Meet The Team

Restoration Ecologist & Co-Founder

Mark Mariano

Mark Mariano is a specialist in the fields of native plant revegetation, restoration ecology, and riparian/aquatic ecological monitoring. While attaining his degree in Ecological Restoration from University of Montana, Mark worked on a variety of ecological restoration projects in Western Montana, California, and Nevada. Mark received a master’s degree from Montana Tech with a focus on restoration ecology. While working as an environmental consultant, Mark helped develop a comprehensive, science-based waterfowl monitoring procedure for the Berkeley Pit. His efforts to further waterfowl biology have greatly improved the preparedness and success of the Waterfowl Protection Program and changed our understanding of Butte's location in the Pacific Flyway. Mark has developed a master's project specific to light goose migration, and acts affiliate faculty member at Montana Tech where he advises graduate students on waterfowl specific projects. Mark continues to work within Superfund to benefit waterfowl habitat.

Biologist & Co-Founder 

Bailey Tasker

Bailey Tasker is a born and raised Butte, MT native. She attended Gonzaga University from 2016 to 2019 where she received degrees in Biology, Environmental Studies, and a concentration in Scientific Research. While at Gonzaga, Bailey's research focused on complex stressors on native amphibians in wetland ecosystems. The findings from this work was published in PLoS One, and a second paper is in review for Freshwater Science. Currently, Bailey is a master's student at Montana Tech in the Ecological Restoration Department where she is developing a forecast model for light geese in the Pacific Flyway in collaboration with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. Bailey is an alumni of the Delta Waterfowl Foundation Waterfowl Breeding Ecology Program. 

Biologist

Morgan Byrne

Morgan Byrne was born and raised in Anchorage, AK. She graduated from Gonzaga University
in 2019 and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biology with a Research Concentration as well as
a minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership. For her undergraduate work, Morgan studied the use of
wood duck eggs from nesting boxes as tools for biomonitoring lead from historical mining waste
near the Bunker Hill Superfund site in the Silver Valley of northern Idaho. Morgan is currently
attending the University of Nevada, Reno, pursuing her master’s degree in the Natural Resources
and Environmental Science Department. She is in a quantitative lab and is examining the impact
of mercury from historical mining waste on wood duck population demographics and
implications for human health and water management on the Carson River near Fallon, NV.
Most of Morgan’s work has centered around the impact of mining waste on waterfowl
populations. Morgan attended the Delta Waterfowl Foundation Waterfowl Breeding Ecology
Program in the summer of 2022.