PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES:

Heather Barrett, Director of Science Communication at Sea Otter Savvy

Heather Barrett is the Director of Science Communication at Sea Otter Savvy and a sea otter biologist with more than 12 years of experience in sea otter research, conservation, and outreach. Her work focuses on translating science into meaningful community engagement and stewardship, building partnerships that support coexistence between people and sea otters, and engaging coastal communities in conversations around sea otter recovery. She also leads Sea Otter Savvy’s outreach and engagement efforts in Northern California, connecting science, local perspectives, and community priorities as conversations about the future of sea otter recovery continue.

Shervin Hess, Conservation Manager at the Oregon Zoo

As the Oregon Zoo’s Conservation Manager, Shervin helps restore wildlife populations from salamanders in Crater Lake to elephants in Borneo. Working with Tribes, agencies and nonprofits, he supports species recovery, global partnerships and conservation policy, while engaging communities through storytelling and action. An Iranian-American, he has also contributed to conservation efforts in his motherland.

Kayla Fratt, Co-Founder of K9 Conservationists

Kayla Fratt is a PhD student at Oregon State University and the co-founder of K9 Conservationists. She has been training and handling conservation detection dogs since 2019. Alongside dogs Barley, Skipper, Niffler, Tooma, and Victoria she has spent 3 years collecting nearly 3,000 wolf scat samples to track wolf diet and movement.

Ellen Dymit, PhD candidate in Wildlife Sciences at Oregon State University

Ellen Dymit is a PhD candidate in Wildlife Sciences at Oregon State University, where her research focuses on coastal carnivore foraging and population ecology. She has led projects across four Gulf of Alaska national parks—Katmai, Lake Clark, Kenai Fjords, and Glacier Bay—and is now developing non-invasive molecular genetic tools to study wild sea otters in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Lily Maynard, Vice President of Conservation Impact at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Lily Maynard, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Conservation Impact at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, an active partner of the Elakha Alliance. Spending years in zoos, including working as a conservation manager at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, instilled her passion for wildlife. Lily received her B.A. in Biology from Smith College and completed her master’s in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and doctorate in Interdisciplinary Ecology at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on collaborative conservation, behavior change, and strategic impact for wildlife. She has worked in Africa, Asia, and the Americas on community-driven projects. She strives to follow communities’ lead by asking what support or resources they need and facilitating improvement for their livelihoods in tandem with conservation to help wildlife and people thrive together.

Jacob Sandler, Wildlife Services Coordinator and Certified Wildlife Control Operator

Jake received his Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on Natural History and Conservation from U.C. Santa Cruz, inspired by a childhood spent exploring the redwood forests, mountains, and shorelines of Northern California. After leaving California he spent a few years living and working in Alaska, finally settling in Bend in 2017. He joined Think Wild as the Wildlife Services Coordinator in November of 2023 and is thrilled about the unique opportunity to help facilitate wildlife conflict mitigation and habitat management with his local community and neighbors. In his free time Jake can be found mountain biking, skiing, playing guitar and relaxing by any of Central Oregon’s stunning lakes or rivers with his wife and two dogs.

Gabriel Jurado, Hoffman Coexistence Science fellow with the Elakha Alliance and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Gabriel Jurado is in his final year at Oregon State University studying oceanography and biological data sciences and is a Hoffman Coexistence Science fellow with the Elakha Alliance and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. He is interested in sea otter reintroduction and helping tribal communities restore historical and cultural connections to sea otters. By using both his traditional knowledge and western knowledge, he hopes to bring a different perspective in natural resource restoration in his tribe.

2026 Elakha Alliance Science Symposium

Coexisting with Wildlife: Conservation in a Shared Landscape