On behalf of the East Bay Chapter, I would like to introduce you to Joanna Garaventa, the new East Bay Conservation Analyst.
Joanna has years of experience as a planner and project manager coordinating complex large-scale healthcare projects for Kaiser Permanente. Her roots are in East Contra Costa county and she has volunteered for Save Mount Diablo and Save Tesla Park on environmental issues. She returned to school to pursue an additional undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from Cal State East Bay and a graduate degree in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from San Francisco State University. According to her advisor, Professor Tom Parker, her graduate research on, “Seed Rain, Seed Predation and Seed Bank Dynamics of Adenostoma fasciculatum” has provided important additional knowledge concerning the adaptation of chamise. Joanna’s research work is being submitted for publication.
In addition to her part-time job as a Conservation Analyst, Joanna will continue her work with the Cal State East Bay’s Green Biome Institute which is performing molecular sequencing and germination research on rare plants including the endangered Vine Hill manzanita.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our conservation priorities remain as important and active as ever, which is why we are excited to welcome Joanna to our Conservation Committee Team.
— Judy Schwartz, Chapter President
March 2020
