Project Staff

Carla Cicero – Principal Investigator
ccicero@berkeley.edu
https://sites.google.com/site/carlacic/home

Carla Cicero recording Sage Sparrows (Artemisiospiza belli) near Mono Lake, California, in June 2012.

As the Staff Curator of Birds, Carla is primarily responsible for managing the MVZ bird and sound collections. However, she is also co-PI on the archival CLIR grant and has been co-managing the archives with Michelle Koo for the past few years. In addition, she manages the museum’s collection management information system Arctos, and is the lead PI on VertNet. Carla’s research program focuses on understanding evolutionary patterns and processes of genetic, morphologic, and vocal differentiation in birds of western North America.

Carla earned both her B.S. (1981) and Ph.D (1993) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michelle S. Koo – Principal Investigator
mkoo@berkeley.edu

Michelle is the Biodiversity Informatics & GIS Staff Curator at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), University of California at Berkeley. She manages the Informatics Lab at MVZ, the MVZ Archives and the collections database with other staff curators, while collaborating on several informatics projects such as VertNet, AmphibiaWeb, and the Keck Informatic Engine through the Berkeley Initiative on Global Change Biology. Her current research includes mapping endemism hotspots and regions of rapid evolutionary diversification in terrestrial vertebrates of California, and applying spatial analysis to understanding the biogeography, ecological niche and phylogeography of vertebrates.

Christina V. Fidler – Museum Archivist
cfidler@berkeley.edu

Christina Fidler in front of a cabinet of MVZ bound field notes.

Christina is the archivist for the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology’s (MVZ) CLIR grant, The Hidden Collections Project. She manages the cataloging, processing, preservation, and organization of the museum’s archival collections. Her interests are in linking archival resources and description with related museum collections. Christina previously worked at the California Academy of Sciences as the Digital Projects Coordinator and as the Project Manager for the Academy Library’s IMLS Grant, Connecting Content.

Christina received her M.L.I.S. from San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science. She completed her B.A. in English at Humboldt State University.

Kira L. Dodd – Archival Project Coordinator
kdodd@berkeley.edu

First introduced to the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) as an undergraduate working on archival digitization projects, Kira is now the project coordinator for the MVZ Archives’ CLIR grant. In addition to assisting the Museum Archivist in the management of the MVZ’s archival collections, she also oversees archival digitization activities and manages student volunteers from the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP).

Kira earned her B.A. in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010 and is currently working towards an M.A. in Public History at California State University, Sacramento.

Greg Borman – Museum Scientist Assistant
gborman@berkeley.edu

As the Assistant for the MVZ Archives, Greg’s primary role involves making field notes, correspondence, annotated maps, and related materials more accessible to researchers. He is responsible for creating and enhancing finding aids for MVZ Archives collections that are uploaded onto the Online Archive of California’s (OAC) website. Greg is also involved with preservation and storage issues.

Prior to arriving at the MVZ Archives, Greg worked with cataloging/metadata projects at several institutions. He also volunteered with the California Academy of Sciences, organizing and describing archival materials at the former Howard St. location. Greg received his M.L.I.S. from San Jose State University in 2009.