Rebecca Vitale Mandich Member, Board of Directors Tricia joined WildEarth Guardians as the Rio Grande Campaigner in 2021. She worked for nearly four years on salmon recovery as the Lead Entity Coordinator for the Yakima Basin in central Washington, bringing together a diverse group of interests and perspectives. Her thesis, which conducted an adaptive capacity assessment of the Upper Klamath Basin, utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University. In 2015, Tricia moved to Washington state to pursue a graduate degree, receiving an M.S. She spent 5 years working with the Southwest Environmental Center working to protect and restore the wildlife and wild places of the Southwest borderlands, particularly focused on the recovery of the Mexican gray wolf. Her research while there centered on water management across borders.

in Geography with a focus on human-environment connection from New Mexico State University. Growing up on the banks of the (often dry) Rio Grande and the water scarcity of the Southwest sparked a life-long interest in finding solutions for water conflicts in the arid and semi-arid American West. Tricia, as a child of military parents, spent much of her childhood moving frequently in the U.S.

Sage grouse