Watershed Education Network - Staff, Board and Volunteers

Volunteers & Friends

Volunteer Reflection: Click here to take survey.

Lisa Bickell
Katherine Barden
Charley Cares
Terry Carlson
Katie Carlstrom
Emily Clark
David Cogswell
Megan Coy
Amy Edgerton
Bob Ellenbecker
Andy Erickson

Jen Estrada
Erik Garcia
John Hughes
Julie Jezerski
Ariel Johnson
Krista Kaarre
Tyler Kendall
Megan Ravenscraft
Diane Matthews
Jessica Mostad
Crissy Orangio

Al Pak
Mike Peterson
Kristine Philpott
Steve Rays
Alaina Strehlow
Houston Thompson
Emily Schembra
Francis Weigland
Ashley Whidtfeldt
Taylor Wilcox


	Staff

	Debbie Fassnacht, Executive Director Deb fell into a pond as a small child and has been playing and working with water ever since. She is one of the founders of the organization, along with Wendy Sturgis and Eric Ringleberg. What began as a volunteer stream monitoring effort in 1996 has grown into a successful non-profit organization focusing on watersheds, wetlands and education. Deb brings science teaching and education/outreach experience to WEN. Deb is attending University of Montana for a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in science education. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, field trips to the stream or wetland, skiing, hiking, and baking her delicious chocolate chip cookies.

	Josh Gubits, Field Director Josh enjoys working with students of all ages. He received a B.A. in environmental studies from UM after transferring from the College of Santa Fe. His interests include working with non-profits, environmental education, fishery conservation and, of course, stream monitoring in the Missoula Valley! When Josh isn't leading a field trip, he's most likely to be out on a river fly fishing.

	Jeani Alonzo-Adams, Milltown Dam Journeys Program Instructor/Coordinator Jeani enjoys working with students of all ages. She grew up in Montana and got her degree at Montana Tech in Butte. She left for ten years for an adventure in Alaska, and then was lucky enough to get to return home. She has worked as a petroleum engineer, environmental consultant, and most recently, tutoring and teaching middle-school and high school students. Jeani likes snow skiing, hiking, reading, quilting and being on the water in her sea kayak or paddle boat with her dog Zoe.


	Alaina Strehlow, AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator Alaina was introduced to the importance of water through her volunteering at the Woodland Park Zoo. She moved here from Mukilteo, WA and is currently a Sophomore at UM. Her favorite part of WEN is getting out on field trips with the students. She also enjoys coordinating and working with the WEN volunteers, both in the classroom and out in the field. Alaina’s AmeriCorp postion is as a Campus Corps member through the Montana Campus Compact. When not at work or studying, Alaina loves to ride horses, knit, read, and generally be outdoors and playing with animals.

	Emilie Kohler, MTCC AmeriCorps*VISTA Development Assistant Emilie is primarily involved with WEN’s marketing and outreach. She has recently relocated to Missoula from Pennsylvania where she received her B.S. in biology and a GIS certification from Shippensburg University. Emilie likes to spend her free time bird watching, backpacking, dancing, and experimental cooking—all at the same time.



Interns - Spring 2010

	Jen McBride - Stream Team Eric Leinonen - Flagship Patti Rittenhouse - Stream Team Christa Torrens - Groundwater Jennie Morrison - Data Management Simon Apostol- Field Assistant Kelli Roemer- Field Assistant

WEN Members

WEN Board Members

WEN would like to thank former board members Corey Raths and Jane Madison for their essential service and wish them well in their future endevors.

Liz Stoeckel,homeWORD. Liz has been the Fund Development Coordinator at homeWORD, a nonprofit affordable housing developer in Missoula, since August 2009. She most recently earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Montana (May 2009) and also has a BA in Sociology from Harvard College (June 2003). She served as the Assistant Director of Annual Giving for the UM Foundation for three years and brings a wealth of experience in donor cultivation, grant writing, event planning, volunteer management and research, as well as a passion for social justice work, to homeWORD and WEN. Liz is a native of Vero Beach, FL but has grown to love the winter since discovering the joys of skiing. She and her cat Sol live at the confluence of Rattlesnake Creek and the Clark Fork where they enjoy spending lazy summer days floating the river (well, Liz does anyway). :)

Brian French, University of Montana. Brian brings a strong sense of watershed stewardship to the Board from years exploring Montana’s rivers and streams by boat. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Environmental Studies and a Master of Public Administration with advanced coursework in nonprofit management - both from UM. WEN is a leader in promoting watershed stewardship through educating western Montana youth on the importance of protecting our rivers and streams, and I am proud to be a part of this organization.

Marian Palaia, UM Office for Civic Engagement . Marian Palaia is a program coordinator at the University of Montana with the Office for Civic Engagement and with the International Development Studies program. She has her MPA from UM, an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, and received her BA from the Evergreen State College. Marian formerly taught the core nonprofit courses for the Poly Sci department, as well as online grantwriting courses for the Nonprofit Administration series at the U. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal in the late 90’s, where she taught her 4th and 5th graders to sing You Are My Sunshine and We All Live in a Yellow Subarline. They sang beautifully.