Projects
Representative work.
Projects on which Kim Cornelisse served as wildlife biologist, special-status species preparer, author or project manager. Involvement is documented in public environmental records, Environmental Impact Statements and Biological Assessments.
Transportation
US Highway 160 Final EIS, Durango to Bayfield
Primary URS wildlife biologist. Co-authored the Biological Assessment and Biological Evaluation, consulted on impact mitigation for BLM sensitive species, coordinated with Colorado Parks and Wildlife on roadkill data, and recommended the locations and types of wildlife crossings. The roadkill and winter-migration data compiled for this study helped catalyze the wildlife underpasses and high-tensile fencing now in place along US 160.
US Highway 550 Corridor Improvements EA
Primary wildlife biologist and point of contact. Prepared biological evaluations from the New Mexico state line north to County Road 220 and recommended wildlife-crossing placement and type.
US 36 Corridor / FasTracks Final EIS
Contributed foundational multi-agency data development and authored the Wildlife and Threatened and Endangered Species sections of the EIS and the Biological Resources Technical Report for the US 36 multimodal transit improvements.
120th Avenue Extension Environmental Assessment
Conducted species assessments, led prairie dog relocation, and contributed to the Environmental Assessment.
Water
Moffat Collection System Project EIS
Wildlife and endangered-species studies, regulatory environmental reviews and inter-agency coordination among Denver Water, URS and USFWS for the Gross Reservoir expansion and related collection-system alternatives.
Rueter-Hess Reservoir Final Supplemental EIS
Biological resource lead. Evaluated how the reservoir's expanded high-water line would alter local habitats, including big-game winter range and protected migratory birds south of metro Denver. These data were later cross-referenced in the Moffat Collection System EIS cumulative-impacts analysis.
Southern Delivery System Draft EIS
Field data collection on wildlife and sensitive habitats along planned pipeline routes; evaluation of conveyance pipeline and pump station impacts on wildlife; nest surveys for clearances and high-risk buffer zones within the Fountain Valley corridor.
Fountain Sanitation District WWTF Expansion EA
Project manager and lead author. Coordinated the regulatory timeline among the district, landowners and reviewing agencies; assessed effluent impacts on Fountain Creek water quality and aquatic life; evaluated impacts to the federally threatened Preble's meadow jumping mouse; drafted wetland mitigation protocols for the expanded treatment ponds.
National Park Service
Pacific Fisher Reintroduction EA
Predictive modeling and biological baseline data supporting reintroduction of the extirpated Pacific fisher to its native Olympic Peninsula habitat.
Mountain Lakes Fishery Management Plan EIS
Staff wildlife biologist and preparer of wildlife and special-status species technical compliance, focused on how historical fish stocking and proposed management actions would affect alpine amphibians, raptors and subalpine mammal communities.
Energy & mining
Shell Frontier Oil & Gas RD&D Pilot Projects EA
Biological field data on constraints for Shell's experimental in-situ oil-shale extraction tracts in Rio Blanco County, assessing species presence and development impacts, as part of the multi-agency Colorado oil shale research programmatic EAs in the Piceance Basin.
Chevron / Molycorp Questa Mine Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment
Field trapping for initial sampling of terrestrial wildlife to measure toxic bioaccumulation as part of the mine's baseline ecological risk assessment.
Field & survey experience
Wildlife technician, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
Wildlife population surveys and prairie dog relocations on a National Wildlife Refuge.
Field biologist, Colorado Natural Heritage Program
Field trapping studies and species surveys supporting biodiversity monitoring along Colorado's Front Range.
Cultural-resource field surveys
Field archaeology and GIS supporting State Historic Preservation Office review, including Jefferson County Open Space and Cripple Creek & Victor Mining Company projects.
Volunteer work
- Black-footed ferret surveys, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Prairie dog trapping and relocation
- Fish electroshocking, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Bird banding, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
- Mammalogy lab, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- Roots & Shoots, Green Mountain Homeschoolers