Board Members
Lauren Augustine
Lauren grew up in Pennsylvania and has followed her passion for reptiles and amphibians all over the world. She has a masters degree in conservation science and policy from George Mason University and has worked in zoo herpetology for nearly 15 years. In early 2011 Lauren initiated the Chopsticks For Salamanders (CFS) program as a conservation movement to save salamanders. Today CFS has officially become a stand-alone organization, FCSal, raising thousands of dollars for salamander conservation each year.
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Julia Geschke
Julia grew up in northeast Ohio and received a B.S. in wildlife ecology and management from the University of Maryland, followed by a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University. While in grad school, she completed her master's project on habitat and population connectivity of salamander species in central NC. Currently, she works for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on Minnesota's State Wildlife Action Plan.
Jasper Leavitt
Jasper graduated from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Music in 2015, where his love for amphibians was first ignited. After taking a brief hiatus working in fisheries science in Massachusetts, he returned to salamander research for his Master's at Trent University in Ontario. Since getting his Ph.D. in aquatic community ecology at East Carolina University, he is now a Visiting Assistant Professor at Luther College in Iowa.
Brenda Cervantes
Brenda grew up in California and received her B.S. in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy with a concentration in Ecology from California State University of Monterey Bay. While in school, she assisted researchers in studying California Tiger Salamanders and has traveled and assisted a biological reserve in South America for a broad array of research in ecology. Soon after graduating, Brenda worked as a monitoring biologist and technical writer for special status species in California.
Caley Johnson
Caley grew up in Michigan, where her passion for reptile and amphibian conservation began with flipping logs to look for salamanders. After working for several years as a Licensed Veterinary Technician, she decided to follow this passion for conservation and received a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Grand Valley State University. She loves working with threatened and endangered species and has previously worked on research projects with Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes, Blanding's turtles, and American marten. Caley is currently an M.Sc. student at Grand Valley State University researching spatial ecology and habitat selection of spotted turtles in Northern Michigan.
Ty Tobias
Ty split their childhood between Mississippi and Georgia before moving to Michigan, where they received their B.S. in Environmental Studies with minors in Biology and Philosophy. During their undergrad at Central Michigan University, they conducted research on the behavioral ecology of red-backed salamanders and the laterale-jeffersonianum complex. They have also spent time working at multiple natural history museums and zoological institutions. In addition to their work with FCSal, Ty is currently an M.S. student at Clemson University, where they are studying how land-use legacies influence herpetofauna communities in coastal South Carolina.
Torsten Watkins
Torsten has been enamoured by salamanders ever since his childhood growing up in central Washington. This fascination for them and other herpetofauna has led him to help with various opportunities educating his local community and aiding others research. Along with this, he is involved with his own research, studying the phylogeography of Northwestern Salamanders (Ambystoma gracile) in the Olympic Mountains. He is currently a freshman at Central Washington University working to get a B.S in Biology with a specialization in ecology and evolution.
Bailee Augustino
Bailee grew up in Tennessee and received her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Tennessee where she studied salamander diversity and disease. After moving to Georgia to teach Environmental Education, she worked with Florida Fish and Wildlife headstarting flatwood salamanders to the Apalachicola National Forest. She received her Master’s degree in Zoology from Oklahoma State University studying frog reproduction dynamics and then worked with Colorado Parks and Wildlife studying Boreal toad activity in the mountains.