Welcome back to Seeds for Change: An Institute for Applied Ecology podcast! After taking a break during the height of our summer field season, we're back with a new episode this month (Episode 4) featuring the voices and perspectives of our Ecological Education team. Ecological Education is a vital part of IAE's mission to conserve native habitats and save ecosystems.

Our Ecological Education ('EE') Program is unique in that it is dedicated to improving the lives of incarcerated adults through education and conservation. That means a lot of our EE work is done in a prison setting. Since the program began in 2014, our conservation work in prisons has grow to include 14 prisons across Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

This episode of Seeds for Change is also unique: featuring the voices of six IAE staff members who work to strengthen and grow our ecological education program every day. We will also hear from Program Director Karen Hall on one of our biggest conservation projects within the EE program: the Sagebrush in Prisons Project.

We hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you for tuning in!

Music is provided by Scott Holmes under a free Creative Commons License: ⁠⁠https://scottholmesmusic.com/⁠

Welcome to the third episode of Seeds for Change. In today’s episode, we interview Melanie Gisler, Southwest Branch Director with the Institute for Applied Ecology.

Melanie has been with IAE since 2002 and has had a number of roles including Habitat Restoration Program Director, restoration ecologist, and seed program manager. In 2002 she helped launch the Native Seed Network and a regional native seed accession program.

Since then, she has focused on expanding the scope of native plant materials programs, building collaborative projects with conservation partners, farmers, and tribes, and implementing large scale habitat restoration and recovery projects for rare plants and butterflies. She now builds collaborations with conservation partners in New Mexico.

Melanie Gisler received her M.Sc. in Botany from the University of British Columbia (1997) and a B.A. in Biology from the University of New Mexico (1992). Prior to joining IAE she worked for a several public agencies including the Bureau of Land Management West Eugene Wetlands Program, Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Natural Resources Conservation Service Los Lunas Plant Materials Center, and the Austin Texas Zilker Botanical Garden. When not at work, Melanie enjoys exploring the fantastic biology, geology, and cultures of New Mexico on foot, bike, or skis with her family.

Welcome to the second episode of Seeds for Change, a podcast by the Institute for Applied Ecology! In today’s episode, we interview Sara Alaica, a Restoration Ecologist with IAE doing incredible work restoring native prairie and oak woodland ecosystems here in Oregon.

Sara Alaica is a Restoration Ecologist in IAE’s Habitat Restoration Program, where she writes, coordinates, and implements natural resource plans to restore native Oregon habitat. She studied ecology at Columbia University, then obtained her M.Sc. in Restoration Ecology from Simon Fraser University, with a focus in botany. Sara’s restoration work has spanned the country: from restoring oyster beds in New York and high-altitude wetlands in New Mexico, to restoring tallgrass prairie in the Great Plains and bog wetlands in the Pacific Northwest.

---

Up next, Seeds for Change is taking you on a trip 1,300 miles away to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the third episode, we will hear from Melanie Gisler, the Director of the Southwest Branch of the Institute for Applied Ecology based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. So, if you’re up for the trip, be sure to stick around and we’ll meet back here next month. Thanks for listening!

Music is provided by Scott Holmes under a free Creative Commons License: ⁠https://scottholmesmusic.com/