Micah Russell, Director

Micah administers and directs the activities of CREST on behalf of member cities, counties and ports in the region: environmental planning and management, habitat restoration and assessment, and estuarine research and monitoring.  He works closely with partner agencies, universities and non-profits in striving to further CREST's mission and services. His background is in coastal ecology and fisheries, as well as science education.

Alejandro Bancke, Coastal Planner/GIS Specialist

Alejandro is qualified to assist member jurisdictions with guidance and review of land use planning issues, permits, and other related planning items.  He also provides on-site assistance for planning departments.  In addition to his planning skills he has extensive experience with GIS mapping, database management, GIS analyses, and cartographic production. He earned his masters degree in urban and regional planning from Portland State University (PSU).

April Silva, Lead Ecologist

April implements a variety of research and monitoring projects.  Most field work is related to the effectiveness of tidal wetland restoration projects.  Her duties include applying a variety of techniques to characterize salmon life history patterns and overall ecological response to restoration, as well as overseeing the performance of laboratory work on fisheries samples.  She also has extensive training in wetland delineation and characterization. 

Holly Cook, Administrative/Financial Assistant

Holly works closely with the Fiscal Administrator managing accounts payable. She is also responsible for maintaining the CREST website, coordinating council meetings, maintaining the CREST libraries and other administrative support as needed.

Jason Smith, Habitat Restoration Biologist

Jason works with the Lead Ecologist to conduct field work related to the effectiveness of tidal wetland restoration projects.  He also performs lab analyses and maintains and repairs a variety of equipment.  Jason is tasked with related projects, like the development of pit tag array systems, and is gaining experience in elements of habitat restoration project management. 

Jesse Jones, North Coast Watershed Association Coordinator

Jesse coordinates the projects, activities and communications of four watersheds in the north coast that together make up the North Coast Watershed Association:  Skipanon, Ecola Creek, Youngs Bay, and Nicolai-Wickiup. Jesse is a liaison between residential and other landowners, industry, and all types of stakeholders and works with the watershed councils and CREST staff to identify, plan, obtain funds, and implement habitat projects.  Projects at this time range from salmon and trout habitat restoration, water control structure removal, logging road decommission, wetland reconnection, stream realignment and an outreach campaign to educate the public about the watersheds role in our everyday lives.s.

Madeline Dalton, Habitat Restoration Project Manager

Madeline manages the planning and implementation of habitat restoration projects. She has considerable experience with project management and extensive relationships in the region due to her previous employment as the Watershed Coordinator.  She performs landowner outreach and oversees the quality of subcontracted work, restoration design, regulatory permitting, and construction.

Matt Van Ess, Habitat Restoration Program Coordinator

Matt is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of CREST’s habitat restoration program. His background in coastal zone management and experience with Columbia River management issues is ideal for focusing on restoration of rearing habitat for juvenile salmon in the estuary. Matt supervises habitat restoration project managers during landowner outreach, project investigation, permitting, and construction of on-the-ground restoration projects. He also maintains relationships and works collaboratively with partner organizations and funders of CREST’s habitat restoration work.

Paula Gerttula, Fiscal Administrator

Paula manages the day to day financial management of CREST. She assists in preparation and refinement of the annual budget. She is responsible for the financial tracking of all CREST grant and contract projects, which average 30 open projects at any given time. She works closely with project managers to ensure all project expenses are within the requirements stated in the grants/contracts.  She also administers employee benefits and other Human Resources duties..

Peggy Coreson, Financial Assistant

Peggy works closely with the Fiscal Administrator tracking the finances for CREST grant and contract projects.  She bills the grantors/contract clients and maintains the grant/project files.

Sam Giese,Habitat Restoration Project Manager

Sam manages the planning and implementation of habitat restoration projects. He has an extensive background in engineering and project management. This includes 10 years of experience in habitat restoration and water resources engineering.  In addition to managing assigned projects, he provides support for staff with quality assurance of consultant products, preliminary mapping and modeling, and construction cost estimating.

Tom Josephson, Habitat Restoration Project Manager

Tom manages the planning and implementation of habitat restoration projects, particularly Lower Columbia River projects upstream of Ranier, Oregon. He performs landowner outreach and oversees the quality of subcontracted work, restoration design, regulatory permitting, and construction. He has background and experience in community and natural resource planning and is based out of an office in Portland, Oregon.