Mike is an environmental professional with broad experience in CEQA/NEPA, Natural Resources and Ecological Restoration disciplines, specializing in project management, permitting, and habitat restoration field crew development and supervision. He is an experienced team leader with demonstrated ability to plan, manage and implement complex projects; identify potential risks; and develop innovative solutions. Effective at team collaboration and building/maintaining key client relationships, agency partnerships and habitat restoration field crew workflows.
His technical expertise includes the full range of environmental planning and compliance, natural resources and biological services, regulatory permitting, construction-related and long-term horticultural monitoring, ecological restoration practices, reporting, proposal and grant writing/budgeting, public hearings, community meetings, and personnel training/mentoring.
As Restoration Ecologist for the non-profit SD Canyonlands, Mr. Gonzales coordinated with the City of San Diego MSCP Manager to develop a novel workflow streamlining process involving the use of battery-powered equipment during the bird nesting season to allow for unhindered work within the City's urban canyons especially in under-served communities. City approval of this program involved noise measurements during a battery-powered chainsaw operation showing that the 60 dBA Leq noise threshold was not exceeded.
A hallmark project for Mr. Gonzales as a Senior Biologist in the consulting sector, he managed a multi-disciplinary team to implement a vernal pool restoration to mitigate for construction of the San Ysidro School District’s new Vista Del Mar Elementary School and Del Sol Boulevard Extension Project in Otay Mesa. This project achieved regulatory agency signoff, in that 100% of the 32 restored vernal pools contained self-sustaining populations of the endangered San Diego fairy shrimp (Branchinecta sandiegonensis), far surpassing the target performance criteria.
As Environmental Review Coordinator (Senior Planner) for the City of San Diego Water Department Capital Improvements Program (CIP), Mr. Gonzales created and managed an environmental compliance section. Key roles involved hiring and supervising staff; procuring, managing contracts for, and peer-reviewing the work of as-needed consultants; and establishing a novel work-around arrangement involving the installation of dedicated CIP staff to expedite environmental compliance processing for CIP projects in the Development Services Department.
