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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Buckley has more than twenty years of experience in earth science, specializing in fluvial sedimentology, geomorphology and hydrology. He applies fluvial geomorphic and sedimentologic concepts to watershed analysis and stream stability. He also applies these concepts to field problems in environmental geology, stream reconstruction and all aspects of project management, including monitoring plan development, permitting and restoration construction and supervision. Steve has conducted stream assessment and restoration design and implementation on more than 20 streams and rivers including the Flathead, Teton, Ruby, Sun, St. Regis, East Fork Bull, Two Medicine rivers and Swift, Elk, Prospect, Rock, Smith and Whitepine creeks. Steve has testified as an expert witness as Geomorphologist and Hydrologist on cases ranging from 310 Law jurisdictional cases to land ownership issues on the Sun, Swan and Whitefish rivers to water rights cases in the Flathead Basin. His latest case, involving the Sun River was recently re-affirmed by the Montana Supreme Court (see Montana Supreme Court No. 02-521 Harding vs. Savoy).

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.

Pedro brings more than 10 years of leadership in restoration and conservation projects to our team.  His is our Operations Officer, managing the daily operations of the company as well as managing our upland restoration work in Anaconda, MT.  Trained in stream ecology, he is a key scientist on our water resources assessment team and is expanding his experience to include soils surveys.  Before making his move to Montana, Pedro coordinated and supervised in-stream and forest restoration projects in Panama, Brazil, West Oakland, and Puerto Rico.  He specializes in identifying and enhancing the natural regeneration potential of Montana ecosystems, in both riparian or upland areas.

Added to his applied science knowledge base, Pedro is a skilled organizer and technical writer, having worked in communictions and technical writing at small non-profit organizations, and for international environmental symposia and The World Bank.  He brings experience and training in the NEPA process, and is able to seamlessly move from the field to producing high-quality reports for our clients.

 

 

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.

 

 

Tricia Burgoyne specializes in soil ecology, soil disturbance issues, nutrient cycling, soil classification and soil analytical work. Tricia’s background in forest ecology coupled with her experience as a soil scientist have given her the expertise necessary to explore the world of disturbance ecology, related soils issues and ecological restoration. Tricia is adept at experimental design, study implementation, data analysis, statistics, and result interpretation. As a forester, Tricia is able to apply the results of soil studies and experiments in practical management applications. She is familiar with all phases of forest work, from silvicultural prescriptions to harvest systems.

Mark Ford specializes in forest restoration, low-impact logging, and sustainable resource issues. Ford is a key member of our soil assessment team, as well as our revegetation crew. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and tree climber. Mark is also a talented machine operator and mechanic; if we break it, he can fix it.