Staff

Peter Morrison is the Executive Director, of Pacific Biodiversity Institute. He is an ecologist, botanist and GIS/remote sensing expert with a Masters in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington. He has over 30 years of work experience in ecological assessments, vegetation mapping, remote-sensing, GIS, botanical surveys, landscape analysis, conservation planning and project management. Recently, he has lead projects focused on forest and rangeland health assessments, field surveys and habitat mapping of imperiled and non-native species, landscape-level watershed and ecosystem analysis, mapping and analysis of wildlands, and the development of conservation priorities. He worked as an ecologist for Sierra Biodiversity Institute, the Wilderness Society, the US Forest Service, Oregon State University and the Sierra Club and as a consultant for government agencies and conservation organizations. Peter has received numerous awards for his conservation science work. His efforts have aided the protection of several million acres of critical habitat in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile. Peter is an author or co-author of over 100 scientific reports, papers and book chapters.

George Wooten is a botanist and fire behavior analyst with a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and graduate studies in Molecular Biology. George has worked for Pacific Biodiversity Institute for over 13 years on botanical surveys, ecological assessments and wildfire behavior analysis. He also works with Conservation Northwest and is an adjunct instructor for Wenatchee Valley College where he teaches Botany, Ethnobotany and Natural Resources Lab.

Sue Ann Gifford, Anacortes, WA is a volunteer coordinator for our harbor porpoise project. She began working on this project as an intern.

Hans Smith is a conservation scientist, and GIS Analyst who works part-time with PBI. He started his work at PBI in 2003 and gained a staff position four months later. Now, he works with PBI on a consulting basis and spends most of his time working for the Yakama Tribe as a project manager focused on salmon restoration. At PBI Hans participated in and managed projects focused on forest and rangeland health assessments, field surveys for rare plants, vegetation mapping, and studies of invasive species. He has also conducted landscape-level watershed and ecosystem-level spatial analysis. Hans has a Bachelors of Science in Conservation of Wildland Resources from the University of Washington College of Forest Resources and has advanced GIS training from ESRI. He has worked on numerous conservation projects in Washington, Oregon, Arizona and in Costa Rica. Hans is an author or co-author of 40 scientific reports.

Katie Swanson is our bookkeeper. Katie worked at the University of Washington for many years, as a computer programmer and data analyst for researchers in Fisheries, Psychology and the School of Nursing. In 2006, she retired from the UW and she and her husband moved to the Methow Valley, a long-time goal. Since then, she has pursued a new passion for weaving and other fiber arts, and also helps her husband with his cabinet and furniture making business. They also try to spend as much time as possible enjoying the valley life they moved here for, including many outdoor activities as well as cultural and social pursuits. Katie maintains a blog called "Twisp of Fate" (twispofate.wordpress.com).