Ever read an issue of Ecesis or been to a SERCAL conference with a whole group of students in tow? There’s a good chance you’ve encountered Yamina Pressler.
Yamina has become a familiar face in the SERCAL community since she first joined us at the 2023 Davis conference. As an Assistant Professor of Soil Science and Restoration Ecology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she has a knack for bringing the Next Generation of restoration practitioners along with her.
In 2024, Yamina brought almost an entire class of students to the SERCAL conference in Redlands. And she did it again this year in Fortuna for Adaptive by Nature. Yamina also coordinated the poster session at the conference, creating space for restoration practitioners and students to share their work.
You may also recognize Yamina from the pages of Ecesis. She served as Managing Editor for the Winter edition and continued in that role for the Summer 2026 issue. Her work helps bring together the ideas, stories, and perspectives that make Ecesis a valuable resource for the restoration community.
When she's not teaching, working on Ecesis, or bringing students to SERCAL, Yamina can often be found birding along the Pacific coast. Western Snowy Plovers are among her favorites, so if you see someone happily scanning the shoreline with binoculars, you might have found her.
Yamina hopes to see continued investment in conservation and restoration that recognizes the connections between ecosystems and people. And judging by the students she's already bringing into this community, she's helping build that future herself.
We're lucky to have her with us.
