Sedona Maniak, Nomadic biologist
One of the highlights of the Pacific Crest Trail, Forester Pass.
Sedona Maniak holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and English from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology (organismal emphasis) from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Rather than finding a perfectly reasonable and stable desk environment from which to conduct a biological career, she has opted to seek out seasonal research, survey and monitoring to keep her gathering fresh information about new regions, species and interactions. Though unpredictable, she finds work in the field to be exciting and rewarding.
Example positions in the past have included raptor migration observation on a Wyoming mountaintop; reptile and amphibian trapping in the Ozarks; radio telemetry on cottonmouth snakes in Missouri cypress swampland; vegetation surveys in the southern Nevada deserts; hatchling desert tortoise studies in California's Mojave desert; and marine mammal necropsy and skeletal articulation on the Oregon coast.
Recent work, over the past 6 years, has focused on assuring biological and environmental compliance on solar, wind and other energy projects in the California desert. She has worked extensively as a designated and authorized biologist with Mojave desert tortoise aiding in telemetry, translocation/relocation, nest searching, clearance and pre-construction surveys, and construction monitoring. Additionally, she has worked in survey and monitoring for rare desert plants, burrowing owl, San Joaquin and desert kit fox, various ground squirrel and kangaroo rat species, and nesting birds. Sedona has also performed SWPPP and BMP inspection and compliance monitoring as a Lead Environmental Inspector.