Board & Staff
About Our Board
Our all-volunteer Board of Directors meets four times a year. We set direction for the organization, conduct research, raise funds, lead and assist with wildlife relocations, provide public and school education programs, conduct community outreach, participate in public decision-making processes that affect wildlife, and, until staff is hired, conduct all administrative work for the organization.
It is our policy to seek consensus, and to build cooperative relationships. It is our goal to pursue our mission in a manner that promotes a sense of community. We believe that greater good may be accomplished by a respectful approach to issues.
Ruthanne Penn
Ruthanne Penn - Bio & Pic coming soon
Brenda Smith
Treasurer - Bio and Pic coming soon!
Dr. Erika Nowak
Secretary - Erika is currently an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Earth and Sustainability and the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, and is the owner of Erika M. Nowak Herpetological Consulting. She earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Cornell University (1991), and a MS in Biology (1998) and a PhD in Biology (2009) from Northern Arizona University. Erika’s current research interests are in ecology, behavior, conservation, and science-based management of herpetofauna, particularly federally threatened gartersnakes and venomous reptiles. Her internationally-recognized conservation work with rattlesnakes and gartersnakes was profiled in the 2018 book American Snakes. Erika is passionate about using the results of scientific research to teach people to live in harmony with venomous predators and other wildlife. Her rattlesnake ecology and safe handling trainings for state, federal, and local agencies and private groups encourage humane handling and management of venomous snakes.
Emily Renn
Emily (Nelson) Renn is the Executive Director for the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, a non-profit organization working to return wolves to their historic range in the Grand Canyon region. She completed her M.S. degree at Northern Arizona University in Biology with a focus on wildlife conservation biology, and B.S. in Biology with emphasis in Fish and Wildlife Management. Her graduate research focused on the survival success of translocated Gunnison's prairie dogs in the Flagstaff area, and she continues to coordinate prairie dog translocations for colonies threatened by development or destruction with Habitat Harmony. Over the past 14 years, Emily has worked as a field biological technician, researcher, and environmental educator with many species of mammals and birds in northern Arizona. She started as a volunteer with Habitat Harmony, Inc. in 2003 during the Flagstaff Mall's expansion site prairie dog relocation. Emily strongly supports Habitat Harmony's role in being an advocate and providing a voice to the "under dogs" of our wildlife neighbors.
Tyler Roberts
Tyler Roberts is originally from Illinois and earned his BS in Biology from the University of Oregon in 2010. Since then he has worked as a technician, researcher, and biologist on a variety of research projects, from Australia to Alaska. While living in Colorado, Tyler gained valuable experience studying and translocating black-tailed prairie dogs with the Prairie Dog Coalition and Colorado State University. He is currently working towards his MS degree in Biology, with an emphasis on ecology, evolution, and conservation biology at NAU. His research focuses on intraspecific variation in plant traits and their relationships to herbivory within the context of environmental restoration and climate change.
Join the Board!
Habitat Harmony, Inc. is looking for individuals who would like to serve on our Board of Directors. Habitat Harmony is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation founded upon the recognition of the inherent value of the natural world. Our mission is to assist humans to live in harmony with wildlife. Learn more about our programs.
This goal is reflected in the following activity areas: education; public policy advocacy; habitat improvement and preservation; and relocation and alternative care for displaced wildlife. Our focus has been the prairie ecosystem of northern Arizona, with much of our resources devoted to protecting prairie dogs.
Our all-volunteer Board of Directors meets four times annually. We set direction for the organization, conduct research, raise funds, lead and assist with wildlife relocations, provide public and school education programs, conduct community outreach, participate in public decision-making processes that affect wildlife, and, until staff is hired, conduct all administrative work for the organization.
