Miles Berkey
Phone: 425.305.6728
Email: mberkey45@gmail.com
Miles Berkey is a botanist and bryophyte/lichen specialist with over 15 years of experience in Pacific Northwest plant ecology, floristics, rare species surveys, invasive plant management, and ecological monitoring. His work includes rare bryophyte and lichen inventories for federal land managers, field-based vegetation monitoring, taxonomic determinations, and baseline botanical surveys for conservation and land-management projects.
Cordilleran Ecological Surveys, LLC
Owner / Botanist, Cordilleran Ecological Surveys, LLC | 2024–Present
Provides botanical consulting services specializing in rare and invasive plant, bryophyte, and lichen surveys; taxonomic determinations; floristic inventories; ecological monitoring; and vegetation reporting for federal, state, NGO, and private clients. Work includes pre-project rare species surveys for timber, fuels, restoration, and conservation planning, with emphasis on Pacific Northwest vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens.
Core Expertise
Rare vascular plant, bryophyte, and lichen surveys
Botanical clearances for timber, fuels, restoration, and conservation projects
Bryophyte and lichen taxonomy
Floristic inventories and baseline habitat assessments
Ecological monitoring and experimental plot design
Invasive plant surveys, treatment, and monitoring
NEPA-supporting botanical and lichen surveys
Field data collection, database management, statistical analysis, and technical reporting
Remote backcountry fieldwork and crew leadership
Selected Project Experience
Zion National Park / Zion Forever Foundation, 2026–Present — Conducting the first comprehensive baseline bryophyte checklist for Zion National Park in partnership with the Zion Forever Foundation. Project work includes field-based bryophyte inventory, specimen collection, taxonomic determination, habitat documentation, and development of a park-wide baseline checklist to support future research, conservation, and resource management.
The Nature Conservancy, Ellsworth Preserve — Installed bryophyte and lichen experimental plots, collected field data, and provided statistical analyses to evaluate species recovery following sustainable forestry practices.
North Cascades National Park Complex — Contracted as a learned professional to survey new and historic invasive plant populations within priority burn scars and wetlands.
Medford BLM — Conducted Fritillaria gentneri and other state and federally listed vascular and nonvascular plant surveys in Applegate and Gold Hill Field Office lands.
Roseburg BLM — Conducted Calochortus umquaensis and other listed vascular and nonvascular plant surveys in South River and Swiftwater Field Office lands.
Northwest Oregon BLM — Conducted rare plant and habitat surveys within Cascades Field Office lands, including survey work in controversial timber sale areas with high-value old-growth.
Plumas National Forest — Surveyed for rare plants and habitats near Little Grass Valley Reservoir and Portola, including target vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens.
Willamette National Forest — Surveyed rare habitats, rare plants, and lichens in the McKenzie River District, including target rare liverwort habitat.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest — Surveyed rare habitats, rare plants, and lichens in the Little White Salmon River watershed.
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest — Conducted whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) surveys southeast of Mazama.
Education
Master of Science, Biology - 2025
Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Thesis: The Immensity of Minutiae: Using Bryophytes to Test an Ice Age Refugium Model in the North Cascades
Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science - 2012
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington
Relevant coursework includes environmental statistics, GIS, biogeography, climate change, disturbance ecology, invasive species ecology, landscape ecology, ecosystem management, Pacific Northwest geology, and bryophyte taxonomy and ecology.
Selected Publications and Presentations
Berkey, M. 2025. Bryophyte Diversity in Ice Age Refugia: New Disjunct Records and the First Endemic Species from Vancouver Island. The Bryological Times 161.
Berkey, M. 2024. The immensity of minutiae: utilizing bryophytes to detect an ice age refugium in the North Cascades. The Douglasia 48(2): 3–8.
Presenter, International Botanical Congress, Madrid, Spain, 2024.
Guest Presenter, 1st Cliff Ecology Conference, Yosemite National Park, 2024.
Presenter, Washington Botanical Symposium, 2023.
Featured bryologist in PBS Untold Earth: You Aren’t Paying Enough Attention to Moss:
Featured bryologist in Chris’s Science Videos: One Mans Epic Search for Rare Mosses:
Featured bryologist in the Seattle Times article: “WA’s Big Four Ice Caves could melt away for first time in memory.”
Research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the International Association of Bryologists, Washington Native Plant Society, Mazamas, North Cascades Audubon Society, and Western Washington University’s Fraser Foundation.
