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.
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.
Jeanette Smith, Pacific Watershed Institute, Seattle.
Ms. Smith has more than 20 years of experience in the watershed analysis and evaluation field as an aquatic ecologist, with 15 of those years specifically focused on salmonid habitat analysis, monitoring, and restoration. As principal scientist with Pacific Watershed Institute, she was part of the team that developed the first watershed assessment modules for the Washington Department of Natural Resources and went on to develop and implement further fisheries and riparian habitat modules for assessment protocols for tribal entities via the Environmental Protection Agency. Much of her restoration and assessment work focuses on helping clients and agencies to coordinate their efforts across ownership boundaries. Ms. Smith holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a master of science degree from the School of Fisheries at the University of Washington, where her research focused on the interactions of riparian and stream habitat in relation to salmonid habitat structure and function.
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.