Skip to content

About Us

Who We Are

There are hundreds of biological consulting firms to choose from. Why people choose Monk & Associates is because we are known as problem solvers with integrity. We work in tandem with our clients and the regulatory agencies to find solutions that work for everyone. We do not try to talk our way out of problems or hope they will go away (or be overlooked), we have the knowledge, experience, and expertise to resolve issues to the satisfaction of all parties involved and obtain the permits necessary.  We have tackled, and continue to tackle, projects in the Santa Rosa Plain, the Central Valley, and all nine Bay Area Counties. Monk & Associates has a number of Staff, Project, and Senior Biologists to provide applicants with biological permitting support. Monk & Associates’ lead biologists are listed below.

Sarah M. Lynch

Ms. Lynch, Principal Biologist, has been with Monk & Associates since its inception. Ms. Lynch assists her clients by providing solutions to their project’s potential biological constraints. She prepares permitting packages for submittal to local, state, and federal resource agencies and assists with mitigation negotiation. She is a biologist experienced in the fields of wildlife biology, botany, wetlands ecology and delineation, and threatened and endangered species surveys. Her passion for both wildlife and plants, and her strong education in both technical disciplines, has resulted in developing her expertise in both fields, wildlife and botany, with years of experience working with both. Her technical expertise includes: amphibian and fairy shrimp surveys; rare plant surveys; bird censusing; small mammal trapping; multiparameter wetland assessments; mitigation monitoring; biological constraints analysis and impact analysis pursuant to CEQA. She holds permits to work with several federal and state listed threatened and endangered species.

  • Certified Wildlife Biologist by the Wildlife Society, Washington D.C.
  • Authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an Independent Researcher on a federal 10(a)(1)(A) Recovery Permit to survey for and handle the federally listed California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) (all Distinct Population Segments), vernal pool branchiopods (Branchinecta spps. and Lepidurus packardi), and the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris).
  • Authorized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to survey for and handle the California tiger salamander, foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), and the salt marsh harvest mouse.
  • Authorized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife under a Plant Voucher Collecting Permit to collect voucher specimens of State- listed plant species for accession to an herbarium.

Christina Owens

Ms. Owens, Senior Associate Biologist, has been with Monk & Associates since 2012. A botanist by education and training, Ms. Owens has extensive experience conducting botanical surveys and wetland delineations. She prepares permit application packages for submittal to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CA Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ms. Owens also prepares biological resource analyses, Section 404 and 401 alternative analyses, special-status plant mitigation and monitoring plans, weed management plans, mitigation monitoring plans, and riparian enhancement plans. Ms. Owens has constructed seasonal wetland habitats in a variety of plant communities and has overseen the monitoring of these wetlands until they met their success criteria.