Liana Harp is President, and a Lead Biologist at Wilder Ecological Consulting, Inc. She often contributes to project goals in a field leadership position. She has been conducting biological surveys and construction monitoring field work in the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts for 16 years. Although she conducts avian, mammal, and plant surveys, her special interest is in the Mojave Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). She has participated in four large scale (>100 animals) translocation projects, and has personally sampled more than 600 tortoises for USFWS protocol health assessments.
Prior to 2008 she worked as an academic counselor in California public schools. In this role she developed and implemented novel outreach and education programs that aligned the interests of students and their parents with administrative and academic goals, while routinely managing caseloads of 150+ students. She holds B.A. degrees in Anthropology and Environmental Studies, and a Masters in Education.
Nathan Jones is a Principal and Lead Biologist at Wilder Ecological Consulting, Inc., and often contributes to field project leadership, mapping and GIS analyses, report writing, and other data management efforts. He has 25+ years of field experience spanning research, conservation, civil engineering/land survey, and environmental consulting. He has worked as a research biologist for California universities, USA non-profits, and the USFWS on field projects that span desert, marine, and coastal habitats from Mexico to Alaska. He has contributed to agency and non-profit reporting, and has written as a lead and co-author on several peer-reviewed scientific publications.
His work in the desert southwest began in 2000 as a contractor for Arizona Game and Fish, monitoring Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and continues today with a strong emphasis on Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and avian work throughout the Mojave and Great Basin regions. His work in coastal and marine environments began in 1994 as a technician doing native plant inventories in coastal dune systems of Monterey Bay, and progressed through several staff and lead positions conducting research on seabird ecology and monitoring of marine mammals. He holds B.A. degrees in Biology and Environmental Studies, and an MSc. in Marine Science.