Steering Committee & Science Team

 

Steering Committee Members

Marganne Allen. Ms. Allen has managed a variety of teams in the Salem office of the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) since 2006. She is currently the Forest Health and Monitoring Manager, the units responsible for implementing education, administration, policy, technical support and monitoring projects in support of Forest Practices Act goals for forest health and natural resources protection on non-federal forestlands. Marganne has a particular passion for exploring effective means of supporting policy decision making using science. She is an Oregon State University graduate, with an M.S. in Forest Management/Minor Soil Science and Masters of Forestry in Forest Hydrology.

Seth Barnes. Mr. Barnes is the Director of Forest Policy for the Oregon Forest and Industries Council (OFIC). He has experience in multiple facets of field forestry, from harvest layout and design to silviculture, as well as forest policy. Prior to joining OFIC, Mr. Barnes served as the Operations Manager for Washington States Forest Practices Program, and participated for many years as a wild land firefighter on an Incident Management Team. He has a B.S. in Forest Management from Oregon State University and attended graduate school at Washington State University for Public Administration and Natural Resource Policy.

Dr. Ashley Coble. Dr. Coble is a forest watershed scientist with the National Council on Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI). Prior to joining NCASI Dr. Coble was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of New Hampshire where she studied water quality, nutrient uptake, and carbon dynamics across watersheds in New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and the Siberian Arctic. Her research focused on human impacts on watersheds, the impacts of climate change and long-term change on surface water chemistry, and understanding the dynamic relationships between nutrients and carbon composition. Dr. Coble has a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Mount Holyoke College, an M.S. in Terrestrial Biogeochemistry from the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University, and a Ph.D. in Aquatic Biogeochemistry from the Department of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University. Her Ph.D. research focused on streams as integrators of terrestrial ecosystem processes.

Mike Collier. Mr. Collier is currently the Deputy Director and Source Water Specialist at Oregon Association of Water Utilities (OAWU). The OAWU is a nonprofit, independent association of 422 water and wastewater utilities, formed in 1977 to represent water utilities’ interests in the state legislature and provide onsite technical assistance, including Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act regulations, water treatment technology, distribution system operation and maintenance, and wastewater treatment and collection. Mr. Collier graduated from Oregon State University with a master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering. At Oregon State he studied the interaction between surface water and groundwater based on variations in surface water temperature.

Cathy Kellon. Ms. Kellon is Working Waters Program Director for the Geos Institute. She has over 17 years of experience developing and applying strategic approaches to improve habitat for native fish and wildlife, expand public awareness about the value of nature’s services, and increase community access to clean water. Prior to joining Geos Institute, Cathy was the Water and Watersheds Program Director at Ecotrust, where she led a multi-million dollar collaborative effort to restore ecological functions in high priority river basins in Oregon and Washington. She also coordinated Ecotrust’s State of the Salmon Program, where she developed resources and tools to improve public access to information about salmon health. She has worked with NOAA Fisheries and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Cathy earned her Master’s degree in Geography, with a minor in Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, from Oregon State University.

Teresa Kubo. Ms. Kubo is the Environmental Review and Sediment Manager for the Oregon Operations Office, Region 10 of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she has worked for the last 16 years. Ms. Kubo has been involved in environmental reviews of Federal forest management plans, particularly as they affect source water supply. She is a member of the Drinking Water Providers Partnership facilitated by the Geos Institute. She has an M.S. in Forest Resources Management from the University of Idaho, as well as a B.A. in Spanish and International Studies (Emphasis on Natural Resources), also from UI.

Casey Lyon. Mr. Lyon is the technical services unit manager for Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Services.  He has worked for the state drinking water program for 12 years regulating and assisting public water systems achieve compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act regulations.  Casey received his bachelor of science degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon and is a registered Environmental Health Specialist.  He has previously worked for Multnomah County, City of Eugene and Department of Environmental Quality in various environmental health related positions.  He currently manages the source water protection team within OHA drinking water services in the Springfield office and coordinates drinking water implementation efforts with DEQ partner staff.

Mary Scurlock. Ms. Scurlock is Coordinator for the Oregon Stream Protection Coalition (OSPC), representing 20 environmental and conservation organizations in Oregon and Washington. Prior to joining OSPC, Ms. Scurlock was Policy Director for 19 years at the Pacific Rivers Council. She has also been employed as an Associate at Johnson and Kloos, a Eugene law firm specializing in land use and administrative law. Ms. Scurlock has an A.B. degree from Duke University in Public Policy and History, and a J.D. degree, cum laude, from the Boston University School of Law where she was on the Law Review.

Josh Seeds. Mr. Seeds is a Nonpoint Source Analyst in the Drinking Water Protection program at Oregon DEQ. Josh has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science, both from Washington State University. After working in biochemical laboratories and studying succession at Mount St. Helens, Josh landed at DEQ where his work focuses on the relationships between nonpoint source pollution risks, natural processes, land management, and drinking water provision. In his spare time, Josh plays with his children, practices small-scale farming, and helps friends and neighbors with conservation questions and problems.

Brian Staab. Mr. Staab has been the Regional Hydrologist for the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region for the last 11 years. Prior to this appointment, he was the Regional Hydrologist for the Pacific Southwest Region for 5 years, and previously an Environmental Engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center. Mr. Staab has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Penn State University, and an M.S. in Hydrology and Water Resources Science from Stanford University.
 

 

Science Team

Jon Souder (PI). Assistant Professor in the Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management (FERM) Department; and, Forest Watershed Specialist in the Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Program. From late 2015 through 2017 he was the director of the Watersheds Research Cooperative (WRC). From 2000 until joining OSU, he was Executive Director of the Coos Watershed Association in Charleston, OR, managing their water quality assessment, restoration, and monitoring programs. He has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Wildland Resources Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in biology (limnology) from Marlboro College, VT.

Kevin Bladon. Assistant Professor of Forest Hydrology in FERM. He is interested in natural (wildfire, pests, pathogens) and human (conventional and salvage harvesting) disturbance effects on water quantity, water quality, and aquatic ecology. Relative to this project, he has previously been involved with transdisciplinary teams, researching the implications of forest disturbance on drinking water treatability. This research examined source water supply and protections strategies to enable both forest and community resiliency to respond to disturbances. He has a Ph.D. in Forest Hydrology from the University of Alberta.

Emily Jane Davis. Assistant Professor in the Forest Ecosystems and Society (FES) Department, and Specialist in the Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Program. Her research and technical assistance focuses on natural resource social science, environmental governance, collaboration and partnerships, community development, wildfire response, and science delivery. She has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Human Geography from the University of British Columbia, and a B.A. in History from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Bogdan Strimbu. Assistant Professor of Forest Management in FERM. His research focuses on strategic forest planning, remote sensing, and biometry. He has conducted research and published on the effects of forest management and petroleum drilling on moose and martin habitat, travel distances for debris flows, structurally complex forest stands, and remote sensing for forest inventories. He has a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Forest Management from the University of British Columbia, a M.Sc. in Mathematics/Statistics from Louisiana Technical University, and a B.S. in Forest Operations from Transilvania University, Romania.