About Samara Restoration

Established in 2009, Samara Restoration is dedicated to restoring native ecosystems of the northern California bioregion. We value the practice and discipline of ecological restoration as tools to repair our ailing natural systems and as means toward achieving a sustainable landscape.

Our team has experience with ecological restoration in a wide variety of applications for degraded habitats of any scale. In addition, we encourage use of native plants to create functional landscapes which are aesthetic to our clients and support wildlife habitat. Our Design, Grow, Build business model assures our clients we will manage your project from seed to fruition.

Our team

Eric Johnson
Eric JohnsonPrincipal, Senior Project Manager
Eric is a co-owner of Samara Restoration and has over twenty years of experience working within the ecosystems of northern California. With a master’s degree in Environmental Systems from Humboldt State University, Eric advocates for community development and ecological balance in our bioregion. He provides design and planning services for restoration and native residential/commercial landscaping projects. Eric is responsible for bid estimates and managing a wide array of projects which serve private landowners, schools, non-profit organizations, local, state, tribal, and federal agencies.
 Josh Koepke
Josh KoepkePrincipal, Project Manager
Josh is a co-owner of Samara Restoration and works in a variety of capacities from ecological restoration planning to landscape design and implementation. His decades of experience with California native plant horticulture provides an invaluable perspective for revegetation-based projects. He has a degree in Wildlife Biology and has extensive experience in the fields of vegetation management, custom seed collections and nursery contract growing, native plant-based landscape design/installation, habitat mitigation and ecological monitoring. Josh has worked on landscape related projects throughout California for public schools, private ranches, homeowners, architects, non-profits, and government agencies.
Troy Perez
Troy PerezNursery Production Manager
Troy Perez is a co-owner of Samara Restoration and is responsible for leading the nursery production, horticulture staff management, and operations. Troy has over 15 years of native plant horticulture experience and has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Cal Poly Humboldt. He’s passionate about working with native plants, healthy communities, and building sustainable landscapes.
 Jeff Rockefeller
Jeff RockefellerProject Foreman/Equipment Operator
Rocky has worked for Samara since 2012 and brings an extensive skillset to our landscape construction. He is a Project Foreman responsible for field crew supervision and is our lead equipment and hydroseed operator. Efficiency and communication are his strong points which contribute to successful project completion. Rocky is experienced in all aspects of erosion control and implementing the most effective Best Management Practices for the project.
Bryce Kunzel
Bryce KunzelAssistant Nursery Manager
Bryce is the Assistant Nursery Manager at Samara and he works on all aspects of the nursery, from day-to-day operations, long term planning, and inventory management. Combining a botany degree with over a decade of working in California native plant horticulture, Bryce helps advance the nursery towards its goals to deliver high quality plants to all of Samara’s restoration efforts.
Veronica Farber
Veronica FarberRestoration Specialist
Veronica holds a degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis in ecological restoration and minor in geospatial analysis from Cal Poly Humboldt. She supports Samara Restoration by assisting with project management tasks such as developing budgets and proposals, assisting with project designs and restoration plans, overseeing field work, writing technical reports, and communicating with project teams. Veronica’s skills in technical writing, planning, and organization, and her passion for landscape restoration have made her a key addition to our team.
Mariano Bayless
Mariano BaylessRestoration Technician
Mariano supports us in all levels of our restoration/landscape construction services. He brings an extensive skillset to our team. Mariano is a rock-solid team player making him a real asset to our operation.
Gregory Zambrano
Gregory ZambranoRestoration Technician
Gregory supports the field crew in all levels of our restoration/landscape construction services. Born and raised in Humboldt, he has a wealth of knowledge of our local plant communities and land stewardship. He specializes in forest management and native plant landscape projects.
Aaron Songer
Aaron SongerRestoration Technician
Aaron supports us in all levels of our restoration/landscape construction services. While his educational background is in Wildlife Management and Conservation, Aaron also spent time studying Field Botany, and Plant Identification. His enthusiasm and knowledge of local plants and ecology make Aaron a great asset to our company.
Jason Chrysanthis
Jason ChrysanthisNursery Technician II
Jason’s educational background is in Natural Resource Ecology. He supports Samara Restoration in all levels of our native plant production from nursery layout and organization to propagation scheduling and inventory tracking. Jason is passionate about ecological restoration and conservation of the North Coast. He also plays a key role in our seed collection program with his exceptional plant identification skills.
Michelle Duncan
Michelle DuncanPropagation Specialist
Michelle has an academic background in botany and ecological restoration, and 7-10 years of agriculture experience. She initially joined our team as a Seasonal Nursery Technician in 2022. Through display of her determination, initiative, and strong work ethic, Michelle has become the backbone of the seed propagation program at our nursery. As the key strategist and planner for our seed propagation program, she ensures our propagation needs are met and plays a critical role on our nursery team.
Sara Bandali
Sara BandaliBotanical Technician
Sara has a degree in Environmental Science and Management with a double major in Ecological Restoration and Environmental Planning from Cal Poly Humboldt. From her field experience classifying vegetation throughout the North Coast of California, Sara has cultivated her knowledge of CA native flora. She currently assists us as our seed collection lead by maintaining our seed inventory, and she also assists with botanical surveys and plant identification when needed.
Breauna De Matto
Breauna De MattoNursery Technician
Breaunna has great experience in horticulture and has taught plant propagation and nursery production courses at the College of the Redwoods. She has also taught sustainable agriculture courses at Cal Poly Humboldt. She has a Maters of Social Work from Cal State University, Fresno. Breauna’s horticultural skill set has been invaluable to the success at the Samara Restoration nursery.
Cecilia French
Cecilia FrenchNursery Technician
Cecilia has a degree in Ecological Restoration from Cal Poly Humboldt and is passionate about our native ecology. She is originally from San Diego and is dedicated to giving back to our natural world. Cecilia continues to grow her love and knowledge of our local native plants. She is hardworking, has great energy, and is a superb addition to the nursery team.
Seasonal Technicians
Each spring Samara hires a handful of seasonal nursery and restoration technicians. Nursery technicians are responsible for assisting with propagation, organization, and basic nursery maintenance activities during the growing season (April-November). Restoration technicians are responsible for assisting with commercial, residential, and restoration project implementation services including planting, watering, weeding, seeding, mulching, etc. Contact info@samararestoration.com for more information.

Our Services

Design.

Designs for residential landscapes and restoration projects with an emphasis on ecological function and sustainability.

Grow.

Our nursery offers project specific contract growing and on-hand inventory of a wide selection of California native species.

Build.

As licensed contractors, we provide landscape construction services for residential and large-scale restoration projects.

Clients We’ve Worked With