Vander Meer has gathered over 20 years of experience in bio-physical assessments and ecological restoration. Mark has three areas of expertise: forestry, soils, and revegetation. These interests dovetail nicely and allow Vander Meer to understand the ecology of disturbance, enabling him to plan and implement competent ecological restoration projects in forests, riparian areas and prairies. With Mark there is no gap between the scientist and the on-the-ground work. In the woods, Mark applies and teaches responsible forest practices that restore and sustain long-term forest use and vitality. Vander Meer is an accomplished silviculturalist and sawyer, with an extensive understanding of forest ecology and stand dynamics. Recognizing the importance of the soil resource, Vander Meer works to assess how past disturbances influence natural bio-physical resiliency and ecological trends of the above- and below-ground ecosystems. Vander Meer enjoys leading an enthusiastic revegetation crew. You can see examples of their riparian restoration work all over the West, from Alaska to New Mexico. Mark is the Northern Rockies Regional Coordinator for the National Network of Forest Practitioners; he is also an ISA Certified Arborist.

 

Amy Chadwick is a senior wetland scientist and water qualtiy specialist for Watershed Consulting. Amy specializes in watershed assessment and determining the influence of management practices on water quality, wetlands, and stream corridors. She has fifteen years of experience in ecological research, assessment and monitoring at the site-specific and watershed levels in a range of landscapes. Her recent projects include wetland assessment and restoration planning, TMDL development, watershed assessment, riparian and aquatic habitat assessment, water quality monitoring and analysis, and wetland delineations.

Josiah has been working as a forester from a young age when he worked with his father in the family business. Josiah has worked for Watershed Consulting since 2007. As a partner since 2010 he is our lead forester.He provides forest assessments and management plans for private ownerships as well as promoting forest health through logging and thinning.For two years he was a credentialed forester and project leader with the U.S. Forest Service Region One Timber Strike Team where he worked as a Timber Measurements Specialist

Lucas McIver is a skilled forester, sawyer, light-on-the-land logger, sawmill operator and certified arborist. He grew up hiking, canoeing and working at the family tree farm and nursery, followed by five years of working in the backcountry of Montana, Washington and Oregon as a trail crew foreman for the U.S. Forest Service. As a woodworker in his off time, Lucas enjoys being involved in all aspects of the wood’s journey from the on-the-ground forestry, to milling, to the construction of the final product.  He is a soils technician on our survey teams and is a project coordinator for some of our larger revegetation jobs.

Pedro brings more than 10 years of leadership in restoration and conservation projects to our team.  He manages the daily operations of the company as well as our upland restoration work in the Anaconda NPL (National Priorities List-Superfund) site.  Trained in stream ecology, he is a key scientist on our water resources assessment team and is expanding his experience to include soils surveys. Pedro is a skilled organizer and technical writer, having worked as a communications specialist at small non-profit organizations, for international environmental symposia and large agencies such as the World Bank.  He brings experience and training in the NEPA process and risk management, and is able to seamlessly move from the field to producing high-quality reports for our clients.

Kurt has nearly 20 years of experience in applied ecology, environmental assessment, and on-the-ground project management. He specializes in plant community and stream corridor assessments, slope stabilization, and revegetation. Kurt’s interest in revegetation techniques and disturbance/response ecology has led him to quickly evaluate deficiencies and design corrective measures. Kurt is active in all phases of our restoration projects from assessment and planning to design and implementation. He has led crews on a multitude of projects, and served as logistics coordinator on complex restoration jobs.

Marnie Criley has been with Watershed Consulting for 12 years. She is experienced in proposal writing, project management, and on-the-ground restoration work. Marnie also leads our community capacity building work. She has over 10 years of experience assisting community groups and collaboratives build the capacity they need in order to carry out long term planning and implementation for forest and watershed based projects. This work runs the gamut from facilitating meetings and providing planning and grant writing assistance to actual assessment and implementation work. On the policy front, Marnie engages with regional and national efforts working to maintain and expand those state and federal programs that fund much of the work we and our community partners accomplish on the ground.

Christine came to Watershed Consulting with a background in Riparian Restoration and Community Planning. Her restoration work focuses on the use of plants as leverage points for ecosystem restoration through revegetation, bioengineering and proper management. She is a capable plant ecologist and has worked in all phases of restoration from assessment and design to implementation and evaluation. Christine also manages our company's native plant nursery. In addition to her restoration work, Christine is a trained facilitator and designer with regional and town planning experience related to Natural Resource Conservation and Land Management. This blend of skills allows her to easily bridge the worlds of science and community planning.

Aaron Howard came to Watershed with years of experience as a commercial thinner.  He started in 2009, and has since become a primary sawyer and crew leader.  Aaron is well versed in mechanics, logging operations and forests of Western Montana. 

 

Greg has 12 years of experience working as an environmental consultant specializing in wetland, vegetation, and stormwater projects. His experience includes extensive wetland delineation and mapping, permitting for Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and mitigation feasibility, design, and construction.  Greg brings a background in vegetation and botany to our team.  He has conducted vegetation specialist work on a variety of Environmental Assessments (EA), Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance projects, including wetlands services, vegetation mapping, assessment, botanical identification, threatened and endangered species surveys, and noxious weed inventories.  Greg is a Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (CESCL) for Washington and has prepared various Stormwater Management Plans and permitting for Federal Highways implementing Best Management Practices for compliance with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).  Greg has recently completed a degree in Energy Technology, studying renewable energy and has plans to apply his current background in an ecological assessment and permitting to projects in the renewable energy industry.