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Staff

	Stacy Kolegas, Executive Director. Stacy joined the team in 2008 and transitioned into the Executive Director position in early 2009. Stacy earned her BA in Environmental Studies and Art from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2003. She previously served as Executive Director of Yampatika, an environmental education nonprofit in Steamboat Springs, CO. Most recently she has worked for the city of Phoenix as Environmental Programs Assistant, where she helped the city tackle sustainability and climate change among other environmental challenges. Stacy’s experience in both the nonprofit and governmental sectors makes her an ideal addition to our team. She is an artist and avid hiker and will be spending her spare time exploring Colorado!
	Tim Carlson, Research and Policy Director. Tim was among the co-founders of the Tamarisk Coalition and was Executive Director from 2002 to early 2009. He received a BS in Civil Engineering and MS in Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado. He has had a long career of tackling prickly environmental issues in the west and has used his extensive experience to guide the Coalition through its formative years. Over the past 6 years, Tim has established the Tamarisk Coalition as the most credible organization addressing the tamarisk problem.
	Nate Ament, Restoration Ecologist. Nate is a species native to western Colorado. He began working for the Tamarisk Coalition in 2005 after earning a BS in Environmental Science from Mesa State College. Nate has extensively searched the riparian areas of Colorado for tamarisk, and in 2007 completed a statewide tamarisk inventory for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Additionally, Nate has partnered with the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at CSU in their invasive species ecology research efforts. He has a passion for all things desert, mountain, river and snow, including the preservation and understanding of each.
	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.
	Meredith Swett Walker, Science and Outreach Coordinator. Meredith moved to Colorado after completing her Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Ecology at the University of Montana where she studied bird behavior and physiology. Over the years she has chased birds from Wyoming to the Bay of Fundy, South Africa to Vermont. She joined the Tamarisk Coalition in 2008 and will be coordinating the Volunteer and Education Program. Meredith lives in Fruita where she enjoys hiking in McInnis Canyons with her dogs and has recently taken up mountain biking. She is thrilled to be part of the Coalition’s dynamic and collaborative effort to tackle the invasive species problem.
	Rebecca Carlson, Restoration Coordinator. Rebecca has always had a deep connection with western river systems: she grew up in Grand Junction playing on the Colorado River, was a collegiate rower on the Snake River and later worked on a cattle ranch along the Yampa River. After earning her Bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture from Washington State University, she interned for the Nature Conservancy on the Carpenter Ranch engaging in hands-on restoration. With a new fervor for land stewardship, she headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue her master’s degree with a dual focus in ecological restoration and community-based development. She was asked to assist the TC on the planning and design of the Watson Island Restoration Plan in the fall of 2008 and is thrilled to be back in action.
	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 local land trust, Shannon joined the Tamarisk Coalition in 2010, excited to be working in a position combining weeds, water and the Wild West. She received a MS in Environmental Science with an emphasis in rangeland ecology from the University of Idaho.
	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 the bi-monthly newsletters, keeping our database up-to-date, and organizing all membership information. Christy stays busy with her two fun kids, while still finding time to share her wit and a laugh with her office-mates.
	Levi Jamison, Biocontrol Specialist. Levi first partnered with the Tamarisk Coalition in the spring of 2006 after graduating from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. Levi facilitates research efforts in the partnership between the Tamarisk Coalition and the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture’s Palisade Insectary. He brings a wealth of biocontrol knowledge and field experience to the Coalition. We greatly appreciate his assistance with tamarisk mapping and biocontrol beetle monitoring. Levi loves the river and studying the intricate balances that surround it.
	Sarahlee Lawrence, Education Intern. Sarahlee is a river rafting guide and experiential educator who lives an adventurous life running rivers, researching riparian environments, training horses, farming, and writing. She graduated from the University of Montana in May 2008 with a master’s degree in Environmental Science. While completing her graduate studies, she has researched the Colorado River watershed with the Tamarisk Coalition, and hopes to create an environmental education program using resources and curriculum she developed during her master’s program.