CIRCLE MOUNTAIN BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS, INC.
About Us
Circle Mountain Biological Consultants, Inc. was founded in 1994 by Sharon Dougherty and Edward LaRue. After working with CMBC for many years, Susan Seville and Sarah Teed joined as partners in 2025. Our goal has always been to provide the highest level of biological expertise and integrity while working with clients to negotiate the complex legal and permitting environment for their projects. CMBC specializes in the biological resources of the Mojave Desert, San Gabriel Mountains, and San Bernardino Mountains.
Meet The Team
Susan Seville has over 10 years’ experience working as a professional biologist in California and nearly 10,000 hours in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, San Bernardino. Seville has served as a project manager, authorized biologist for Agassiz’s desert tortoise and biological monitor for dozens of construction projects, monitoring for SWPP, BMP installation and removal, and habitat restoration in desert tortoise critical habitat, is authorized to trap Mojave ground squirrel as a designated biologist on LaRue’s MOU for the species. She owned her own business, Mariposa Biological Services, often working as a contractor with CMBC, before joining us as an owner and principal in 2025.
Sarah Teed has worked as a desert biologist in southern California since 2006. She earned her bachelor’s degree from University of California at Santa Cruz, and an associate’s degree in biology from Santa Rosa Junior College. Teed worked as a contractor with CMBC for 19 years before joining the company as a co-owner and principal in 2025. Teed has worked as an authorized biologist for Agassiz’s desert tortoise and biological monitor for numerous projects and has been a project manager for more than a dozen projects since 2024. Teed founded her business, Falcon Biological, and contracted with CMBC before joining CMBC. She is authorized to trap Mojave ground squirrel and is listed as a designated biologist on LaRue’s MOU for trapping the species.
Sharon Dougherty has worked as a field biologist for 4 decades and received her master’s degree from Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She worked as a District Wildlife Biologist and District Resources Officer for the San Bernardino National Forest from 1989 to 1994, managing wildlife, timber, forest products, range, and watershed programs for the 124,181-acre Lytle Creek Ranger District. She started CMBC with LaRue in 1994 and has worked as an authorized biologist for Agassiz’s desert tortoise on more than a dozen projects, as well as conducting trapping surveys for Mojave ground squirrel and conducting hundreds of general biological surveys and focused surveys for special status species.
Edward LaRue has been employed as a biologist since 1977 and has worked in southern California since 1989. LaRue obtained his master’s degree from Ohio State University. LaRue has worked previously for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and was a principal biologist for the Bureau’s West Mojave Coordinated Management Plan from 1998 to 2004. He is a recognized expert on the Agassiz’s desert tortoise and served as a Board member for the Desert Tortoise Council from 1991 to 2004, and from 2011 to the present. He is the inaugural secretary for the Mohave Ground Squirrel Conservation Council, which was established in 2023.
Some of Our Clients
