Introducing our 2026-2027 High-Elevation, Five-Needle White Pines Science and Management Webinar hosts

The “High-Elevation, Five-Needle White Pines: Science and Management Webinar Series” by the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation provides a platform for sharing scientific findings and management insights about high-elevation pines in the U.S. and Canada. Recordings of all sessions are available on our YouTube channel. The webinar series is made possible by WPEF board member Cara Nelson with a team of graduate student researchers and professionals. This year – we welcome three new webinar team members. Thanks to Mike Mahoney, Marissa Ng, and Jeremy Greenberg for their willingness to help coordinate the webinar! As the start of the 2026 – 2027 webinar series approaches, take a moment to learn more about this year’s webinar team!

Mike Mahoney is a second-year PhD student in Dr. Hugh Safford’s Vegetation and Fire Ecology Lab at the University of California, Davis. There, he is conducting research at the intersection of avian ecology, fire ecology, and forest management. Mike’s research currently focuses on Clark’s Nutcracker ecology in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and how birds’ seed dispersal patterns may shape forest composition. He is interested in asking questions about the bird’s role in moving Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), a mid-elevation conifer, into the subalpine and the bird’s relationship with post-fire habitat. He graduated from Tulane University with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2017 and spent the following eight years working in various capacities in avian conservation. Mike’s research aims to align land management and avian conservation outcomes. When he’s not in the field chasing birds for work, he can be found chasing birds for fun. You can connect with Mike on Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Marissa Ng is a master’s student at Montana State University in Dr. Brian Smithers’ lab. Her research examines twenty-five years of whitebark pine restoration efforts in Glacier National Park, of which she has been a part of for the past six seasons as a botanist on the vegetation monitoring crew. By analyzing factors influencing outplanted whitebark seedling survival and growth, Marissa hopes to provide data-informed guidance to maximize the success of future plantings. She is excited about recent collaboration with Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks where Glacier’s seedling monitoring protocol was implemented and aims to develop additional partnerships in the future to continue this work across the range of whitebark pine. In her free time, Marissa enjoys skiing, packrafting, and looking at plants in the alpine.

Jeremy Greenberg recently completed his Master of Science in Forestry at the University of British Columbia studying the effects of fire and thinning treatments on whitebark pine. He has worked with Parks Canada for the past fourteen years, with a recent focus on whitebark pine conservation in Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. Since 2023, he has also served on the board of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada.