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.

Kitty Galloway , Program Coordinator

Kitty Galloway started working with students outdoors when she was eighteen and hasn’t given it up since. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest spending most of her time exploring the ocean and forests, and has discovered her passion is to share with people of all ages the beauty and importance of preserving our natural resources. Kitty self-designed her major of Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Education at Huxley College in Bellingham, WA, after transferring from Bates College in Maine. She took lots of time along the way to travel and learn more about rivers and streams around the world, which led her to believe that experiential learning and teaching is often the most valuable kind. Kitty is a fairly recent transplant to Missoula, and she hopes to bring an emphasis on inquiry-based learning to WEN. When she isn’t teaching, she is most likely skiing, exploring the beautiful mountains and rivers of Montana by raft or foot, baking, or spending time with her loved ones and dogs.

Clinton Begley: Outreach Coordinator

Raised on the banks of the Mississippi river in Quincy, Illinois, Clinton Begley has grown up with an appreciation for water and all that it gives us.
His long cultivated love for rivers manifests itself in his continued enjoyment as a flyfisherman, whitewater kayaker and now W.E.N.’s Outreach Coordinator.
After nearly thirteen years working in health-care and finance, Clinton decided to shift gears and follow his true passion for the outdoors as a student of Nature Based Tourism at the University of Montana. Clinton also brings with him several years of experience working with a variety of non-profit organizations and is pursuing a minor in non-profit administration as well. After spending a summer internship in Georgia leading whitewater rafting and kayaking trips throughout rivers in the southeast for Georgia State University, Clinton now finds himself enamored with the natural wonders offered by the state of Montana, and the genuine and civically engaged people he has gotten to know here in Missoula.

Jared Betz: Community Coordinator-Campus Compact Member

Jared has had a love of experiential and outdoor education since his own childhood in rural Vermont and New Hampshire.  Growing up, Jared was given the gift of a broad education in adventure sports, environmental studies and a general respect for and love of the outdoors, and he has spent his adult life trying to repay that gift by teaching others.  Civilization has its uses, but Jared believes every child should also have access to a more basic world of nature, away from modern conveniences and distractions.  Simply put, all kids should play in the dirt.

Jared received a BA in Religious Studies from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR.  He spent a year in Bali working at the Green School, a place devoted to promoting environmental stewardship.  Before starting at the University of Montana to get his M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction in the fall of 2012, Jared spent three years working as a field instructor for a Wilderness Therapy program in Idaho.  Jared is excited to make Montana his home and to give back to the community by helping as many students as possible learn about the world of nature in their own back yard.

Shelby Marshall: Big Sky Watershed Corps Member

Kevin Maher: Volunteer Coordinator – Campus Compact Member

Born just outside of Chicago, Illinois, Kevin moved to Missoula in 2009. Despite the surrounding metropolitan area, Kevin fell in love with the outdoors at an early age. He spent his summers exploring the surrounding creeks and marshlands around his home, while skiing the Tetons outside of Jackson, WY in the winters. These winter trips to Wyoming defined his love for mountains and snow, and with time developed a greater appreciation for the watersheds they create. Majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Wilderness Studies, his interests range from gardening and sustainable agriculture, to urban development and sustainable transportation. He is currently a resident at MUD (Missoula Urban Demonstration Project) at the North side community demonstration site and is an active member in the outdoor community on campus. He enjoys hiking, biking, and skiing!

Lindsey Salmonson: Stream Team Coordinator – Campus Compact Member

Lindsey Salmonson grew up in the Sierra Nevada range but is the sixth generationof her family to call Montana home. Her love of water grew from time spent on theslopes of Tahoe and fishing trips with her grandparents on the Washington Coast.
She attended McGill University, majoring in International Development Studieswith an interest in gender, harm reduction and health. She was a staffer at the HarmReduction Centre, volunteered extensively for a vegan kitchen collective and wasactive in many other organizations that served marginalized communities. Her focuseventually shifted to the Environment and Agriculture concentration where shestudied environmental management and agricultural economics. This proved to bea better match to her work experience in forestry, fire management and fisherieshabitat research.
Deciding that Montreal had too many people and not enough mountains, shetransferred back to the University of Montana. She is now finishing her degree ineconomics, though not without much deliberation between the dismal science andenvironmental studies. Lindsey merged her diverse academic and work experiencesat WEN, serving as the Stream Team Coordinator, first as an intern and now as aCompact Service Corps member. She hopes to make science accessible and inspirecollaboration and community building through learning. She can usually be foundbumming around Montana’s ski hills, searching out Idaho’s hot springs or exploringthe delights of vegan cuisine.