Meet the 2025-2026 HLCS Board of Directors
Meet the Officers
HLCS President, Rachel Alenius-Thalhuber, discovered her love of horned lizards while working on her B.S. and M.S. in biology at Texas Christian University. She's always loved animals, but became especially enthralled with horned lizards while doing research with Texas Horned Lizards, including projects studying collaborative reintroduction efforts by Texas Parks & Wildlife and zoos such as the Fort Worth Zoo. She enjoys working with horned lizard conservation, especially in public outreach and conservation research.
Taylor Dee is the HLCS President-Elect. Taylor grew up in Southern California where she developed a profound passion for animals and the great outdoors at an early age. Her love for animals and the outdoors led to her receive a B.S. in biology from the University of Redlands. Over the past eight years she’s worked as a wildlife biologist in southern California. Her fieldwork experience has provided her with an understanding of the threats to native species, including horned lizards, and their habitats as well as the challenges of conservation in the modern world. She has been an active member and volunteer of the HLCS since 2016 and enjoys supporting HLCS and everything they do for horned lizard awareness, research, and conservation. In her spare time, Taylor enjoys hiking and participating in the sport of canine scent work/nose work with her Australian Shepard, Hudson.
Shana Fredlake grew up in Northeast Iowa spending time on her grandparents’ farm, leading to her love of all animals. She received her B.S. from Iowa State University in Animal Ecology – Wildlife Care. Having worked in zoos for over 15 years, she has become a huge advocate for teaching about the “unloved” animals including reptiles, bats, and invertebrates. Working with reintroduction programs for both Texas horned lizards and several amphibian species is Shana’s passion and has been the driving force of her career at the Dallas Zoo. When not working, Shana enjoys being in nature, spending time with her family and friends, reading, creating art, watching baseball, football, hockey and traveling.
Ryan Zach is a self-proclaimed Phrynosoma addict with a passion for all animals! Having spent the last 20 years working in zoos, He has turned that passion into a career. Ryan has a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, is a United States Air Force Veteran, and a proud Air Force brat. Working to educate the general public about reptiles is a driving force in his work. Further helping to stop the decline of Horned Lizards throughout their range has led him to his work with the HLCS. Ryan enjoys many outdoor activities and is a huge college football fan (Go Canes!) in his off time.
Nick Cairns is the Director-at-Large. He is interested in, some would say "obsessed" with lizards his whole life with horned lizards being his focus for the last 20 years. He is currently the Non-avian Curator at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton Alberta where his research focuses on the overwinter biology of greater short-horned lizards in Canada. He is also a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) amphibian and reptile specialist subcommittee. This is part of an independent advisory panel to the government of Canada that assesses the extinction risk for species in Canada. He was formerly a Parks Canada employee responsible for monitoring Grassland National Park's populations of horned lizards (roughly 70% of Canada's population). He has worked directly in many areas of conservation from primary research, to monitoring and landscape level management and national level decision making. He plans to increase public awareness and interest about horned lizards and their conservation, while actively supporting primary research.
Lynn Seman is membership services officer for the HLCS. After teaching for 32 years, she now volunteers for several organizations, and is a certified Texas Master Naturalist since 2006. Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, Lynn loved observing and playing with Texas Horned Lizards in her backyard. Currently, she conducts horned lizard surveys each year in several North Texas counties and gets just as excited now, as then, when she finds one of these iconic little reptiles. With conservation as a top priority, she hopes that future generations will continue to experience the joy of observing a horned lizard in its natural environment.
Duties of each office:
President - The President shall in general execute supervision of the business and affairs of the Corporation. The President shall preside at all meetings of the general membership and of the BOD. The President signs, with the Secretary or any other proper officer of the Corporation, contracts or other instruments which the BOD has authorized to be executed; appoints all committee chairs, accepts Nominations/Elections and those committees chaired as specified in this Article; and subject to the approval of the BOD; may serve as an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominations/Elections Committee; and shall have the general powers and duties of management incident to the Office of President and such other duties
President-Elect - The President-Elect shall serve in the absence of the President or in the event or the incapacity or resignation of the President, and when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the President. The President-Elect shall plan and recruit committees and plan and execute the biennial national meeting. The President-Elect becomes the President at the end of a two-year term.
Secretary - The Secretary shall be responsible for Corporate records, keep the minutes of all general membership and BOD meetings, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the BOD. The Secretary shall also be responsible for cataloguing and maintaining the supply of all publications of the Corporation and responding to requests for information from the membership and general public.
Treasurer - The Treasurer shall be responsible for all funds and securities of the Corporation; receive and give receipts for moneys due and payable to the Corporation from any source; and deposit all such moneys in the name of the Corporation in such banks, trust companies, or other depositories as shall be elected by the BOD. The Treasurer shall advise the BOD in preparation of an annual budget, be responsible for all financial records, and provide the BOD and the membership with written financial reports, including an annual report, sit on the Fund-Raising Committee, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the Board of Directors.
Director-at-large - The Director-at-Large shall be responsible for development of special projects as assigned by the Board, particularly related to integration of scientific knowledge and conservation issues – this position has been filled by a professional biologist/ecologist in the past. Whenever possible, nominees for this position should be drawn from states not otherwise represented on the BOD.
Member Services Officer - This is not an elected position but is an appointed one. The Member Services Officer shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws or as required by law, oversee the membership records and provide the membership with reports as may be requested by the BOD. The Member Services Officer shall serve as chair of the Member Services Committee and act as liaison between the BOD and any other standing or special Committees assigned to him or her, and perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the BOD.
HLCS President, Rachel Alenius-Thalhuber, discovered her love of horned lizards while working on her B.S. and M.S. in biology at Texas Christian University. She's always loved animals, but became especially enthralled with horned lizards while doing research with Texas Horned Lizards, including projects studying collaborative reintroduction efforts by Texas Parks & Wildlife and zoos such as the Fort Worth Zoo. She enjoys working with horned lizard conservation, especially in public outreach and conservation research.
Taylor Dee is the HLCS President-Elect. Taylor grew up in Southern California where she developed a profound passion for animals and the great outdoors at an early age. Her love for animals and the outdoors led to her receive a B.S. in biology from the University of Redlands. Over the past eight years she’s worked as a wildlife biologist in southern California. Her fieldwork experience has provided her with an understanding of the threats to native species, including horned lizards, and their habitats as well as the challenges of conservation in the modern world. She has been an active member and volunteer of the HLCS since 2016 and enjoys supporting HLCS and everything they do for horned lizard awareness, research, and conservation. In her spare time, Taylor enjoys hiking and participating in the sport of canine scent work/nose work with her Australian Shepard, Hudson.
Shana Fredlake grew up in Northeast Iowa spending time on her grandparents’ farm, leading to her love of all animals. She received her B.S. from Iowa State University in Animal Ecology – Wildlife Care. Having worked in zoos for over 15 years, she has become a huge advocate for teaching about the “unloved” animals including reptiles, bats, and invertebrates. Working with reintroduction programs for both Texas horned lizards and several amphibian species is Shana’s passion and has been the driving force of her career at the Dallas Zoo. When not working, Shana enjoys being in nature, spending time with her family and friends, reading, creating art, watching baseball, football, hockey and traveling.
Ryan Zach is a self-proclaimed Phrynosoma addict with a passion for all animals! Having spent the last 20 years working in zoos, He has turned that passion into a career. Ryan has a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, is a United States Air Force Veteran, and a proud Air Force brat. Working to educate the general public about reptiles is a driving force in his work. Further helping to stop the decline of Horned Lizards throughout their range has led him to his work with the HLCS. Ryan enjoys many outdoor activities and is a huge college football fan (Go Canes!) in his off time.
Nick Cairns is the Director-at-Large. He is interested in, some would say "obsessed" with lizards his whole life with horned lizards being his focus for the last 20 years. He is currently the Non-avian Curator at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton Alberta where his research focuses on the overwinter biology of greater short-horned lizards in Canada. He is also a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) amphibian and reptile specialist subcommittee. This is part of an independent advisory panel to the government of Canada that assesses the extinction risk for species in Canada. He was formerly a Parks Canada employee responsible for monitoring Grassland National Park's populations of horned lizards (roughly 70% of Canada's population). He has worked directly in many areas of conservation from primary research, to monitoring and landscape level management and national level decision making. He plans to increase public awareness and interest about horned lizards and their conservation, while actively supporting primary research.
Lynn Seman is membership services officer for the HLCS. After teaching for 32 years, she now volunteers for several organizations, and is a certified Texas Master Naturalist since 2006. Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, Lynn loved observing and playing with Texas Horned Lizards in her backyard. Currently, she conducts horned lizard surveys each year in several North Texas counties and gets just as excited now, as then, when she finds one of these iconic little reptiles. With conservation as a top priority, she hopes that future generations will continue to experience the joy of observing a horned lizard in its natural environment.
Duties of each office:
President - The President shall in general execute supervision of the business and affairs of the Corporation. The President shall preside at all meetings of the general membership and of the BOD. The President signs, with the Secretary or any other proper officer of the Corporation, contracts or other instruments which the BOD has authorized to be executed; appoints all committee chairs, accepts Nominations/Elections and those committees chaired as specified in this Article; and subject to the approval of the BOD; may serve as an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominations/Elections Committee; and shall have the general powers and duties of management incident to the Office of President and such other duties
President-Elect - The President-Elect shall serve in the absence of the President or in the event or the incapacity or resignation of the President, and when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the President. The President-Elect shall plan and recruit committees and plan and execute the biennial national meeting. The President-Elect becomes the President at the end of a two-year term.
Secretary - The Secretary shall be responsible for Corporate records, keep the minutes of all general membership and BOD meetings, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the BOD. The Secretary shall also be responsible for cataloguing and maintaining the supply of all publications of the Corporation and responding to requests for information from the membership and general public.
Treasurer - The Treasurer shall be responsible for all funds and securities of the Corporation; receive and give receipts for moneys due and payable to the Corporation from any source; and deposit all such moneys in the name of the Corporation in such banks, trust companies, or other depositories as shall be elected by the BOD. The Treasurer shall advise the BOD in preparation of an annual budget, be responsible for all financial records, and provide the BOD and the membership with written financial reports, including an annual report, sit on the Fund-Raising Committee, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the Board of Directors.
Director-at-large - The Director-at-Large shall be responsible for development of special projects as assigned by the Board, particularly related to integration of scientific knowledge and conservation issues – this position has been filled by a professional biologist/ecologist in the past. Whenever possible, nominees for this position should be drawn from states not otherwise represented on the BOD.
Member Services Officer - This is not an elected position but is an appointed one. The Member Services Officer shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws or as required by law, oversee the membership records and provide the membership with reports as may be requested by the BOD. The Member Services Officer shall serve as chair of the Member Services Committee and act as liaison between the BOD and any other standing or special Committees assigned to him or her, and perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the President or the BOD.
