TKPOA AIS Program Staff
Greg Hoover
AIS Management Coordinator
Greg started working for the TKPOA since 2016. He has a graduate certificate in Fish and Wildlife Management and a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Environmental Science and Ecology.
Meghan Hoffmann
AIS Technician
Meghan has been with TKPOA since May 2020. She graduated from Keene State College in 2019 with a B.A. in Biology and Secondary Education. Meghan's research has focused on the population genetics of seagrass and the organismal fitness of zooplankton. Meghan is responsible for West Lagoon projects, Bubble Curtain projects, Lake Tallac projects, WQ administrative work, and the training and scheduling of AIS staff.
Katie Terwilliger
AIS Technician
Katie received a MSc in Coastal & Marine Environments; Physical Processes, Policy & Practice from National University of Ireland, Galway and a B.A in Biology from Sonoma State University. She has also taught environmental education programs abroad. Her studies and experience have focused on how urban environments affect biogeochemical factors in local water bodies. At TKPOA, she is responsible for the LFA and Irrigation projects.
Colleen Hoskins
AIS Technician Intern
Colleen joined the TKPOA team in 2021. She graduated from University of Nevada, Reno in 2017. She has worked on projects including: plant habitat restoration, ecological monitoring, and endangered fish species surveillance. At TKPOA, she will be assisting the AIS technicians with projects in the West Lagoon and Lake Tallac.
Erin Harkins
AIS Technician Intern
Erin joined the TKPOA team in 2021. She graduated from Sonoma State University in 2020. She has a B.A. in Biology with a Zoology concentration. Erin is responsible for executing the Bottom Barrier program this season. Additionally, she will assist the AIS technicians with the West Lagoon and Lake Tallac projects.
The Importance of AIS Program
Aquatic Invasive Plants are a Widespread Problem
Around the Country
USGS Map of Aquatic Invasive Plants, 2018
Aquatic invasive plants are a challenge for numerous bodies of water around the country, costing billions of dollars each year, according the the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Click here to see how other areas around the west are handling the challenge.
Around Lake Tahoe
Tahoe Keys Weeds
Aquatic invasive plants affect all marinas and numerous shallow, warm areas around Lake Tahoe and continue to spread, constituting the most immediate threat to Lake Tahoe, according to the University of Nevada, Reno's 2015 Implementation Plan for the Control of Aquatic Invasive Species within Lake Tahoe. Curlyleaf pondweed, able to grow in deeper, colder waters, has begun to spread more rapidly than Eurasian watermilfoil.
In the Tahoe Keys
Tahoe Keys Hydroacoustic scan 8/5/2020
More than 95 percent of the Tahoe Keys' 172-acre lagoons are infested with aquatic invasive plants. Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association has both aggressively managed these plants with available methods and proactively sought long-term solutions to bring the infestation under control once and for all.
