Ph.D., Environmental Scientist
Dr. Siegel has devoted his professional career to the conservation and restoration of wetland and aquatic systems with an emphasis on estuarine tidal wetlands. His combined work experience and graduate studies have built his expertise as an integrative physical scientist and geomorphologist with considerable emphasis on the related disciplines of ecology, environmental regulation and policy, contaminant remediation in estuarine environments, management, and business.
Dr. Siegel focuses on the integration of numerous disciplines into a comprehensive systems approach for regional ecosystem planning, ecosystem restoration projects, and scientific research into ecosystem restoration and management issues. His approach is now commonly referred to as “ecosystem-based” management. Dr. Siegel works primarily in the San Francisco Estuary and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with other efforts elsewhere in coastal California as well as in the tropical Pacific. Restoration projects range in size from a few acres to a few thousand acres. Science research investigates physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting outcomes of ecosystem restoration efforts and the effects of ecosystem management on water quality and biological resources; Dr. Siegel is the lead principal investigator for CALFED’s Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring pilot project and for a State Board-funded investigation of low dissolved oxygen and methyl mercury production in Suisun Marsh managed wetlands. His current regional planning work includes being the technical lead for Governor Schwarzenegger’s Delta Vision Ecosystem Strategic Plan, a science co-lead for the CALFED Delta Restoration Plan, science input for habitat planning as part of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, and Science Advisor for the interagency Suisun Marsh Plan. Dr. Siegel is a certified Professional Wetland Scientist.