Team and Mission

Dr. de la Rosa brings wide-ranging experience in nonprofit conservation leadership, research, and practice to his role as President and CEO of CPC where he oversees CPC National Office operations and staff to further our mission to prevent the extinction of rare plant species. Dr. de la Rosa has over 30 years of experience in research, professional and community education, and conservation leadership including work in the United States, Central and South America, and southern Africa. Linking these experiences is Dr. de la Rosa’s extensive involvement in and commitment to the protection of biodiversity by establishing sustainable ecosystems through rare and endangered plant and animal conservation and habitat restoration, and working with communities and governments to improve natural resources management systems.

Dr. Heineman is dedicated to improving access to biological data for conservation research and promoting synthetic research among botanical institutions. Her research applies of data science to plant collections records to develop smarter strategies for collections prioritization and to uncover patterns in rare plant storage behavior in seed banks. She is the project manager of CPC Rare Plant Academy, an online platform that integrates CPC’s Best Practice guidelines with videos and online discourse. She also develops and maintains the web databases for the CPC National Collection and California Plant Rescue seed collections initiative.

Shannon Fowler serves as project manager for the Applied Plant Conservation online course, in addition to supporting web-based educational communications on the Rare Plant Academy. Shannon also oversees all marketing and communications initiatives and serves as the managing editor of CPC’s monthly newsletter. Shannon brings to the team over ten years of experience in the museum industry, and a passion for blending mission-driven content with storytelling to engage, promote, and garner support.

Tina Stanley is a recent graduate from Princeton University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. As Conservation Program Associate, she assists with database management for the CPC National Collection and California Plant Rescue seed collection initiative, in addition to aiding research projects and data analysis. Tina also assists in the development of the online Applied Plant Conservation course and supports CPC’s marketing and communication efforts by developing content for monthly newsletters and social media platforms. She is passionate about accessible scientific resources, outreach, and education, and hopes to expand her knowledge in plant conservation and research.

As the Administrative Specialist, Matora Fiorey supports plant conservation on the business side of the organization. She supports day-to-day operations, the CPC Board of Trustees and the national conference. Matora brings a unique background of over 15 years of experience as an administrator of a small nonprofit charter school and an organic chemistry background. She is dedicated to meaningful organizations and thrives when giving back to the community.

Joe Davitt has five years of conservation botany expertise as research associate in the San Diego Zoo Native Plant Seed Bank. For CPC, Joe draws upon the conservation experience of his “day job” to create storyboards & edit content for the instructional videos that populate CPC’s IMLS funded learning platform CPC Rare Plant Academy