About Us
U.S. Staff
Employees
Guido Rahr, President & CEO
Mr. Rahr earned a Masters of Environmental Studies from Yale University and has 22 years of experience developing programs for regional and international conservation organizations. Before coming to the Wild Salmon Center in 1998, Mr. Rahr was the Associate Director of Oregon Trout, where his work won the President's Fisheries Conservation Award from the American Fisheries Society.
Mr. Rahr has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme where he led the development of the Kamchatka Salmon Conservation and Sustainable Use Project, and the Rainforest Alliance where he worked on Amazon fish conservation projects. From 1985 to 1990 Mr. Rahr worked with the Nature Conservancy and later Conservation International as a Programme Officer working to establish and support protected areas in the Mexican tropics.
Mr. Rahr is a member of World Conservation Union (IUCN) Salmon Specialist Group.
Email: grahr@wildsalmoncenter.org
Jeffrey Baumgartner, Ph.D., Executive Vice President
Jeff joined the Wild Salmon Center in May 2008 as the Executive Vice President. He brings 20 years of experience in outcome-based conservation management to the position of Executive Vice President. For the past 17 years, Jeff has been a leader in the development and application of The Nature Conservancy's conservation approach, especially conservation action planning and conservation measures of success. Prior to working for The Nature Conservancy, he worked for on environmentally compatible public water supply projects in Florida. Jeff received his B.A. in biology from the University of California at Los Angeles, his doctorate in evolutionary biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and did postgraduate work in behavioral ecology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Tom Bland, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Bland is a Certified Public Accountant, with over 18 years experience working with small to mid-sized companies. He has extensive experience in financial operations, investor relations, risk management, treasury and human resources. As an entrepreneur, he has participated in the creation and building of a number of organizations from the ground up, having been responsible for all administrative functions. A scientist who became an accountant, he has a BS in Genetics from the University of California and an MS in Genetics from the University of Arizona. He is involved in numerous conservation and botanical organizations, and has traveled extensively worldwide, with a particular interest in World Heritage Sites.
Email: tbland@wildsalmoncenter.org
Greg Block, J.D., VP for Conservation Programs
Mr. Block joined the Wild Salmon Center in September 2004. In his former position as the Director of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation based in Montreal, Canada, Mr. Block managed a staff of 20 senior managers working in the areas of international conservation of biodiversity; trade and environment; pollutants and health; and law and policy. He has led interdisciplinary teams on regional conservation initiatives in North America, and chaired several senior advisory groups. As a result of his international environmental work, he brings strong relationships with North American non-governmental organizations, government officials and universities. Mr. Block also served as the 2002-2004 Distinguished Environmental Law Scholar at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College, and taught environmental law in Mexico under the auspices of a Fulbright Lecture Grant.
Email: gblock@wildsalmoncenter.org
Rachel Uris, VP of Resources and Communication
Ms. Uris has over 16 years of experience working in development and marketing/advertising. Most recently Ms. Uris led Reed College's major gift programs in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. Prior to that she was the director of the annual fund for Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, and worked in marketing as a client relationship manager and as a director of marketing. Ms. Uris is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, and is a proud fourth-generation Oregonian.
Email: ruris@wildsalmoncenter.org
Lori Alexander, Graphics and Marketing Coordinator
Lori has nine years of experience working in design and marketing. From print production and illustration to marketing strategy and design, she has all aspects of brand communication covered and has helped diverse clients tell their story - from Bayliner Boats, Cruise West, R. W. Beck Engineering, and Pacific Security Capital to the Wild Salmon Center. Consistently striving to find a balance between her two passions - science and art -- Lori has both a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Virginia (with an emphasis in Psychobiology) and an AA in Visual Communications Technology from SCC in Seattle. The northwest has been her home for 13 years and while she takes every opportunity she can to travel and see the world, she enjoys the multitude of yoga, tango, music, hiking and outdoor activities Portland provides.
Lucy Bernard, Director of Grant Programs
For the past several years, Lucy has specialized in non-profit development, securing foundation, corporate and government support for community-based organizations. Lucy is an experienced collaborator, having developed several multi-agency collaborative projects and facilitated the founding of a national coalition of immigrant worker organizations. She has a B.S. in Biology from Cornell University and eight years of experience in biological research and data management.
Donna Blair, Operations Manager
With a deep commitment to sustainable business practices and extensive experience in project management, Donna brings a wide range of skills and expertise to the position of Project Coordinator. Before joining the Wild Salmon Center, Donna provided LEED™ certification support to local building projects and developed and implemented custom software systems as a programmer and systems analyst. Donna is a recent graduate of Marylhurst University and an accomplished artist.
Email: dblair@wildsalmoncenter.org
Tyler Bradford, IT Manager
Tyler received his BA in Religious Studies from Connecticut College in 2000. He then immediately realized that there was no such thing as a "college cafeteria" in the real world, and began to worry. Luckily, Tyler was able to parlay a misspent childhood of basking in the green glow of a DOS prompt and hard drives the size of a Hummer into a career in IT. In addition to his role as IT Manager for Wild Salmon Center, he is the sole proprietor of Old Town Computers, a computer repair and retail shop. Tyler considers his two greatest technical achievements discovering an undocumented bug in WSC's Exchange mail server, and resurrecting a dead XBOX 360 using tinfoil and a $20 paint stripping heat gun from Home Depot. He is blissfully married to his lovely wife, Beth, and complains a lot about his two dogs, Biscuit and Bear, but still loves 'em.
Brian Caouette, Sustainable Fisheries & Markets Program Manager
Brian joined Wild Salmon Center in 2004 and currently serves as Senior Program Manager for the Sustainable Fisheries Program. The goal of this program is to work collaboratively with key change agents in the commercial fisheries sector, seafood industry, NGOs and government to advance the principles of sustainable fisheries at key salmon strongholds across the Pacific Rim. Brian received his MA in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a BA from Boston University. Formerly, Brian has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations including Pacific Environment and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, as well as lived and worked full time at two overseas nature parks: Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use in the Russian Far East and the Animal Refuge Kansai in the hills above Osaka, Japan. Brian was a David L Boren Graduate Fellow in 2002 and was also awarded a US State Department Diplomacy Fellowship.
Hillary Colter, Russian Conservation Finance Associate
Hillary Colter holds a BA in Russian language and literature, and a MA in folklore from the University of Oregon. Before coming to the Wild Salmon Center, she worked as program coordinator at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. A native Oregonian, Hillary has traveled throughout Russia, including volunteering with the Red Cross in the Komi Republic, and working on a dairy farm in Karelia. She spent a year abroad studying Swedish in Uppsala, Sweden, and Russian in St. Petersburg. She also spent two years in a small town in Bulgaria, where she was a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching high school English. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, sports, and painting.
Email: hcolter@wildsalmoncenter.org
Heather Doherty, Development Associate
Heather joined the Wild Salmon Center in June 2008. She has held previous fundraising positions with the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe, NM and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, CA. She obtained her BA in Painting from Fairhaven College in Bellingham, WA and a MS in Arts Management from the University of Oregon. When not in the office, she enjoys working on her own creative projects, visiting museums, reading, and hiking with her dog Bosco.
Devona Ensmenger, Washington Programs Coordinator, Port Angeles, Washington
An outdoorswoman native to the Pacific Northwest, Ms. Ensmenger joined the Wild Salmon Center in 2006. Ms. Ensmenger is disciplined in physical geography, biology, and environmental science from Central Washington University, where she conducted international cross-discipline research in China (Beijing) as a NCUR/Lancy scholar and in Indonesia (Bali and Borneo) as a Brooks-Shaw scholar. Ms. Ensmenger has researched and engaged in recovery efforts on river systems in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, focusing on threatened and endangered species such as spring Chinook salmon and bull trout. Most recently, she served on the Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project analyzing hatchery and wild salmonid interactions utilizing a suite of ecological indicators. Currently, Ms. Ensmenger is engaging Olympic Peninsula stakeholders on a conservation agenda to spark collaborative stewardship and support for the protection of the most biologically diverse and intact salmon watersheds in Washington.
David Finkel, Director of Development
David Finkel has over ten years of experience working in conservation and business development. Most recently he was the Development Director at California Trout where he managed all functions of the organization's development program. Mr. Finkel holds a Bachelor's Degree from Colgate University and a Masters of Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College. For his Master's Thesis, he collaborated with the Washington Water Trust to create a prioritization methodology for water rights acquisition to benefit salmon in the North Cascades. In addition to time with other non-governmental organizations, Mr. Finkel has worked in San Francisco's business sector, as a freelance writer, and as a wilderness guide in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory, Canada. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Finkel lives in Portland and enjoys backpacking, photography, and fly fishing.
Email: dfinkel@wildsalmoncenter.org
Christina Friedle, Conservation Geographer
Christina Friedle joins the Wild Salmon Center as our Conservation Geographer. Prior to joining the Wild Salmon Center in 2007, Christina was the Program Director for a local non-profit, Wolftree, where she managed all functions of the science education programs. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Clemson University in psychology and secondary education and a Master's degree in Geography from Portland State University where she studied forest resource use and ecotourism in the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras. Christina also studied Geographic Information Systems (GIS), completing a graduate certificate program at PSU. More recently, Christina has taught courses at PSU and continues to teach a GIS course at Portland Community College. Christina loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking, backpacking, and snowboarding. She also enjoys working on creative projects, the most recently being the construction of a felt yurt.
Laurele Fulkerson, Government Affairs Program Manager
Laurele brings a legal background and several years of experience in environmental advocacy, policy work, and government relations to the Wild Salmon Center. She earned a J.D. and Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources from Lewis & Clark Law School, and a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations from UC Santa Barbara.
Most recently, Laurele was the Northwest Regional Director for the Alaska Coalition, where she worked to raise the visibility of threats to Alaskan public lands and advocate for their protection via lobbying, media relations, coalition-building, and grassroots organizing. Prior to that, she helped conserve and restore important aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems across the West through policy advocacy, litigation, and land acquisition while working for various non-governmental organizations, including Forest Guardians, Western Resource Advocates, and Western Rivers Conservancy.
In her free time, Laurele enjoys hiking, backpacking, hot springs, yoga, and music.
Anya Gabis, Controller
Anna joined the Wild Salmon Center in 2004 as a corporate controller. Originally from Nakhodka, Russia, Anna Gabis worked for over six years as the Deputy Chief Accountant at Primorsky Zavod, Russia - a leader in the Russian ship repair industry. She holds a master's degree in engineering from Siberian Metallurgical Institute in Novokuznetsk and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Portland State University. When not working at the WSC, Anya enjoys traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest and Europe with her family, eating her husband's gourmet cooking and homemade ice cream, and spending time with her friends in the Portland area.
Email: agabis@wildsalmoncenter.org
Mark Hubbard, Communications Manager
Mark brings seventeen years of communications, media relations and environmental law experience to the Wild Salmon Center. A lawyer by training, Mark came to Oregon in 1990, where he specialized in federal land law and endangered species protection at the Oregon Natural Resources Council. He was also centrally involved in a multi-state campaign to protect Pacific Northwest salmon under the Endangered Species Act.
In the late 1990s Mark began to focus his efforts exclusively on communication strategies and media relations for Pacific Northwest conservation organizations. As a Communications Director at Resource Media and as an independent communications consultant, Mark has worked with dozens of local, statewide and national conservation groups on forest, desert and river protection issues. Over the past decade, he has applied his communications and media expertise in multiple Pacific salmon and marine protection campaigns in California, Oregon and Washington.
Mark holds a J.D. from Suffolk Law School and a Sociology-based Human Relations degree from Connecticut College.
Julie Kuchepatov Sustainable Fisheries & Markets Associate
Julie was raised in Portland and stayed close to home receiving her bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages (Russian and French) from Lewis and Clark College and recently earned her MA in communications at Portland State University. She worked for 12 years as part of a team running one of the most successful sport fishing lodges in Russia. This position allowed her to gain valuable tundra experience and fine-tune her Russian language skills. Her role at Wild Salmon Center focuses on sustainable fisheries work on Sakhalin and putting her logistical and communications skills to work in support of the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative. Her extracurricular activities are dedicated solely to her two fabulous daughters, except when she is wine-tasting with her husband.
Rich Lincoln, State of the Salmon Director
Rich has 33 years of varied experience in fisheries research, management, and policy in the Pacific Northwest as well as working on global fisheries sustainability. A graduate of the University of Michigan, a central focus of his career has been promoting the use of best available science in sound resource management decision-making. Prior to joining the Wild Salmon Center Rich was International Policy Director with the Marine Stewardship Council in London, UK. Other past roles have included bi-lateral chair of the Pacific Salmon Commission's Fraser Panel under the U.S.-Canada Salmon Treaty, leading development of Washington State's Wild Salmonid Policy and Wild Stock Initiative, and developing cooperative management arrangements with Northwest treaty Indian tribes. Rich has a strong history of involvement and leadership in salmonid research program's including hatchery supplementation, freshwater productivity evaluation, and development and application of salmonid stock identification techniques to improved fishery management. Rich's diverse skills and experiences collaborating with salmon researchers, policy makers, and managers around the Pacific Rim create a great fit for leading the State of the Salmon Program.
Sarah Lonigro, Executive Assistant
Sarah joined the Wild Salmon Center in February, 2008. Prior to the Wild Salmon Center, she worked with Open Source Development Lab and Intel. Sarah brings over twelve years of professional experience to the Salmon Center. She holds a B.A. from the University of Montana in French Language and Literature with an emphasis in International Studies. Sarah has traveled extensively and spent two years in France living in Burgundy as an exchange student. Originally from the Northwest, in her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and is an avid traveler and reader.
David Martin, Director of Western Pacific Programs
Mr. Martin brings over a decade of international conservation experience to WSC. He holds master's degrees from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in International Policy Studies and Russian Translation. He is fluent in Russian and has traveled extensively throughout Siberia and the Russian Far East. Prior to joining WSC, Mr. Martin was Russian Program Officer with Pacific Environment. He has focused on working with grassroots activists, scientists, business, government officials and communities on natural resource and conservation issues, and helped pioneer innovative partnerships to protect wilderness and promote sustainable development. In his free time he enjoys hiking, biking and frisbee golf.
Email: dmartin@wildsalmoncenter.org
Patricia Melnik, Kamchatka Program Manager
Tricia comes to the Wild Salmon Center with a degree in Public Administration from Portland State University with a focus in global leadership and program management. She also has a BA in Russian Studies from Lewis and Clark College and has studied, lived and worked in the Russian Far East since the early 1990s. She is the President of the Portland Khabarovsk Sister Cities Association and has worked on various environmental, cultural and educational projects with the city of Khabarovsk for the past 10 years.
Tricia also brings to the WSC several years of management experience from her previous job as office manager at a nonprofit organization, Multnomah Defenders. In 2007, she interned with Hostelling International Oregon Council working on their educational programs and she recently joined their board of directors. Tricia has always had a passion for nonprofits and helping them to fulfill their mission whether as a volunteer or employee. In her free time, she likes to travel and spend time with her husband, daughter and two dogs.
Email: tmelnik@wildsalmoncenter.org
Tom Miewald, Conservation Planner
Tom Miewald joins WSC as our Conservation Planner. Before working for WSC, Tom was a Project Manager and Senior Analyst for several large, regional mapping projects. This included 3 years of developing models of ecological systems throughout the Pacific Northwest for the USGS GAP Program. He also developed regional depictions of land use change for the NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program in the Gulf Coast and Pacific Northwest. Prior to this, Tom was a Geographer for a non-profit organization in the Central Appalachian region where he collaborated with a number of different organizations to develop tools to assist local watershed organizations. For a year, Mr. Miewald worked for a contract under the UK Department for International Development to develop a GIS facility at the Mount Cameroon Biodiversity Conservation Centre/Limbe Botanic Garden in the Central Africa country of Cameroon. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer and has had internships with NASA, USGS, EPA, and Oregon State University. Mr. Miewald received a Master's degree in Geography with an emphasis on the integration of GIS, remote sensing, and landscape ecology. He has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies.
Randi Moore, Human Resources and Office Manager
Randi has been in Portland for nearly 20 years after spending her youth in California and several years in Rhode Island. She has her BS in Environmental Science from Portland State University. Randi is an experienced office administrator having worked in a variety of industries, most recently environmental engineering. Randi has traveled extensively in the U.S., sailed the Caribbean, and explored Europe. She enjoys photography, being outdoors, spending time with her family, a good movie or a good read. Randi has been stretching herself recently having tried archery, belly dancing, and boxing.
Email: rmoore@wildsalmoncenter.org
Naomi Molstrom, State of the Salmon Program Assistant
joined the Wild Salmon Center and State of the Salmon (SoS) as the Program Assistant. She started with the Program in 2005 as a volunteer and intern translating Japanese salmon data and updating the SoS literature database. Originally from Japan, Naomi brings her experience as a coordinator and plays a role in communications with our growing network of Japanese colleagues. Naomi plays a key role in organizing SoS workshops and meetings, and planning for the SoS Conference to be held in Vancouver, BC in 2009. She has a B.S. degree in Biochemistry at Portland State University. Naomi has traveled the world extensively mostly for scuba diving, which opened her eyes toward environmentalism. Other interests include cooking, swimming, skiing, hiking, and exploring Oregon with her husband and energetic dog, Sango (meaning "coral" in Japanese).
Jay Nicholas, North America Salmon Stronghold Partnership Program Manager
Jay Nicholas brings 30 years of distinguished experience as a fisheries biologist to the Wild Salmon Center, where he manages the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership Program. Jay's work as a fisheries scientist within Oregon agencies included the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Governor's Office, and the Watershed Enhancement Board. His fisheries expertise is founded on a technical and intuitive understanding of wild Pacific salmon and historical management paradigms. Jay's fisheries policy work included leading a team of scientists and stakeholders who produced the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.
Jay dreams of wild salmon and healthy rivers. His passion for fish and family inspires his dedication to protecting the best remaining North American ecosystems, salmon, and our children's future. And by the way, he is a well-seasoned fly tyer and fly fisher.
Jennifer Niemeck, Administrative Assistant
Jennifer Niemeck is the "face and voice" of the Wild Salmon Center. Originally born in Washington D.C., she has lived and traveled in many colorful places. After attaining a B.A. in Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, she spent seven years in Brazil. Thereafter, she moved to Oregon where she has lived for the past six years. "For a city, Portland is incredibly livable," says the mother of two.
Jennifer brings to the Wild Salmon Center a true appreciation of conservation and protection of ecosystems. She spent the last four years as a personal assistant to a board member of several non-profits, an international attorney, and most recently as an Executive Assistant. She offers a variety of skills that support the day to day well-being of the Wild Salmon Center. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, culinary arts, and hot springs.
Alla Popova, Financial Assistant to the Controller
Originally from Uzbekistan, Alla brings her entrepreneurial skills, knowledge of Russian and English accounting and attention to detail to the Wild Salmon Center's accounting department. Alla holds an AA in Accounting.
Email: apopova@wildsalmoncenter.org
Nicole Portley, Russia Far East Program Manager
Nicole Portley is an environmental biologist from the California Bay Area. She holds a BS in biology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Before coming to the WSC, Nicole was involved in aquatic toxicology research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, studying the problem of algae overgrowth in the Californian Central Valley. In 2003-2004, Nicole worked at the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters in the friendly village of Borok on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir in central Russia. Nicole speaks French and Russian. Her interests include cross-country ski racing, piano, writing, and surfing, and she has recently taken up welding.
Peter Rand, Ph.D., State of the Salmon Senior Conservation Biologist
Peter Rand has more than sixteen years of experience in basic and applied aquatic ecology, with a focus on fisheries science, management, and conservation. Peter is a graduate of Colgate University and received his master's and doctoral degrees from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Peter was a postdoc at the University of British Columbia from 1995-1997 and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology at NC State University from 1997-2003. Peter has authored 16 peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, and numerous other publications. Since his master's thesis, Peter's research has focused on Pacific salmonids in collaborative work with scientists in the Laurentian Great Lakes region, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska. In recent years he has broadened his research program to include studies of tropical and subtropical fisheries. Peter has expertise in modeling and statistical analyses, and has been involved in the development and application of field sampling equipment and computer software useful in fisheries science.
Email: prand@wildsalmoncenter.org
Erica Stock, North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership Coordinator
Erica brings several years of experience in development and nonprofit management to the Wild Salmon Center. Prior to joining WSC she founded and served as the Interim Executive Director of a K-12 girl's academy in Burundi, Africa and wrote Federal higher education grants. As a self proclaimed public transit nut, Erica betrayed her Detroit roots and moved to Portland in search of urban growth boundaries and a car-less lifestyle. Erica holds a B.A. in Psychology and Biology with a focus on quantitative research methods and molecular genetics from Mount Holyoke College. In her free time she enjoys, sailing, skiing, hiking, and exploring the beautiful Oregon wilderness with her energetic Border Collie, Merlin.
Email: estock@wildsalmoncenter.org
Kelley Thomas, John Day Coordinator
Kelley Thomas joined the Wild Salmon Center in November 2008 to serve as the John Day Coordinator. Kelley has spent much of her life on cattle ranches in rural Oregon and California. She grew up on her family's ranch in the Klamath Basin and spent several summers working on a larger cattle operation the family leased in Southern Kern County, California. After obtaining her BA from the University of Puget Sound, Kelley's previous experience working with ranchers and their land enabled her to take a position with the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust. At KBRT, she spent several years coordinating landowners with Federal and State Agencies in order to improve water quality and quantity in ways that are both sustainable and economic. Her experience with KBRT led Kelley to pursue a Masters degree in Water Resource Policy and Management at Oregon State University, where she conducted her thesis research on the prerequisites for the successful enrollment and participation of landowners in conservation programs.
Kelley is passionate about the environment of the Pacific Northwest. Her research and experience lead her to believe that the region's natural resources can best be protected by entities such as the Wild Salmon Center working with landowners to find and develop management practices that focus on conservation, economics, and community.
Email: kthomas@wildsalmoncenter.org
Mark Trenholm, Director of North American Programs
Mark Trenholm joined the Wild Salmon Center as our Director of North America Programs in September 2008. Prior to taking this position, Mark worked for seven years as the Executive Director of the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Project. Serving a diverse, multi-stakeholder Board and managing an eight person staff, Mark oversaw the implementation of almost 200 salmonid habitat enhancement, monitoring, and education projects. Prior to his work with the National Estuary Project, Mark managed a range of resource planning and community development projects as a planning consultant. He holds a Bachelors Degree in English from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and a Masters of Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon. Mark enjoys steelheading, Red Sox baseball, and exploring the places salmon swim.
Trozell Weaver, Government Affairs Program Assistant
Trozell joined the Wild Salmon Center in July 2008. She is a Portland native who loves her Pacific Northwest roots and has a deep passion for salmon conservation. Trozell received her B.A. in International Relations and Global Affairs from Eckerd College in Florida. She also studied in Spain, attended the Universidad de Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and studied conflict resolution at the United Nations. Before joining the Wild Salmon Center, Trozell was a professional caregiver to her uncle who suffered from ALS (commonly known as, Lou Gehrig's disease) and an Intern for the Film Connection at Mercy Corp in Portland. In her free time Trozell enjoys backpacking, rock climbing, cooking, soccer, skiing and traveling.
Email: tweaver@wildsalmoncenter.org
Consulting Partners
Paula Burgess, Strategic Initiatives Consultant
Paula Burgess has thirty years of experience in natural resource management and politics in the Western US. She has worked for local, state, and federal governments, and the private sector. She has served as a forestry advisor to Oregon Governor Roberts, and also worked in Governor Kitzhaber's office where as Assistant for Natural Resources she oversaw fifteen natural resource agencies, a small cadre of natural resource advisors, and led development of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.
In 2006, Burgess joined the Wild Salmon Center North American team, where she assembled a group of leaders from the federal, state, local, tribal governments, and major regional NGOs with a commitment to protect the best remaining populations of salmon and steelhead. In September, the West Coast Senate delegation cosponsored legislation in support of the North America Salmon Stronghold Partnership.
Recently Burgess turned her attention to building local initiatives under the Partnership. As a consultant to the Wild Salmon Center, she is working to promote healthy rural communities and healthy watersheds in the John Day Basin, while continuing support for the Partnership.
Gordie Reeves, Visiting Scientist
Gordie Reeves is a Research Fish Biologist in the PNW Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service where he has worked for 25 years. His expertise is in the freshwater ecology of anadromous salmon and trout, conservation biology of those fish, and aquatic aspects of landscape ecology. He has studied the ecology of anadromous salmon and trout in the Pacific Northwest, northern California, Idaho, and Alaska and fish ecology in New Zealand and New York. He has published over 50 papers on the freshwater ecology of Pacific salmon and trout, effects of land management activities on the freshwater habitats of these fish, conservation plans, and dynamics of aquatic ecosystems in the PNW. Gordie received several awards for his work from the Forest Service and the Pacific Rivers Council. He was a member of committees that developed and evaluated management options for managing federal lands in the PNW and Alaska. He currently serves as the Team Leader of the Aquatic and Land Interaction Program at the PNW Station in Corvallis. He also currently is a member of the NOAA Fisheries Technical Recovery Team for coho salmon in coastal Oregon. He has been a co-leader of the Coastal Landscape Analysis and Modeling Study, a long-term, large, interdisciplinary project to model and evaluate forest policy effects at multiple scales. He commercially fished for salmon in northern California during the summers while in graduate school.
Email: greeves@wildsalmoncenter.org
Bob Van Dyk, Forest Policy Advisor
Bob is a political scientist who originally hails from Washington, D.C. Since 1994 he has taught at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where he is now the chair of the Department of Politics and Government and the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Bob has followed forest policy in Oregon for more than a decade, with a special focus on the management of the salmon-rich Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. He received his doctorate from the University of Washington and his undergraduate degree from Duke University.
Email: bvandyk@verizon.net
Interns
Dan Coe, GIS Intern
Dan joined us as an intern in the GIS program in fall of 2008. Dan will graduate in spring, 2009 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Geography and Russian Language from Portland State University. Dan's interests and inspirations include cartography, painting, native plant photography, sea kayaking and traveling. He loves living and working in Portland with so many people who are striving towards a more creative and exciting future.
Morgan Crowell, GIS Intern
Originally from the California Bay Area, Morgan joined the Wild Salmon Center as a GIS Intern in Fall of 2008. Morgan has a BA in Environmental Studies and is currently attending Portland State University working on his GIS Certificate and preparing for graduate school in Water Resource Management. When not studying or working he tries to make time for muddy mountain bike rides and has been known for the occasional absence when there is fresh snow on Mount Hood.
Brett Leibowitz, Kamchatka Intern
Brett is a high school senior from Las Vegas, Nevada. Brett spent a summer at the Kol Biostation research center in Kamchatka, assisting the Moscow State University team with SaRON project protocol.
Katie Spear, Communications Intern
Katie is an intern with our Communications team and assists with Wild Salmon Center's image library management. She is currently a student at PCC pursuing her liberal arts degree. For the past six years she has worked in printing and graphics for companies such as FedEx Kinko's and Precision Images. When not working or in school, she enjoys reading and being outside.