STAFF BIOS & RESUMES
Here is our team at Pacific Paleontology. Each of our team members’ skills, education, abilities, talents, and knowledge makes our firm unique, well-positioned in the local mitigation market, and small enough to pivot quickly for diverse task sets of paleontological environmental solutions that can be adapted to your next public or private CEQA/NEPA/PRPA project.
Wayne A. Thompson, M. Sci. Ed. & Public Administration
Wayne is Qualified Principal Paleontologist and CEO at Pacific Paleontology. Wayne has 48 years experience as a professional paleontologist and paleontological consultant doing field research, publishing, paleontological resource impact assessments and surveys, and is a former U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Paleontologist. He is currently the Cultural Resources Commissioner for the City of Scotts Valley, the Paleontological Collections Advisor for the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences and the U.C. Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. He has experience preparing CEQA and NEPA environmental documentation and mitigation measures such as Paleontological Evaluation Reports, Paleontological Mitigation Plans and Reports and designing and managing environmental compliance monitoring programs. He has experience creating and presenting WEAP Environmental Education programs, and site paleontological supervision and monitoring. Mr. Thompson is a paleontologist with a diverse background in paleontological research and publication, fieldwork, environmental law, museum collections, paleontological mitigation, governance, administration, education, and outreach.
Charles L. Powell, M.S.
Charles is Research Paleontologist at Pacific Paleontology. Charles has been a paleontologist for the past 56 years and has authored and coauthored over 120 publications on California paleontology, stratigraphy, and geology. He is mainly interested in Neogene chronostratigraphy and biogeography of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, specifically the Miocene to Pleistocene marine paleontology and biostratigraphy of California, invertebrate paleontology and biostratigraphy of the Southern California Bight, evolution of the proto-Gulf of California through macro-fossils, stratigraphy and invertebrate paleontology of the Neogene of central California, and molluscan taxonomy (i.e., naming of new species) discovered during his nearly 40 years of working in the field. He has identified five late Quaternary chronostratigraphic zones in southern California using marine molluscan faunas and has made major contributions for to the study of the Purisima Formation in California including correlation of various outcrops in scattered fault-bounded terrains by recognition of distinct molluscan faunas, refined age determination of the Purisima Formation in several of the fault-bounded blocks and correlation of outcrops allowing recognition of fault block and movement on faults.
Karl Heineman, B.A. Geology, U.C.S.C.
Karl is Senior Paleontologist at Pacific Paleontology. Karl has proven many years of expertise in onsite paleontological monitoring and report writing and submission for fulfilling Santa Cruz City and Santa Cruz County paleontological monitoring requirements for development and excavation permit approval. He has experience in working with City and County planners for the successful fulfillment of paleontological monitoring requirements and has great work and people skills for collaborating with developers and excavation crews in onsite development and monitoring. Projects completed include paleontological monitoring for the 1440 Multiversity, 75-acres, paleontological report writing and onsite monitoring of residential development at 4300 Opal Cliffs Drive, monitoring the sea wall footing at of Crest View apartments at Capitola beach, monitoring of the East Cliff Drive Sea Wall and fossil excavation, onsite paleontological monitoring of the private residential development at 3020 Pleasure Point Drive.
Gary Bloom, M.A. Public Administration
Gary is Paleontological Field Supervisor at Pacific Paleontology. He has long been a volunteer in paleontology. He has worked by the side of professional paleontologists in Panama, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and multiple locations in the United States. In collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, he has supported the professional development of science teachers by providing them with field experiences in paleontology. Gary is an author and national consultant focusing upon teacher and school leadership development, coaching and supervision. He is the former Superintendent of Santa Cruz City Schools, SCCS. Prior to joining SCCS, Gary co-founded the New Teacher Center at the University of California Santa Cruz and served as its Associate Director for School Leadership. Prior service has included bilingual K-12 teaching, site and central office administration, and as university faculty.
Kaitlyn Tunick, A.A. Sociology, College of the Canyons
Kaitlyn is the Field and Lab Paleontologist for Pacific Paleontology. Kaitlyn is skilled in Neogene fossil identifications, paleontological field techniques, archival lab preparation, consolidation of fossil artifacts, and micropaleontology. She has coordinated with public museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural history on fossil donations, and often participates in public programming through the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History with Pacific Paleontology. Kaitlyn is also a research intern for the California Killer Whale Project and Monterey Bay Whale Watch, collecting observational data on cetaceans in the bay and is an aspiring wildlife photographer. Kaitlyn is a current student at California State University Monterey Bay, with one year left of her bachelors degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration of Education and Outreach.
Susan Thompson, B.S. Biology
Susan is Pacific Paleontology’s Back Office Manager as well as Field and Lab Paleontologist. Susan has diverse experiences with local Santa Cruz and Monterey Neogene paleontological field reconnaissance, all aspects of fossil lab work, and fossil recognition and identification down to species level. Susan has extensive experience with public museum curation, archival vertebrate and invertebrate specimen collections, and museum cataloguing.
Yuka Oshima, B.S. Geology, U.C. Riverside
Yuka Oshima is a Field and Lab Paleontologist at Pacific Paleontology. Yuka is an emerging professional in paleontology and collections management. She has over 5 years of experience in handling paleontological and geological specimens in museums and other professional settings, as well as in digitizing those specimens. She has great attention to detail that finds problems and discrepancies that may cause bigger problems in the future, as well as an outstanding problem-solving ability to resolve those problems she finds. She has life-long experience using Microsoft Office and Google Drive programs, and has a strong background in specimen identification. Yuka possesses a Bachelor of Science in Geology with a Geobiology concentration, and fluent in Japanese to a native level. Her senior thesis was on the stratigraphy and faunal analysis of a geologic section from Yunnan, China.
Larissa Bueno, Brand Designer
Larissa Bueno is a Graphic Designer with an MBA in Marketing, with over 12 years of experience in the field. She specializes in Branding, Social Media, and Metrics Analysis, helping brands grow and connect with their audiences in an authentic and strategic ways.
She believes in the importance of inclusive and accessible marketing, capable of engaging with different realities and generating a positive impact on society. Her approach combines creativity, data, and empathy to build brand stories that inspire.