Board
2024 -2025 Officers
President Elect: Wafa Tafesh
President : Angela Strecker
Past President: VACANT
Secretary: Marisa Burghdoff
Treasurer: Will Hobbs
2024 -2025 Directors
- Anna Mostovetsky
- Curtis DeGasperi
- Darren Brandt
- Katie Sweeney
- Katie Ewen
- Jeremy Walls
- Tim Clark (Clark)
- Wes Glisson
- Sam Russell
- Jamie Brunner
- Ty Stephenson
2024 – 2025 Committees
By-Laws/Public Policy and Legislative:
Tim Clark, Curtis DeGasperi, Chris Knutson, Mark Systma, Marisa Burghdoff
Membership/Nominations/Elections:
Angela Strecker, Wafa Tafesh, Marisa Burghdoff
Communications/Website/Social Media:
Marisa Burghdoff, Will Hobbs, Anna Mostovetsky, Katie Ewen, Katie Sweeney
Annual Conference:
Wafa Tafesh, Angela Strecker, Curtis DeGasperi, Jeremy Walls, Darren Brandt, Jamie Brunner, Will Hobbs
Scholarship:
Will Hobbs, Jeremy Walls, Wes Glisson
Diversity Equity and Inclusion/Outreach/Student Affairs:
Ty Stephenson, Wes Glisson, Tim Clark, Katie Ewen
Western Conference:
Katie Sweeney, Anna Mostovetsky, Wafa Tafesh, Ty Stephenson
Fundraising and Grants:
Darren Brandt, Will Hobbs, Jamie Brunner, Angela Strecker
OFFICER BIOGRAPHIES
Wafa Tafesh, President Elect (2024-2027)
Wafa is a University of Washington graduate and has worked on various projects focused on environmental public health. She began her career as an intern with the Seattle non-profit, The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, hosting Rain2River walks in Seattle’s neighborhoods. Since then she has worked with the Washington Department of Health as a field sampler (oysters) during the Vibrio parahaemolyticus season and as Technical Program Advisor for the Office of Drinking Water. She has worked with Recology Cleanscapes managing stormwater and hazardous waste compliance. Most recently, she acted as a Health and Environmental Investigator in King County’s Hazardous Waste Management Program. Wafa currently works with King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks as a Water Quality Planner. Her work includes water quality sampling, managing water quality data, conducting quality assurance reviews, and assisting with report writing. She supports the Lake Stewardship Program, toxic algae response team, and lake swimming beach bacteria monitoring program.
Angela Strecker, President (2023-2026)
Angela Strecker is the Director of the Institute for Watershed Studies and faculty in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Western Washington University. Prior to arriving at WWU, she was faculty in the Department of Environmental Science and Management at Portland State University and Director of the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Biology at the University of Regina and a Ph.D. at Queen’s University in Biology. Her research interests fall into several interconnected categories that revolve around the basic question of what influences biodiversity and ecosystem function at different spatial scales in aquatic systems. To do this, her lab studies anthropogenic stressors in freshwater ecosystems, such as invasive species, climate change, habitat connectivity, and contaminants. Ultimately, this work leads to the question of how ecosystem functions and services may be affected by human activities. In general, she uses the combined approach of field surveys, small-scale and large-scale experiments, and statistical modeling to test hypotheses. She also collaborates with social scientists to better understand complex socio-ecological systems. Angela was a WALPA board director from 2019-2023.
Marisa Burghdoff, Secretary (2023-2025)
Marisa is from Snohomish County Department of Conservation and Natural Resources where she leads their lake management program. In this role, she coordinates a volunteer monitoring program, implements lake studies and restoration projects as well as behavior change outreach programs to reduce pollution to lakes. Marisa has a BS in biology from the University of Michigan, Master of Science in Environmental Science/Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University and a Master of Teaching from Western Washington University. Marisa’s love of lakes started in her home state of Michigan (though ironically, she lived in the only county without a lake in the state). Outside of work, she can be found spending time with her three kids, enjoying nature or heading to trivia with her husband.
Will Hobbs, Treasurer (2022-2024)
Will is a senior environmental scientist with the Washington State Department of Ecology, Environmental Assessment Program. He received his B.Sc. in Physical Geography from the University of British Columbia, M.Sc. in Limnology and Environmental Science at the University of Dublin, Ireland, and his PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. Prior to joining Ecology, Will was a research scientist in freshwater and paleo-ecology at the University of Nebraska, University of Minnesota and the Science Museum of Minnesota. His current scientific interests include: diatom ecology, ecological changes in lakes over decadal timescales, cyanotoxins, and the transport and bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals in rivers and lakes. With Ecology, Will works primarily on targeted source identification studies for toxic contaminants in freshwater and oversees the agency’s participation in the National Lakes Assessment with the USEPA.
BOARD OF DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Darren Brandt, Director (2024-2026)
Darren has a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State University. He worked for Idaho’s Department of Environmental Quality for 10 years where he managed the surface water programs for the Twin Falls and Coeur d’Alene offices. In 2003 he became a private consultant and is the President and Limnologist for Advanced Eco-Solutions Inc. He specializes in nutrient chemistry and lower trophic level dynamics in western lakes. He also does extensive work on HABS throughout Idaho. He has served on the WALPA Board for two previous terms.
Jamie Brunner, Director (2024-2026)
Jamie Brunner has been with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality as the Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Supervisor since 2013. Her work includes overseeing a team to collect and analyze long-term water quality data to track trends in parameters outlined in the Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Plan (LMP), collaborate with partners to provide outreach and education to a variety of groups, facilitate the implementation of phosphorus reduction projects, and share information with land managers and decision-makers throughout the Coeur d’Alene Basin in an effort to protect and improve water quality in Coeur d’Alene Lake. She has been working on natural resource issues in North Idaho since 1999, including water quality, heavy metals contamination, aquatic and riparian habitat, stormwater treatment alternatives, aquatic invasive species, and outreach and education programs aimed at increasing awareness of water quality and ways to protect it. She graduated in from the University of Idaho in 2000 with a degree in Environmental Science. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking, fishing, hiking, and snowboarding with her 13-year-old son.
Tim Clark (Clark), Director (2023-2025)
Clark is a limnologist and watershed scientist with Herrera Inc. and has a passion for enacting positive change for the environment and society. He finds a deal of joy in connecting with people to collaborate and generate novel solutions to old problems through systems thinking. Clark likes to backpack, bicycle tour, and explore the wonders of the natural world however and as frequently as he can.
Curtis DeGasperi, Director (2023-2025)
I’ve worked in King County’s Science and Data Management Section for the past 20 years focusing on the quality and quantity of freshwater across the lowlands of Puget Sound. I first became interested in lake water quality and management as an undergraduate fortunate enough to spend two summers helping study Irondequoit Bay (Monroe County, NY) and its associated aquatic plants and wetlands. That initial experience led me to an MS from the University of Washington. My thesis project involved a continuation of a long-term study of the effects of a drawdown and alum treatment of Long Lake (Kitsap County, WA). Next, I worked on reforestation projects and water quality issues associated with Lake Chichoj as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Before joining King County, I worked at various environmental consulting firms in the Seattle area. I also taught environmental science classes at Clover Park Technical College and Green River Community College.
Katie Ewen, Director (2024-2026)
Katie is an aquatic ecologist for the National Park Service’s North Coast and Cascades Network, stationed in North Cascades National Park. She oversees long-term monitoring of North Cascade’s alpine lakes as well as river systems throughout Washington’s National Parks. Katie earned her MS at Western Washington University, researching the impacts of glacial recession on stream temperatures in cold-water habitat. She holds a BA in English and Earth Science from Vassar College and has lived throughout the west, working as an aquatics field technician and fish biologist on Mount Rainier and in Olympic National Park, teaching as an environmental educator, coordinating amphibian citizen science work and conducting field research on glaciers, bison, moose, wolverines and mountain lions. In her free time Katie enjoys cold dips in alpine lakes, skiing, looking for animal tracks in the snow, and reading.
Wes Glisson, Director (2023-2025)
Wes is the aquatic plant specialist for the Washington State Department of Ecology. He has a BS in Biological Sciences from Northern Illinois University and an MS in Plant Biology and Conservation from Northwestern University. Before working for the Department of Ecology, Wes was a researcher for the Chicago Botanic Garden, the University of Idaho, and most recently, the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center. His research has focused on the biology, ecology, and management of invasive aquatic plants. At the Department of Ecology, Wes conducts monitoring of freshwater aquatic plants throughout Washington and provides technical assistance for invasive aquatic plant management.
Anna Mostovetsky, Director (2024-2026)
Anna Mostovetsky is an Environmental Health Specialist with Whatcom County Health and Community Services. She works in the Living Environment Program, which specializes in monitoring beach water quality, recreational shellfish biotoxins, harmful algae blooms, vector borne pathogens and water recreation facilities. She earned a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. After graduating she spent a decade working in the fields of hydrology with the U.S. Forest Service, salmon restoration with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group and forestry practices review with the Skagit River System Cooperative. She transitioned into public health eight months before a global pandemic, which was impeccable timing on her part. In her free time Anna likes to hike, garden, fish, perform improv comedy and subject her twin daughters to outdoor activities that they will hopefully not hate when they grow up.
Sam Russell, Director (2023-2025)
Sam is an Environmental Health Specialist with Skagit County Environmental Health Department. Her work focuses on On-Site Sewage systems, water quality, recreational shellfish biotoxins, cyanobacteria blooms, outreach and education. She graduated from Western Washington University’s College of the Environment with a B.Sc. in Environmental Science, Marine Ecology and then spent three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural Melanesian village focusing on integrated environmental resource management, or a “ridge to reef” approach to ecosystem interaction. Those three years formed a foundation for understanding and improving individuals’ interactions with and within their natural and built environments and has kept her passionate about environmental health issues both locally and globally. Outside of work, Sam can be found officiating weddings, hiking, camping, mushroom hunting, snowshoeing or kayaking with her dog.
Ty Stephenson, Student Director (2023-2025)
Ty is a graduate research assistant in the Strecker lab examining spatial and temporal trends in macroinvertebrate communities and water quality in aquatic ecosystems in the North Coast and Cascades Network. Ty grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia and quickly took interest in the aquatic communities inhabiting the Appalachian streams. He has been involved in a wide variety of aquatic ecology research projects, including studying the effects of coal mining contaminants on freshwater mussels, the distribution of the threatened bog turtle, community and behavioral ecology of bluehead chubs and their nesting associates, and the long-term changes in the fish community in Blacksburg’s local streams. Ty was also the Vice President of Virginia Tech’s student chapter of the American Fisheries Society. He worked for trout unlimited studying how native trout populations respond to habitat enhancement projects, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Aquatic Assessment Crew studying fish, toad, and snake populations across Wyoming. Most recently, he spent time working for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Watershed Assessment Branch conducting stream assessments. Ty is motivated by learning about how environmental changes, anthropogenic or otherwise affect aquatic environments and their biotic communities.
Katie Sweeney, Director (2023-2025)
Katie Sweeney is an Environmental Scientist at Herrera Environmental Consultants in Portland, OR where she works on various water quality, stormwater and lake management projects. She was born and raised in upstate New York, where she spent her time romping around swamps, woods, meadows and lakeshores, asking “why?”. Katie has a BA in Environmental Studies with a minor in Sustainability from Wells College, which led to a rewarding diversity of ecological work experiences. Katie quickly found a passion for aquatic sciences which included work in limnology, education, wastewater, and fish culture. She found her way west and in 2021 earned her M.S. in Environmental Science from Washington State University- Vancouver, defending her work on the trophic roles of micro-zooplankton during a cyanobacteria bloom in Vancouver Lake. In her free time, Katie lives for snuggles and playtime with her dog Delta, as well as crafting and baking.
Jeremy Walls, Director (2023-2025)
Jeremy is an aquatic scientist with the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. His work includes performing data analysis and quality control for the streams monitoring program and conducting microbial source tracking studies with the Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) program to find and fix fecal pollution sources. Jeremy earned his BS and MS in biology from Ball State University, researching physicochemical drivers of cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom (cHAB) severity and toxicity. Prior to working for King County, he worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to monitor cHABs in public waters. Additionally, he worked as an aquatic scientist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to develop and implement water quality standards for surface waters. Outside of work, Jeremy enjoys kayaking, rock climbing, and backpacking.
