Staff

Stacy Kolegas, Executive Director.

Stacy joined the team in 2008 and became Executive Director in early 2009.  Prior to working with the Coalition she worked for the City of Phoenix in their Environmental Programs Office and was the Executive Director of Yampatika, an environmental education nonprofit in Steamboat Springs.  Her academic accomplishments include a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University in Environmental Studies and Art, and she is pursuing a Masters of Public Administration from University of Colorado at Denver.  Her diverse professional background includes nonprofit management, local government environmental compliance assistance, teaching environmental education, and directing youth recreation programs.  

Rusty Lloyd, Program Director.

Rusty joined the Tamarisk Coalition team in January of 2011.  In May of 2000, he moved to Colorado shortly after completing a BS in Park Resource Management from Kansas State University.  Rusty began as a ranger for State of Colorado and Colorado State Parks, then transitioned to Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service managing natural resources and wild land fire fighting.  From 2004 to early 2011, he was the Director for the Western Colorado Conservation Corps (WCCC) in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Rusty has worked extensively with the Tamarisk Coalition in conjunction with the WCCC since 2005 addressing riparian issues and invasive species along riparian areas in Western Colorado.   He is passionate about spending time in the outdoors with his wife Jami and two daughters.

Clark Tate, Restoration Ecologist..

Clark came to play in Colorado after finishing up her MA in environmental sciences with a concentration in land use planning at the University of Virginia. A Virginia native, Clark moved to the Rockies to snowboard and ended up raft guiding, mushing, wrangling, and observing interactions between people and the land for two years. After learning of the tamarisk and Russian olive issues in the west Clark went to work for CSU mapping Russian olive populations in Montana. Shortly thereafter she joined the Tamarisk Coalition in the late summer of 2006. Now a semi-seasoned weed warrior, Clark is passionate about protecting and restoring the proper functioning condition of western rivers.

Shannon Hatch, Restoration Coordinator.

After a peripatetic existence working in various capacities for the National Park Service and the US Forest Service, Shannon moved back to her home state of Colorado in 2008.  Following two seasons with a regional land trust, Shannon joined the Tamarisk Coalition in 2010.  She received her MS in Environmental Science from the University of Idaho and her BA in Environmental Studies/Biology from Whitman College.

Christy Duncan, Business Administrator.

Christy came to the Tamarisk Coalition in 2006. She earned her BBA in Business Management from Mesa State College. Christy helps keep the Coalition organized by electronically sending newsletters, keeping our database up-to-date, updating our website and organizing all membership information.

Season Martin, Restoration Coordinator.

Season is a native to the Grand Valley. After a 4-year stint at Whitman College obtaining a B.A. in Geology and Environmental Studies, she has happily found herself back home as a member of the Tamarisk Coalition staff.  She has previously worked on public land grazing practices in the forests of southern Utah and with a variety of environmental education programs. Working on restoring riparian habitats along western river systems fulfills her dream of contributing to the rivers she floated as a child.

Bill Cooper, Restoration Coordinator.

Bill earned a BS in Landscape Architecture with a focus in restoration ecology from Colorado State University. While at CSU, Bill became passionate about the lasting impact haphazard land management has had on the landscape and is dedicated to using his wide breadth of skills to assist the affected ecosystems in their recovery. When Bill is not on the Coalition’s time you can find him seeking adventure and solace throughout the intermountain west. He is thrilled to be a part of the Tamarisk Coalition and its guiding role in the restoration of riparian lands.

Jamie Nielsen, Restoration Ecologist.

 Jamie earned her BS in Resource Ecology & Management from the University of Michigan and an MS in Forest Resources from the University of Idaho, serving as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Panamá in between degrees. She was living in the Last Frontier, working with University of Alaska Cooperative Extension before relocating to Flagstaff, Arizona.

Jesse Lanci, Seasonal Restoration Tech.

Jesse has performed biocontrol monitoring surveys for the Tamarisk Coalition for the last 3 years.  He obtained his B.S. in Environmental Biology and GIS Certificate from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO.  Jesse was recently with Colorado Division of Wildlife’s River Watch and before that was a Project Manager for the Mancos Watershed Project. He also has worked on Utah’s major rivers conducting endangered fish surveys for the Utah Division of Wildlife and has experience as a GIS consultant.

Audrey Butler, Restoration Coordinator

Audrey grew up on the Western Slope and is excited to be working with the team at the Tamarisk Coalition to promote the health of western rivers. After earning a B.S. in environmental science from Creighton University she worked for several years as an environmental consultant throughout Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. This experience afforded her a deeper understanding of the need for the protection and restoration of river ecosystems throughout the West.  Following a stint in Alaska, Audrey made her way back to Colorado where she continues to explore her passion for restoration ecology.

Daniel Oppenheimer, Restoration Coordinator

Daniel grew up hunting, fishing, and chasing armadillos along the Frio River in South Texas. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry &Environmental Studies. Most recently, Daniel worked for the Nueces River Authority, implementing riparian restoration projects on the Sabinal and Nueces Rivers. Before this, he worked for the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, assessing collaborative grizzly bear management efforts in Banff National Park, and for the Environmental Law Institute, conducting research and organizing trainings on a variety of natural resource policy and management issues.

At the Tamarisk Coalition, Daniel co-leads the TC’s work in the Dolores River Restoration Partnership. In this capacity, he coordinates collaborative efforts across western Colorado and eastern Utah to plan, prioritize, and implement large-scale restoration projects on publicly managed lands, as well as to link private landowners with resources to manage and restore their riparian lands