Paola Bernazzani is a conservation biologist and planner. As a project manager, she has overseen numerous environmental and research projects both domestically and internationally. Bernazzani has published on participant perspectives of HCPs and is co-writing a book on the practical applications of endangered species law. She is also investigating the role of climate change in HCP development and implementation.

Leo Lentsch has more than 30 years of experience working on a large variety of extremely complex and controversial ESA compliance (Sections 7 and 10 of ESA) projects. He has served on several species recovery teams as well as written multiple species recovery plans (Section 4). Additionally, Lentsch was the Section 6 program coordinator for the state of Utah for more than eight years. He was also responsible for obtaining Section 10 permits for scientific sampling, and has experience with USFWS law enforcement actions under Section 9 of ESA.