Meet the Team

The team of UIC professionals leading the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group are passionate about promoting pollinator habitats and healthy ecosystems along rights-of-way and other energy and transportation lands. Learn more about us below.

Headshot of Iris

Iris Caldwell

Iris began the Working Group in 2015 and leads a variety of projects supporting industry stakeholders in pollinator habitat conservation.

Caroline Hernandez

Caroline keeps the Working Group running smoothly and manages several research and outreach projects to improve habitat on working lands.

Headshot of Klaudia

Klaudia Kuklinska

Klaudia supports the Illinois Monarch Project, Monarch CCAA, Pollinator Scorecard, and both in-person and virtual meeting facilitation.

Megan Petraitis

Megan manages the Monarch CCAA administration and application review process, and supports other Working Group research activities.

Ajay Marampalli

Ajay provides technical support for web tool development and Working Group research activities.

Tegha Obire

Tegha supports the Chicago area-based working group and facilitates outreach and communications.

Ben Karp

Ben Karp

Ben performs data management for various Working Group projects, keeps the news and events pages current, and manages website user requests

Rachit Patel

Rachit supports various aspects of the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group including website management and data input.