EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
- Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting, Senior Ecologist, 2023 – present
- American Rivers, Director, Central Valley Program, 2019 – 2023
- Stillwater Sciences, Senior Riparian Ecologist, 2006 – 2019
- University of San Francisco, Part-time faculty, 2005-2015, 2019
- Self-employed, Consulting Ecologist, 2004-2006
- Adaptive Management Services, USFS, Ecologist and Statistician, 2001-2005
- Tahoe and Eldorado National Forests, Field Ecologist, 1994-1998
- Wetlands Research Associates, Project Associate, 1993 – 1994
- Woods Hole Research Center, Research Associate, 1992-1993
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Dr. Merrill is a senior ecologist at Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting with over 25 years of experience working on river and meadow restoration and management in California. She received her Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science in 2001, where she combined plant and soil science with river hydrology and geomorphology to gain expertise in wetland and riparian ecology. Dr. Merrill has worked within the private, public, and non-profit frameworks to improve wetland and riparian management in California. She has managed over 40 projects including restoration, monitoring, mapping, tool development, and research to further restoration and improve natural resource management. With the Forest Service and recently with American Rivers, Dr. Merrill contributed to research and led a review of fire effects on vegetation, river, and watershed health.
Dr. Merrill has led a series of field and research projects on Sierra Mountain meadows to articulate the need for restoration, quantify restoration benefits to stream flow, water and carbon storage, and forage production. She co-authored several technical reports on meadow management, including on restoration techniques and a meadow classification guide. Recently, Dr. Merrill led a larger effort to assess carbon sequestration in healthy and degraded mountain meadows and the effects of hydrologic restoration on sequestration rates. Dr. Merrill has led or co-led the design and implementation of six on-the-ground riparian and wetland restoration projects in the Delta and Central Valley and led site planning, watershed surveys, vegetation mapping, and other studies to identify priority restoration areas and approaches to restore ecological function along rivers of south Coastal California, the Upper Sacramento Valley, and the Lower San Joaquin Valley. Recently, Dr. Merrill has engaged with diverse coalitions in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada to achieve restoration goals at scale. She has presented frequently at regional conferences on the science and practice of restoration ecology and taught graduate courses in riparian ecology and watershed management.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Wildland Resource Science, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA. 2000
M.S. Natural Resource Management, College of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 1992
B.A. Biology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. 1983
REPRESENTATIVE PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Three-Creeks Restoration (Contra Costa County, CA)
Project Manager (2019-2022)
Oversaw successful completion of project designs, regulatory compliance, partnership and funding agreements to initiate implementation of this 12-acre channel widening and riparian restoration project along Marsh Creek in Brentwood, CA. Led management and hiring of team to implement revegetation as well as first several years of effectiveness monitoring and reporting. This project is part of a long-term effort to restore the Marsh Creek corridor connecting Mount Diablo to Big Break in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta.
Twitchell Island Enhancement (Sacramento County, CA)
Project Manager (2013-2019)
Led restoration and enhancement of five parcels, totaling 48 acres of degraded lands, to restore healthy riparian forest, riparian scrub, and grassland on Twitchell Island in the western Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. This project included development of the restoration design, weed management plan, post-implementation monitoring and adaptive management plans, leading management of contractor bids, project implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management.
Grizzly Slough Phase II Mitigation (Sacramento County, CA)
Project Manager (2009-2012)
Developed restoration design, planting and monitoring plans for a 35-acre mitigation site located near the confluence of the Cosumnes-Mokelumne rivers. The plan includes restoration of oak woodland, tule and willow wetlands, and riparian forest, and integrates a small stand of cottonwood and willow trees that naturally recruited into the area during 2004 and 2006 flood events. To-date, the restoration plans have been implemented with the oversight of the DWR FESSRO program and the New Hope Reclamation District.
Bradford Island Post-Restoration Monitoring (Contra Costa County, CA)
Project Manager (2006-2010)
Designed and supervised post-implementation monitoring of this 50-acre site in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, originally designed by Stillwater Sciences and implemented in 2006 as mitigation for levee enhancement and maintenance projects. The site includes over 20 acres of riparian scrub, 25 acres of riparian forest, and 3 acres of freshwater marsh.
Carbon Sequestration in Mountain Meadow (Sierra Nevada Mountain Range)
Project Coordinator (2015-2021)
Coordinated a group of 7 restoration projects to measure carbon sequestration in 15 restoration and control meadows and develop a draft carbon offset protocol for mountain meadow restoration. This project included leading the carbon Technical Advisory Committee to implement a common framework and set of field, laboratory, and data analysis protocols, populate a database on net soil C sequestration, and manage and analyze the data generated on post-restoration effects. Final products include a pre-restoration report on carbon sequestration in degraded and healthy meadows, a post-restoration report on effects of restoration on sequestration rates, and a draft carbon credit protocol for meadow restoration for the volunteer market (see publications).
Sierra Meadows Strategy and other Support Documents (Sierra Nevada Mountain Range)
Lead and Co-author (2008-2016)
Co-led development of the Sierra Meadows Strategy, which brought together over twenty institutions, including state and federal agencies, NGOs, and restoration professions, to develop a broad and integrated strategy to increase the pace and scale of meadow restoration and protection in the Sierra Nevada. This set of projects include co-authoring multiple support documents, including ‘Guide for Restoring Functionality to Mountain Meadows of the Sierra Nevada’ (Stillwater 2012), ‘A field key to meadow hydrogeomorphic types for the Sierra Nevada’ (Weixelman et al. 2011), a ‘Meadow Scorecard Rapid Assessment Tool, Forage and Cattle Response to Sierra Meadow Restoration’ (Tate, et al. 2011), and ‘An Economic Analysis of Sierra Meadow Restoration’ (Merrill and Aylward 2012).
Meadow Monitoring on the Eldorado National Forest (El Dorado County, CA)
Project Manager (2009-2011)
Led field survey of 40 meadows in the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) to assess hydrologic and geomorphic effects of roads and trails on vegetation condition. This survey was required for the ENF Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management decision of 2008 to address negative impacts on meadow hydrologic function caused by travel routes on or adjacent to meadows as part of the NEPA review of their National Forest planning process.
Habitat Quantification Tools, Central Valley Habitat Exchange (Central Valley, CA)
Project Manager (2014-2019)
Led development of habitat quantification tools for sensitive species in the Central Valley by working with species experts, agency personnel, and private landowners. Tools for Swainson’s Hawk, giant garter snake, riparian land birds, and Chinook salmon are used to score site habitat quality so that improved management can be developed into habitat credit for use in volunteer and regulatory markets. This project included using the tools to perform field assessments on over twenty private properties.
Effectiveness Monitoring of Oregon Conservation Reserve Enhancement Projects (CREP)
Technical Lead (2015-2016)
Developed and implemented an effectiveness monitoring protocol to evaluate the efficacy of conservation measures implemented under the USDA CREP program on riparian areas and fish and wildlife habitat across Oregon. After collecting and analyzing data from 40 sites, we made recommendations to the USDA for improving program structure and results.
Santa Clara River Parkway Floodplain Restoration Feasibility Study (Ventura County, CA)
Technical Lead (2006-2009)
Led examination of riparian vegetation dynamics in relation to historic and on-going changes in stream conditions, identified dominant controllers on riparian vegetation distribution and articulated linkages between these variables and storm events associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Results are being used to inform restoration strategies and restoration site locations being implemented along the Lower Santa Clara River.
Cow and Mill Creek Riparian Mapping and Condition Assessment (Shasta and Tehama Counties, CA)
Project Manager (2012-2015)
Teamed with Aerial Information Systems to map riparian habitat distribution and quality in Upper Sacramento tributaries that provide important anadromous fish habitat for the Central Valley salmon and steelhead populations. We provided association-level maps of riparian plant communities in both watersheds and an alliance level map of adjacent upland vegetation community types and developed recommendations for priority areas for restoration, preservation, and enhancement in these watersheds.
Riparian Vegetation Classification for Upper Cosumnes Watershed and Lake Tahoe Basin (Eldorado, Placer, and Washoe Counties, CA and NV)
Project and Field Lead (1993-2001)
Designed and implemented field data collection, led field crews, and analyzed data to develop an association level classification for riparian areas along the upper Cosumnes within the El Dorado National Forest and within the Lake Tahoe Basin, supported integration of the USFS and NPS regional classification data as part of the broader effort to align national and state vegetation classification efforts. Published study on factors controlling diversity in riparian systems in the Lake Tahoe Basin (Merrill, Benning, and Fites-Kaufman 2006).