steve alsup • President
Steve is a raptor biologist and a co-founder of the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership. Steve was drawn to Southwest Idaho in 2003, when he was hired to help conduct raptor surveys down in the Snake River Canyon. This experience inspired him to pursue a career in raptor biology, and he began a graduate program at Boise State University a few years later - the only graduate program in the country in raptor biology. In 2015, when a coalition of partner groups came together to form the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership, Steve stepped up to take the lead in the establishment of this new organization focused on supporting the management and conservation of this unique NCA through science, education, outreach and partnerships. In addition to working with the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership, Steve is also a Research Associate with the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University.
salsup@birdsofpreyncapartnership.org
Matthew Podolsky • Treasurer
Matthew is the co-founder of the non-profit media organization, the Wild Lens Collective, and a documentary filmmaker with 10 years of experience producing and directing films focused on environmental issues. He is the co-director of the feature length documentary Sea of Shadows, which won the audience award at Sundance Film Festival in 2019.
Matthew is also the founder of the award-winning Eyes on Conservation Podcast, a bi-weekly interview series that is one of the longest running podcasts focused on environmental topics, and he is a producer and host for Common Land. He has served of the board of the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership since its inception.
mpodolsky@birdsofpreyncapartnership.org
Robin Zimmermann — Board Member
Robin is a multimedia marketing and communications strategist, with over 15 years of cause-driven leadership and consultancy. She has provided thought leadership, marketing, communications, media creation and promotions for diverse clients and organizations nationwide. Her multimedia work has aired on Showtime, 20th Century Fox, Netflix, and iTunes, and she was honored with a fellowship by Sundance Institute for her contributions to documentary film music. A passionate storyteller raised from an early age by naturalist parents, Robin has dedicated her life’s work toward promoting measures for globally beneficial good, including environmental stewardship, sustainability drivers, and elevating underserved voices. An avid traveler based in Seattle, you can often find her off the beaten path in pursuit of life’s wonders and mysteries.
robin@birdsofpreyncapartnership.org
Leah Dunn • Vice President
Leah is the Vice President of the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership. She is a spatial ecologist and data scientist with more than 15 years of avian ecology experience working with various non-profits, State, Federal, and International agencies.
She is also a volunteer for many conservation non-profits throughout Idaho. Leah’s work on bird conservation strategies has provided her with opportunities ranging from the Arctic Circle to the Baja Peninsula and have encompassed several species, many partners and logistics.
ldunn@birdsofpreyncapartnership.org
Jenna whitlock • board Member at Large
Retired from the Bureau of Land Management, Jenna Whitlock was born in Idaho and raised in the West. Jenna studied Range Science at Utah State University and began working for the BLM in Elko Nevada as a Rangeland Management Specialist. Most of her 35-year career was spent in the Great Basin – Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. Jenna also worked in Washington DC at the BLM’s headquarters, in the Senate as a Legislative Fellow and in the Department of the Interior, Office of the Assistant Secretary – Land and Minerals Management.
In 2012, Jenna Whitlock returned to the West, working in Utah as the Associate State Director and then as the interim Utah State Director for nearly two years. In that capacity, she oversaw 23 million acres of public land, including the BLM’s first national monument –the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Jenna capped her career by acting as the BLM’s Deputy Director, overseeing management of over 245 million acres of public land in the West and one-third of the nation’s subsurface mineral estate.