Sara Grove, Ph.D.

Consulting Ecologist

Bio
Relevant Experience
Education & Credentials

Bio

Dr. Sara Grove is a senior restoration ecologist and consulting ecologist in Integral’s San Francisco Bay Area office. She has more than 15 years of experience and broad training in natural resource management, restoration ecology, and applied plant ecology. Her restoration work experience includes restoration design, permitting, and construction and maintenance oversight as well as long-term ecological monitoring and reporting. Dr. Grove has conducted research and managed restoration projects in a range of ecosystems including riparian forests, wetlands, coniferous forests, coastal prairies, montane meadows, oak woodlands, and sagebrush-steppe. As a project manager and senior restoration ecologist, she applies her expertise in restoration ecology, urban ecology, and management of invasive plants to client projects. She is skilled at building strong collaborative relationships with regulatory agencies, municipalities, conservation organizations, natural resource managers, landowners, and academic institutions.

Prior to joining Integral Consulting, Dr. Grove was an associate ecologist at H. T. Harvey & Associates where she worked for five years.

Relevant Experience

Ecological Restoration Design

Google Nature and Biodiversity Program, Mountain View, California — Designed and implemented an irrigation reduction feasibility study to understand how California native plants used in commercial landscapes perform under reduced irrigation. Findings from this study were used by Google to reduce landscape water use without impacting the landscape aesthetic.

Ecological Restoration Construction Support

Herbert Creek Bridges Replacement Project, Santa Clara County, California — Determined construction impacts to aquatic and riparian habitats that resulted from the project. Conducted an offsite mitigation area search and produced an offsite mitigation and monitoring plan.

Ecological Restoration Permitting

Kings River Emergency Bank Stabilization Project, Fresno County, California — Secured emergency permits from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the project to prevent flooding following large storm events.

Site Management and Monitoring

Ecology Advising for Urban Campus, Kirkland, Washington — In collaboration with Second Nature, compared pollinator abundance and diversity in Google landscapes composed of native plants and non-native ornamental plants; and monitored monarch use of milkweed plants installed throughout Google’s Bay Area landscapes.

Lacey Meadows Watershed Assessment, CEQA, Wetland Delineation, and Biological Resources Support, Sierra County, California — Managed Lacey Meadows restoration monitoring and reporting. Measured change over time in plant composition, ground water depth, and soil wetness to determine if meadow restoration objectives were achieved. This project intends to restore nearly 1,000 acres of meadow and stream habitat.

Biological Monitoring of Los Vaqueros Reservoir Watershed and Conservation Lands, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Alameda Counties — Managed Los Vaqueros watershed monitoring and reporting for the Contra Costa Water District. Vegetation and wildlife use data were used to make grazing recommendations targeted at habitat enhancement for protected species. The team’s work has included biological monitoring and surveys, completing wetland delineations, preparing regulatory agency permit application packages, overseeing regulatory agency coordination, providing for construction monitoring and oversight, and implementation of various adaptive management actions to maintain and enhance sensitive habitat and species on over 23,000 acres of conservation and mitigation lands.

Ecological Restoration Planning

Glen Alpine Creek Watershed Restoration Project, El Dorado County, California — Led an assessment of the watershed to assess the condition of all meadows and identify restoration opportunities. Oversaw monarch butterfly and milkweed surveys as part of the watershed assessment.

Presidio of San Francisco Habitat Restoration Design, San Francisco, California — Produced a wetland restoration and monitoring plan. The team managed and assisted with the riparian, wetland, and scrub restoration design and construction for 8 U. S. Army landfill remediation projects and Doyle Drive Revegetation for the Presidio Trust. These projects integrated habitat restoration and landfill remediation, along with harsh site revegetation at 11 different sites covering over 50 acres.

Midpeninsula Coastal Prairie Restoration, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, California — Managed a coastal prairie restoration plan that enhanced carbon storage and restored coastal prairie and scrub habitat within a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District parcel leased for cattle grazing within the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Midpeninsula Pollinator Impacts Evaluation, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, California — With a grant from the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, evaluated how invasive plants impact pollinator visitation and the reproductive success of remnant native forbs in California grasslands.

Prepared an annotated bibliography annually for Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) that summarized the state of knowledge on non-target effects of all pesticides included in Midpen’s Integrated Pest Management Plan.

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District On-Call Inventory and Monitoring of Botanical Resources, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, California — Prepared an annotated bibliography annually for Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) that summarized the state of knowledge on non-target effects of all pesticides included in Midpen’s Integrated Pest Management Plan.

Pinnacles National Park Invasive Pig Eradication Project, San Benito and Monterey Counties, California — Evaluated the landscape scale effects of invasive feral pig eradication on native plant communities and oak regeneration in Pinnacles National Park.

Doctoral and Post-doctoral Research, Douglas Fir Forest Ecosystems, Washington State — Assessed Scotch broom impacts on native plant populations, communities, and ecosystem processes, and how to implement ecological restoration of invaded landscapes.

Land Management

Ponderosa Pine Forests Fire Ecology, California — Collaborated with a team of fire ecologists to understand how to best implement forest thinning and manage pile burning in Ponderosa Pine forests. Evaluated how age and season of slash pile burning affected vegetation composition, abiotic and biotic soil properties, and pile combustion.

Education & Credentials

Highlights

More than 15 years of experience

Restoration ecology

Reforestation

Habitat mitigation planning, design, and long-term monitoring and reporting

Invasive species ecology and management

Education & Credentials

Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 2014

B.S., Ecology, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, 2002

Professional Experience

Associate ecologist, H. T. Harvey & Associates, 2021–July 2026

Research associate, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2016– July 2026

Postdoctoral researcher, Northern Arizona University, 2014–2018

Professional Affiliations

Society for Ecological Restoration

California Invasive Plant Council

California Native Plant Society

Relevant Experience

Ecological Restoration Design
Ecological Restoration Construction Support
Ecological Restoration Permitting
Site Management and Monitoring
Ecological Restoration Planning
Land Management

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