyle. I once had a biology instructor tell me that if you’re planning your field of research, why not study the thoracic region of tropical lobster? You’ll have to dive all day in the Maldives and bring home lobster tails every day. That’s a metaphor, but you get my meaning. Now you know why I specialize in coastal wetlands. Surfing and shorebirds, what more could a guy ask for?

Any final thoughts?

What I love most about Ballona is people’s passion and Ballona’s potential. To have this tiny little bit of tidal wetlands available to us, and the wildlife species that are here is an incredible opportunity.

Many people have told me that they can feel their blood pressure actually go down when they leave the concrete jungle, get off the 90 freeway, head down Culver Boulevard and see the open space of Ballona. That simple example shows how important open space is here in Los Angeles County. I often use the functions and values test here. Functions are measurable – we can measure water quality, biodiversity or habitat. But values are not as tangible. Ballona has an intrinsic value, and it brings a sense of well-being that is almost lost in coastal Los Angeles.