Our Team
CREST employs a seasoned and dedicated team of project managers, biologists, environmental planners and GIS specialists who provide leadership and consultative guidance on planning and habitat restoration initiatives throughout the Lower Columbia River. The CREST team is also experienced in building and maintaining community partnerships to ensure collaborative efforts advance ecological and economic sustainability for the region.
Denise Löfman, Director
Denise joined the CREST team as Director in July of 2012 and has applied her professional passion to resource management of regional watersheds since moving to the Oregon Coast in 2004. She is dedicated to working in partnership with communities to find solutions to natural resource issues. Read More...
Paula Gerttula, Fiscal Administrator/Operations Manager
Paula joined the CREST team originally in March 1997 and worked until June of 2000. She rejoined the organization in 2003 and has been responsible for managing the finance department ever since. Paula possesses a keen interest in being of service to her team and supporting each employee to make their jobs easier, providing orientations to new staff, and participating in special projects with CREST’s Director. Read More...
Tom Josephson, Habitat Restoration Program Manager
Tom Josephson leads the Habitat Restoration Program at CREST. He is responsible for overseeing the implementation of habitat restoration projects, assisting the project managers, and managing funding for the projects. He spends a good amount of time working with funders and partner agencies to identify and team up on restoration projects. Read More...
April Silva, Lead Ecologist
April has discovered the coveted alignment of her professional goals with her personal passions in her role as Lead Ecologist for CREST. April’s devotion to her work is inspired by a love for the outdoors and the commitment CREST makes to both restoration ecology and community economics. Read More...
Nancy Ferber, Coastal Planner
Nancy joined CREST in the role of Coastal Planner in April 2019. Her primary responsibility is supporting both current and long-range planning processes in the Columbia River Estuary region through collaborating with local jurisdictions and agencies in Washington and Oregon. She is excited to work with these unique communities and provide assistance on a diversity of projects. Read More...
Jason Smith, Habitat Restoration Project Manager
Jason grew up in Seaside, Oregon, just south of Astoria. Being involved in research and habitat restoration that impacts his local community was a galvanizing factor in his decision to join the CREST team in 2009. He is passionate about supporting CREST’s crucial role in helping to keep the Columbia River estuary’s vital habitats and the unique species utilizing them from being lost forever. Read More...
Tracy Hruska, Habitat Restoration Project Manager
Tracy joined the Habitat Restoration team as a Project Manager in 2020. Tracy has lived in rural areas across much of the US and abroad, and he brings to CREST a longstanding devotion to seeing that rural communities and their environments benefit each other. He is particularly happy to be working on restoration activities that benefit salmon, and to thereby support all the communities that rely on them. Read More...
Narayan Elasmar, Habitat Restoration Biologist
Narayan has been with CREST since 2014. In that time, he has assisted in the implementation of countless juvenile salmon habitat restoration projects. Narayan works in the monitoring department with April Silva, Lead Ecologist. Read More...
Robert Henicksman, Staff Accountant & Contracts Coordinator
Robert came to CREST in May 2018 as the Financial & Administrative Assistant. In January 2020 he became the Staff Accountant & Contracts Coordinator. He has a Bachelors of Business Administration with a major in Accounting and is also a Certified Public Accountant. Before coming to CREST, Robert spent most of his career as an auditor. Read More...
Kristen Hamilton, Financial & Administrative Assistant
Kristen joined CREST after working in the hospitality & publishing industry for many years. She has a degree in Communications and Journalism from the University of Nevada-Reno and in February 2020, earned the National Bookkeepers Association (NBA) Bookkeeper Certification. Read More...
