Rick A. Sweitzer, M.S., PhD, University of Nevada, Reno (1990, 1995) is a Wildlife Biologist with over 35 years of research experience, compliance, and teaching experience in the Western United States. Rick has held professional positions at the University of California Davis (Postdoctoral Research, Adjunct teaching), University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Visiting), the University of North Dakota (Assistant and Associate Professor), and the University of California, Berkeley (Research Professional/Associate Professor). Rick first joined The Great Basin Institute in 2013 when he spent several years working on data analyses, and completed multiple important publications on the population biology and conservation-associated aspects of Pacific fisher ecology in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California. In addition to experience with NEPA and Endangered Species Act compliance (Biological Assessments/Evaluations, Management Indicator Species Reports, etc.), Rick has over 50 peer-reviewed publications in science journals including the Journal of Wildlife Management, Ecology, Conservation Biology, Forest Ecology and Management, Oecologia, Journal of Mammalogy, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, and others.

John Umek, PhD., University of Nevada, Reno (2015) supports GBI water resources program and is Assistant Research Professor with the Desert Research Institute and has 18 years of experience in aquatic ecology, water quality monitoring, and natural resource management. He is experienced with a range of statistical methods, numerical modeling, and working with invasive and endangered aquatic organisms. He has extensive field surveying and water quality monitoring experience. Current and former projects include working on an interdisciplinary NSF project focused on springs biota structure and condition across the Southern Great Basin, impacts to springs overtime in the Eastern Great Basin and Lahontan Cutthroat trout movement in Central Nevada.

Sean Simpson, MA, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno (2010) is the Institute’s Senior Consulting Archeologist and has expertise in NEPA compliance inventories for mining, gas, oil and communication infrastructure on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service public lands across Nevada, Washington and Oregon. Mr. Simpson has performed archaeological inventories and architectural assessments of irrigation and bridge features for the Army Corps of Engineers and has expertise and extensive experience in completing district evaluations of historic mining districts in central and northern Nevada, including Manhattan, Kinsley, Rochester, Yerington, Pine Grove, Rockland, Fairview, and Bell Mountain mining districts.