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LAKEVIEW, Ore. — The Bureau of Land Management’s Lakeview Field Office has hired three new employees, Dacey Mercer, Michael Collins, and Patrick Zingerella. 

Dacey Mercer started in September as a Wildlife Biologist helping to oversee and implement the Lakeview Field Office wildlife program. Originally from Oregon, Dacey grew up on both the west and east coast and traveled extensively. She earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Warren Wilson College and a graduate degree in wildlife science from Oregon State University. Her federal career began with the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex and has included work as a biologist for USGS-FRESC in Corvallis, Oregon, and USDA-ARS in Newport, Oregon, and as a GIS specialist with the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Lakeview. Dacey has also conducted seasonal fieldwork in Maine, Arizona, Montana, California, Oregon, Washington, and Queensland, Australia. Dacey looks forward to continuing her career with the BLM in Lakeview and exploring more of the area.  

Michael Collins grew up in Georgia and received an Ecology/Zoology degree from the University of Georgia in 1990. He began his federal career as an environmental scientist contractor with the US EPA/Superfund in Atlanta, working on Emergency Response and Site Investigations. After a brief stay in Albuquerque, Mike started his Federal Employee career with the US EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago as a Superfund Project Manager. He moved with his family to Denver in 2003 and continued to work with USEPA as a Field Investigations Manager. Mike worked on several complex cleanup and restoration projects and responded to large-scale response events. Mike has happily relocated to Oregon as a NEPA Planner and is excited to have returned to a natural resources-based position with the BLM.   

Patrick Zingerella grew up in western New York and received a history and anthropology degree from the University of Kentucky. Previous federal work included seasonal archeology roles at Tahoe National Forest in California and Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio. Since 2000, Patrick has conducted archeological fieldwork and reporting in 23 states for private-sector projects, including compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act and California Environmental Quality Act/National Environmental Policy Act. Patrick had worked in Lakeview for previous projects and is happy to be back as an Archeologist. 

“The Lakeview Field Office is excited to have hired three new employees,” said Grace Haskins, Assistant Field Manager. “Our office has had a large vacancy rate in the past three years, and our Wildlife and Archeology positions have been vacant for over a year each. All three of our new employees are bringing new diverse backgrounds to their department and will provide a fresh look to many of our ongoing projects in the Lakeview Field Office. We look forward to them being a part of our team, and we know they will do great things for our program.”