In July 2023, Lynn Zimmerman retired from her role as the director of GBI’s Research Associate program. She started in 2007 after some 25 years of teaching and conducting research on animal physiological ecology. Looking for a more applied focus to here work, she found GBI and connected strongly with the mission. Initially brought on to support training, reporting, and some desert tortoise/habitat projects, her role eventually shifted to overseeing the RA program. In this role, she provided oversight and implementation of many projects conducted through the RA program. She also became directly involved with GBI’s Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program at its inception in 2011.
Over 16 years, Lynn watched GBI grow (and contributed to this growth). “GBI was well established as an effective and nimble environmental nonprofit when I joined the organization in 2007,” she tells us. “We were smaller then – in terms of programming, number of partners and participants, and geographic footprint. Our Reno-based offices and staff were correspondingly lean. We occupied various spaces on the UNR campus, with multiple occupants per room. In one of the offices I shared with two others back then, if two of us happened to back up from our desks at the same time, we collided. Indeed, I was close with my colleagues – especially in our shared dedication to GBI’s mission, particularly the development of young professionals in the environmental field. Since those days, GBI has continued to grow due to the expanding need for our services, the talents of our program participants, and the responsive, can-do staff. My gratitude and best wishes to GBI as the organization continues to flourish during the next quarter century!”
