Staff

Kurt Beardslee, Executive Director 

Kurt Beardslee is a co-founder of the Wild Fish Conservancy; he has been the organization’s Executive Director since 1991. Under his leadership, Wild Fish Conservancy has grown from a one-man operation with an annual budget of $4000 to an influential advocacy and research organization with a staff of over 20 professional scientists, advocates, and educators, and an annual budget of over one million dollars.

Kurt earned a BA in Advertising/Film Production from the Burnley School of Professional Arts in Seattle, Washington in 1969.  He has been a professional Art Director, a successful and acclaimed furniture designer, and produced educational films for the American Science Foundation.  He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Washington’s Center for Water and Watersheds, the Snohomish Salmon Recovery Technical Team, the Northwest Power Planning Council Artificial Production Review Committee, the Steering Committee of the Shared Strategy Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Board, the  Native Fish Society Board of Directors, the US Fish and Wildlife Service Bull Trout Advisory Committee, and many other boards and committees. He lives in Duvall, Washington with his wife Candace.

Jan Bosman, Office Assistant

An avid naturalist and photographer, Jan Bosman is the Wild Fish Conservancy Retail Store Assistant.  Jan has a wealth of experience in retail management and customer service, and can be found working in the Wild Fish Conservancy Store in Duvall most Saturdays. Originally from Virginia, Jan was a high school honor student and recipient of the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence. Following brief stints as a Barista, Search Engine Consultant, and Individual Support Counselor, his passion for the outdoors led him to Duvall, Washington where he completed the rigorous Residential Program at the Wilderness Awareness School.

Thomas Buehrens, Biologist

Thomas Buehrens contributes to the design and implementation of WFC research and restoration projects. He earned his Bachelors degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College.  Before coming to work full time at Wild Fish Conservancy he completed two internships here as a Doherty Coastal Studies Fellow. His research experience includes studies of nearshore habitat use by juvenile salmon in Puget Sound, diet and trophic linkages of ducks in Merrymeeting Bay in Maine, and forest structure and nutrient cycling in mangroves in Belize. Thomas lives in Seattle, Washington.

Tyler Cluverius, Outreach & Development Coordinator

Tyler Cluverius focuses on increasing The Wild Fish Conservancy’s visibility to the general public, broadening the membership, and expanding the organization's capacity through fundraising. Previously he was an executive at an internationally recognized trade association, managing complex education, outreach and development projects.

Tyler holds a BA in history from Saint Mary's College of Maryland and an MA in Irish Studies from The Catholic University of America. He lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington.

David Crabb, Field Technician

Earned a B.A. in History from Grove City College, Pennsylvania (1971), a Master's degree in Geography (1985) and teaching certificate at Western Washington State University.  He also served as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.  He has extensive experience in stream restoration, riparian planting and logging, is trained in elevation survey methodologies and the operation of total station prisms. 

John Crandall, Biologist

John Crandall has worked on fisheries conservation across the Northwest for over 15 years, with a particular interest in monitoring fish and habitat response to restoration activities.  He contributes to the development of Wild Fish Conservancy programs in the Upper Columbia River Basin.  During eight years with The Nature Conservancy, John worked as a fisheries ecologist in the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon, the on-site preserve manger at the TNC McCloud River Preserve near Mount Shasta, and as a fisheries ecologist in north-central Washington.  John’s experience also includes studying coyotes in Yellowstone National Park and high elevation populations of white-crowned sparrows in Yosemite. He lives with his family in Washington's Methow Valley, tying flies, making salsa, and chasing after his two-year old son.

Nick Gayeski, Aquatic Ecologist

Nick Gayeski has been working at Wild Fish Conservancy since 1996, evaluating harvest and hatchery management, developing WFC advocacy initiatives, and  developing and managing field research projects. Nick earned a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Washington and is currently a PhD candidate in Biology under Dr. Jack Stanford, Director of the Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana.

Nick has taught philosophy, logic, and ethics at the University of Washington and Green River Community College in Auburn, Washington.  He has been a full time flyfishing guide and ran his own flyshop in Lynnwood, Washington from 1986 to 1992. Since 1999 he has been an active participant in a joint U.S./Russian scientific research and conservation initiative focused on steelhead populations on the west coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia.

Jamie Glasgow, Director of Science and Research (Ecology)

Jamie Glasgow contributes to the development and management of all Wild Fish Conservancy scientific programs, including salmonid population surveys and behavioral studies, habitat restoration, and water typing. He received his MS in Fisheries from the University of Washington after earning a BS in Biology from Wake Forest University, with additional undergraduate study at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Jamie is instrumental in data collection, analysis, and reporting aspects of most Wild Fish Conservancy projects.  He has been conducting fisheries research and restoration projects in the Northwest since 1996.  He has extensive experience designing and implementing field studies to evaluate fish presence, species composition, distribution, abundance, and fitness. Jamie lives with his family in Olympia, Washington.

Nickolas Haldeman, Geographic Information Systems / IT Specialist

Nick Haldeman is responsible for all GIS analyzes and cartography related to Wild Fish Conservancy research, restoration, and advocacy initiatives. He also provides technology support for field efforts and for our office network of workstations, laptops, and server.

Nick has a comprehensive understanding of the ecology of Northwest aquatic ecosystems, receiving his Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science with a minor in GIS from Western Washington University in 2007. In 2005 and 2006, he was a scientific technician for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He gained his IT experience performing network, hardware, and software troubleshooting at the US Fish and Wildlife Service regional office in Portland, Oregon.

Mark Hersh, Water Quality Specialist

Mark Hersh contributes water quality as well as Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act expertise to Wild Fish Conservancy research and advocacy projects.  Mark was a restoration coordinator at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Seattle office from 1998-2002, and involved in many watershed restoration and protection programs.  He has been a biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and held positions with other conservation groups, in academia and with the Pennsylvania state government. 

Mark received a Bachelors degree in biology from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science degree in Water Resources (Botany) from Iowa State University. He has published research articles on various water quality topics. He enjoys studying history and traveling to historical sites.
 

Casey Ralston, Education Coordinator

Casey Ralston coordinates all Wild Fish Conservancy Education Programs, including the Environmental Discovery Program, the Window to Discovery Project, and the Icicle Creek Partnership.  Casey develops and maintains programs and curriculum, leads classroom presentations and field trips, conducts outreach to participating schools, recruits and manages seasonal field staff, and develops the fundraising base for all education programs.

Casey earned a Bachelors degree in Ecology from University of California, Davis, and spent several years conducting field research related to fisheries, water quality, and invasive species. Shifting away from research and more into science education, she was awarded a Graduate Certificate in Education, Environment, and Community from Island Wood/University of Washington Extension. She is a Masters candidate in Biology for Teaching at the University of Washington. Prior to joining Wild Fish Conservancy, Casey worked for Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Oregon State University, and the California Department of Water Resources.

Terri Shell, Office Manager / Bookeeper

Terri manages the Wild Fish Conservancy accounts and administers day-to-day organizational activities, office communications, infrastructure, and databases.  She received her undergraduate degree from Washington State University specializing in Accounting. Her professional experience includes being an internal auditor at the JC Penney Corporation, doing compliance audits at various store locations in the Northwest, and  ten years in the Accounting and Materials department at Kenworth Trucks.  She has passed the Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Public Accountant exams. Terri lives with her family in Duvall, Washington.

Frank Staller, Field Technician

Frank Staller contributes to the implementation of Wild Fish Conservancy research and restoration initiatives. Born in Chicago, Frank moved to Washington in 1978 and began a career in forestry, working for commercial timber companies and then the US Forest Service, as a fire fighter, a forest technician, eventually spending ten years as a timber salvage and logging contractor. In 1996 he went to work for the Wild fish Conservancy performing water-typing surveys under the Jobs for the Environment program. He continues to contribute his vast field experience to WFC conservation projects, minus a two-year stint at WDFW from 2002 to 2004. Frank is an enthusiastic musician and an accomplished backpacker, boater, and cyclist. He has completed a 1500-mile ride around Lake Michigan and 2400-mile ride from Sultan, Washington to Chicago, Illinois. Frank lives with his wife Bonnie in Malone, WA.
 

Audrey Thompson, Biologist

Audrey Thompson contributes to Wild Fish Conservancy field research, conservation, monitoring, and advocacy projects. She completed her BA in Biology and Ecology at Colgate University and received her Masters from the Salmonid Rivers Observatory Network at the University of Montana. She conducted her Masters research on the Utkholok River in Kamchatka, Russia, addressing the transfer of marine derived nutrients to freshwater systems from Pacific salmon carcasses.

Audrey has worked as a volunteer and an assistant scientist to Dr. Jack Stanford of the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station on salmon and steelhead research projects in Kamchatka. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Chau Tran, Biologist

In pursuit of her Masters Degree in Water Resources at the University of Idaho at Moscow, Chau Tran is working with funding from the Icicle Fund and Wild Fish Conservancy to investigate the effects of newly restored fish passage at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery in Icicle Creek.  Chau's background includes working as a stream biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, where she studied marine-derived nutrients throughout chinook-dominated tributaries of the Salmon River, Idaho.  Before moving to the Northwest, she received her Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution with a Minor in Classical Civilization at the University of California, Los Angeles.  Chau is improving her fly-fishing skills with the Wild Fish Conservancy field crew and enjoys cooking, live music, snowboarding, and hiking with her spoiled dog, Hannah.

Brent Trim, Biologist

Brent Trim is a wildlife biologist with extensive experience conducting field research in terrestrial and aquatic systems. He has studied a wide variety of species from Pacific salmon to flying squirrels, wild mice, bats, deer, elk, lynx, and Canada geese. Many of the studies he has been involved with were aimed at clarifying the habitat needs of threatened and endangered species.

Brent earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Wildlife Science and Ecology/Conservation Biology from the University of Washington, and undertook graduate studies at the University of Idaho in Moscow. He has worked for the US Geological Survey, National Park Service, Forest Service, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

Micah Wait, Conservation Biologist

Micah Wait develops and manages estuarine restoration projects and coordinates a range of scientific assessments and investigations. He attended College of the Siskiyous in California and Southern Oregon University, earning a BS in biology and chemistry. He earned a Masters Degree in Environmental Management from The Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University.

Before coming to work for Wild Fish Conservancy in 2002, Micah was a project team member with the Regional Ecosystem Applied Learning Corps, and completed an internship at Wild Fish Conservancy that contributed to the development of his Masters Thesis. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
 

Mary Lou White, Projects Manager/Field Biologist

Mary Lou White is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring Wild Fish Conservancy restoration, watertyping, and watershed research projects.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Watershed Studies from Western Washington University in 1992, and has twenty-four years of field experience in project planning, implementation monitoring, and data collection for biological and watershed assessments.

Mary Lou has worked for the US Forest Service as a fire fighter, forestry technician, and fisheries technician, for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, for the University of Washington Center for Streamside Studies, and for Water Resource Consulting company as a hydrologic technician. While the majority of her experience has focused on salmonid and watershed restoration, she has had stints studying spotted owls and elk.  Mary Lou volunteers her free time at Brigadoon, training assistance dogs for handicapped children and adults.  She lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, teenage son, two dogs, and rabbit.