Staff
Mr. Thomas H. Maloney, Executive Director
Dr. Michael D. White, Conservation Science Director
Ms. Jennifer A. Browne, Operations Manager
Ms. Chris A. Niemela, Conservation Scientist
Lauren di Scipio, Public Access Coordinator, Webmaster
Thomas H. Maloney – Executive Director
Tom became the Conservancy’s first Executive Director in February 2009 with 15 years of experience as a conservationist, environmental advocate, natural resource planner and ecologist. Most recently Tom served as the North and Central Coast Ecoregional Director for The Nature Conservancy. Tom started his career on the Connecticut River as the first River Steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council. The River Steward program provided leadership for river advocacy and restoration of New England’s largest river. Tom left the Watershed Council to join The Nature Conservancy to establish the Plymouth Pinelands Program in Plymouth, MA where the focus was the conservation of globally rare pine barrens and coastal plain ponds. In 2005 Tom joined the California Program of The Nature Conservancy. The focus of that work was conservation planning for the Carrizo Plain National Monument and land conservation in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.
Tom holds a BA in Economics from Boston University and a MS in Resource Management from Antioch New England. Since 1997, Tom has also served as a natural history tour guide on three continents. As a dedicated birder and naturalist, Tom is thrilled to have the opportunity to discover the tremendous ecological resources of the Tejon Ranch.
Michael D. White - Conservation Science Director
Michael is an ecologist with expertise in conservation planning, environmental regulations, and ecosystem assessment, management, and restoration. He holds a B.A. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from the University of California at San Diego, a Ph.D. from the San Diego State University and University of California, Davis Ecology Joint Doctoral Program, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Biology Department at San Diego State University. Mike spent 10-years in the private environmental consulting industry and the last 10-years as a Senior Ecologist and the San Diego Director of the nonprofit Conservation Biology Institute. During his career, Mike has worked on projects involving habitat conservation planning, environmental impact analyses and regulatory permitting, watershed assessment, aquatic and riparian habitat restoration, ecological risk assessment, and natural resources management and monitoring in a variety of ecosystems throughout the Southwestern U.S. and Pacific Rim. He has worked with various federal, state, and local governments and non-governmental organizations on a number of landscape-scale conservation plans, including San Diego County, the Lower Colorado River basin, Northern Sierra Nevada, Sonoran Desert, and California-Baja California border region. Mike has been involved with conservation-related issues at Tejon Ranch since 2003, and was a technical advisor to the environmental resource groups that negotiated the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement.
Jennifer A. Browne – Operations Manager
Jennifer has served as the Operations Manager for the Tejon Ranch Conservancy since April 2009. In this role, she provides direction for all activities related to finance, administration, personnel, facilities, information systems and office management. Prior to joining the Conservancy, she was a Project Manager for the Tejon Ranch Company where she worked closely with the Conservancy’s interim executive director and Board to establish and implement an interim operating plan for the Conservancy prior to the selection of a full time Executive Director. Jennifer assisted with all operations of the Conservancy during this period including coordination of key meetings and calls, assistance with the interim public access program and administrative support to the interim ED. Jennifer loves the outdoors and is especially excited about taking part in the conservation and management of the infinitely beautiful Tejon Ranch lands.
Jennifer graduated from Moorpark College and continued her education at San Francisco State University, majoring in international relations. She has also served as manager and designer for a commercial and residential design firm.
Chris A. Niemela – Conservation Scientist
Chris is a native Californian with 15 years of academic and field experience in general ecology, with an emphasis in avian ecology. Chris holds a B.S. in Wildlife Management, and an M.S. in Natural Resources, with an emphasis in Wildlife, from Humboldt State University. Chris has spent the last 12 years working as an independent field biologist and researcher in a variety of habitats throughout southern California, and has contributed to numerous biological assessments, environmental impact reports, and wildlife inventories and monitoring. She has also assisted with avian research projects in northwestern CA, Nevada, New Hampshire, Canada, and on San Clemente Island. Specific to this region, Chris has an abundance of experience with various sensitive species including, white-tailed kite, California gnatcatcher, least Bell’s vireo, arroyo toad, Quino checkerspot butterfly, and most recently California condor. She has also devoted much of her free time assisting with various raptor research projects in southwestern CA.
Chris’ dream job has always been to work intimately on a large tract of land, conducting research and protecting and restoring natural ecosystems. Chris feels privileged to be part of the Tejon Ranch Conservancy, and is very excited to be part of the groundbreaking team that builds a successful science-based stewardship program. Likewise, she looks forward to using her field expertise and knowledge to help understand and enhance the ecosystems within Tejon Ranch and surrounding areas. While Chris’ main love is for birds, she also has a fondness for reptiles and amphibians. Chris is an avid backpacker, cyclist, world traveler, and general nature enthusiast.
Lauren di Scipio - Public Access Coordinator & Webmaster
Lauren’s experience includes years as Manager of Alumni Affairs with Outward Bound USA. Her chief responsibilities included communicating with 300,000 alumni internationally through newsletters, national fundraising events and community service projects to promote Outward Bound to the general public and media.
Lauren also guided numerous Outward Bound expeditions in the backcountry and on the water, teaching and practicing skills such as low-impact camping, kayaking, rock climbing, sailing, canoeing, map and compass and orienteering. Her outdoor education resume also includes the role of Director of Outdoor Education for The Day School, and expedition leader for The Mountain Workshop, both based in New England, planning and leading backcountry expeditions.
Lauren holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Archaeology and Anthropology and has worked on archaeology projects in India, Italy, Scotland, Mexico and the United States. She is also a digital media expert, creating and teaching digital video, websites, magazines, logos and other design elements. Lauren will be putting these skills to work enhancing the Conservancy’s marketing materials and website with features that will better enable the public to be involved and connected with our news and events. Lauren can be reached via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Her professional website is: http://www.laurendiscipio.com
