Arren Mendezona Allegretti

Senior Project Manager | Staff Ecologist

Arren is an interdisciplinary ecologist and educator experienced in natural resource management in California, Colorado, Florida, Belize, Costa Rica, Mongolia, and the Philippines.

At Live Oak Associates, Arren surveys sites for special status plants, animals, wetlands, and habitats protected under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA), and Clean Water Act (CWA). She also prepares CEQA and NEPA documents as well as constraints analyses reports that identify biological resources that pose constraints to development, and mitigation strategies necessary to avoid impacts on biological resources.

Arren’s diverse experiences in social-ecological research, collaborative conservation, and vegetation ecology allows her to examine natural resource issues from different perspectives. Her PhD engaged a team of interdisciplinary scientists, local governments, and Mongolian herders as they examined climate change impacts on Mongolian rangelands.

Arren has engaged fisherfolks and Philippine local governments in examining marine protected areas and public support for marine fishery policies. Arren believes that working with different stakeholders, including developers and building stakeholder trust is critical for achieving sound environmental decisions.

  • • Ph.D. Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2015

    • M.S. Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Fort Colins, CO, 2010

    • B.S. Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 2004

  • Social-ecological systems, environmental policy (CEQA, NEPA, FESA, CESA), regulatory permitting, biological resource evaluations, jurisdictional waters delineation, special status plant surveys, natural resource conflict management and facilitation, human dimensions of natural resources, ethnoecology, GIS, environmental communication, and coastal resource management.

  • • Live Oak Associates, Inc., San Jose, California, 2006-2008, 2020- present

    • Post-doctoral Research Consultant, Woods Institute for the Environment and Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, 2018-2019

    • Adjunct Professor, Environmental Studies, Santa Clara University, California, 2016-2018

    • Fellows Trainer and Undergraduate Coordinator, Center for Collaborative Conservation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2013-2016

    • Doctoral Research Fellow, Mongolian Rangelands and Resilience Project, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2011-2015

    • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2010-2014

    • Master’s Research Fellow, Center for Collaborative Conservation, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2008-2010

    • Soils Analyst, Wyoming Lands Conservation Initiative, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2008-2009

    • Vegetation Data Research Assistant, Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado,2008-2009

    • Conservation Practitioner, Dye Creek Preserve, The Nature Conservancy, Los Molinos, California, 2006

    • Project Leader in Community Development and Conservation, International Student Volunteers, Costa Rica, 2005

    • Sierra Foothills Vegetation Assistant, California Native Plant Society (CNPS), Sacramento, California, 2005

    • Marine Protected Area Tour Coordinator and Volunteer, Coastal Conservation Education Foundation, Cebu, Philippines, 2004

    • Vegetation Mapper, Pinnacles National Park, National Park Service, Paicines, California, 2004

    • UC Campus Reserve Outreach Coordinator, Chancellors Undergraduate Intern Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2003-2004

    • Docent Coordinator, Sierra College Nature Trail and Natural History Museum, Rocklin, CA 2000-2002

  • • Ecological Site Descriptions (ESD) and State and Transition Model (STM) Technical Workshop, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, 2012

    • Poaceae (Grass Family), Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley, 2008 • Arid West Supplement, Wetland Training Institute, 2007

    • Wetland Delineation Training Course, Wetlands Training Institute, 2006 • Wildfire Ecology and Introduction to Wildfire Behavior, The Nature Conservancy, 2006 • Relevé and Rapid Assessment Survey Methods, California Native Plant Society, 2006

  • I enjoy trail running, swimming, and photography, especially underwater and macrophotography. I also enjoy climbing trees and learning about plants, wildlife, and fossils with my two children Antonio (5) and Anita (3).

“I very much enjoy being in the field and learning about the intricacies of the vegetation wildlife, and local people that inhabit and have distinctive relationships with the ecosystems of a particular area or property. I also enjoy working with Live Oak staff and their fun personalities as well as diverse experiences.”
— Arren