Salmon Recovery Funding
Board
Review Panel
To help ensure that every project funded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board is technically sound, the board's review panel evaluates projects to ensure they have a:
- High benefit to salmon.
- High likelihood of being successful.
- Costs that don't outweigh the anticipated benefits of the project.
Review Panel Members
Michelle Cramer, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia.
Ms. Cramer is a senior environmental engineer. She provides statewide technical assistance and recommendations to habitat managers on planning and design of fresh and marine bank protection, habitat restoration, flood hazard management, and fish passage projects. Ms. Cramer earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from Humboldt State University and is a licensed professional engineer in Washington State.
Kelley Jorgensen, consultant, Ridgefield.
Ms. Jorgensen is a senior watershed ecologist who brings more than 25 years of private and public sector experience in applied watershed science and regulatory compliance to her current position managing the Plas Newydd Farm Conservation Program. Ms. Jorgensen’s current focus is the restoration of more than 1,000 acres of Columbia River floodplain habitats including the development of the proposed Wapato Valley Wetland Mitigation and Habitat Conservation Bank. The Columbia River basin has been her focus for more than two decades, where she has worked on numerous restoration and development project teams, managing projects large and small involving field biology, watershed ecology, aquatic and terrestrial habitat restoration project development and site selection, restoration design, mitigation services, and environmental permitting and regulatory compliance. She has been on the Salmon Recovery Funding Board Review Panel since 2007, and a member of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board Technical Advisory Committee from 2000-2002, and 2007-present. She was an officer and member of the River Restoration Northwest Board of Directors from 2007-2015.
Jennifer O'Neal, consultant, Mount Vernon.
Ms. O'Neal is a senior fisheries biologist at Tetra Tech with 16 years of experience in stream restoration monitoring, salmon habitat restoration design, and riparian ecology. Her field and research experience includes developing protocols for monitoring salmonid populations, measuring the effectiveness of habitat restoration projects, determining data quality levels in monitoring efforts across the Pacific Northwest. Her current focus is using remote sensing techniques and topographic survey to assess changes in floodplain habitats due to restoration actions. She also is interacting with local community watershed groups and research centers at the University of Washington, the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership, and the Bonneville Power Administration to promote science-based watershed planning, efficient monitoring, and management. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in environmental science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master of science degree in fisheries from the University of Washington.
Patrick Powers, consultant, Olympia.
Mr. Powers is the principal and owner of Waterfall Engineering, LLC, a limited liability engineering consulting firm that specializes in fish passage and stream restoration. He brings 28 years of experience designing projects with particular specialties in fishways, fish screening, hydraulics, hydrology, river engineering, and marine and near-shore restoration. He served as the chief engineer for the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Habitat Program and was involved in the development of guidance documents on stream restoration and fish passage. He received his master of science degree in civil and environmental engineering from Washington State University with an emphasis on the fisheries engineering program. He is a nationally-recognized expert for his master’s thesis on analyzing fish barriers at natural obstructions.
Paul Schlenger, consultant, Seattle.
Mr. Schlenger is certified by the American Fisheries Society as a fisheries professional. He has done extensive work in Puget Sound estuarine and near-shore environments. Mr. Schlenger also is certified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as a certified forage fish biologist and conducts eelgrass and macroalgae surveys. He has 16 years of experience working on salmon recovery, habitat restoration, and salmon ecology projects. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia and a master of science degree in fisheries from the University of Washington.
Tom Slocum, Chair, PE, Mount Vernon.
Mr. Slocum directs the engineering services program for San Juan, Skagit, Whatcom, and Whidbey Island conservation districts, based in Mount Vernon. He has expertise in engineering, permitting, grant writing, and project management related to salmon habitat restoration, water quality protection, and storm water management. He received his law degree from Seattle University Law School, his master of science degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University, and his bachelor of arts degree from Dartmouth College.
Steve Toth, consulting geomorphologist, Seattle.
Mr. Toth has expertise in watershed analyses, evaluating surface water and groundwater hydrology, surveying channel morphology and fish habitat, assessing riparian forest functions, delineating wetlands, analyzing slope stability, and calculating road erosion. He was a Fulbright Scholar in water management in Hungary and gained a College of Forest Resources Graduate School Fellowship at the University of Washington. He studied biology as an undergraduate at Carleton College and received his master of science degree in forest hydrology from the University of Washington.
Marnie Tyler, consultant, Olympia.
Dr. Tyler is the principal and owner of Ecolution, an environmental consulting firm specializing in salmon recovery and habitat restoration. She brings 22 years of experience in natural resources with particular field expertise in riparian and wetland ecology. In addition to technical skills, Dr. Tyler brings experience in salmon recovery planning and policy through government service, including the Recreation and Conservation Office, Office of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, Northwest Power and Conservation Council, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Puget Sound Action Team. She earned a doctor of philosophy in ecosystems assessment from the University of Washington, master of science in environmental science and master of public affairs from Indiana University, and a bachelor of science in forestry from the University of Missouri.