Executive Director & Project Managers
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Isaac Mikus - Executive Director
Isaac received a B.S. in Botany and Marine Biology from Humboldt State University. He has been working in the fisheries restoration field since 2005 when he joined the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program (WSP). After two years of WSP he went to work for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program, then the California Conservation Corps where he helped design and build instream habitat structures. Through his work Isaac has visited nearly every salmonid bearing stream in Humboldt and Mendocino County. |
Dave Heaton – Project Manager
Dave received a B.S. in Geology from CSU San Bernardino and worked on his M.S. in Environmental Systems (Geology) at Humboldt State University. He has been working in the fisheries restoration field since 2006 when he joined the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program (WSP). After WSP he went to work for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Coastal Watersheds Planning and Assessment Program where he coauthored the South Fork Eel River and the Lower Eel River, Basin-wide Assessments among others. He worked with Friends of the Van Duzen as a hydrogeomorphologist and CalTrout as a project manager before coming to ERWIG.
Alyssa Owen - Project Manager
Alyssa received a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz. She started working with amphibians and fish while volunteering with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, surveying high mountain lakes and collecting data on current amphibian and nonnative sport fish occupancy patterns. She then joined the AmeriCorp's Watershed Stewards Program (WSP) where she was placed at the Fortuna California Conservation Corps and the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group site. Following her term with WSP she was excited to join the ERWIG team as a Project Manager.
Alyssa received a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz. She started working with amphibians and fish while volunteering with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, surveying high mountain lakes and collecting data on current amphibian and nonnative sport fish occupancy patterns. She then joined the AmeriCorp's Watershed Stewards Program (WSP) where she was placed at the Fortuna California Conservation Corps and the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group site. Following her term with WSP she was excited to join the ERWIG team as a Project Manager.
Board of Directors
Clif Clendenen - Chair
Clif was born in Scotia and raised on his family’s apple farm in Fortuna. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with a degree in Botany. After a few years of travel, he returned to Fortuna to work at Clendenen’s Cider Works, which he’s owned and operated for over 30 years. Currently, he’s mentoring his son, Drew, the 4th generation to manage the farm. Clendenen’s Cider Works has been in continuous production since 1869 and in the Clendenen family since 1909. Clif’s recent term on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors underscored the importance of good long-term land use planning. He is excited to help NRLT keep agricultural and timber lands healthy, productive and viable.
Melissa “Missy” Kobetsky - Vice Chair
Missy is a Staff Natural Resource Scientist with the Pacific Watershed Associates. She has a background in Natural Resource Sciences with an emphasis in geospatial applications, watershed restoration, and fluvial geomorphology. She specializes in environmental land use permitting, regulatory monitoring and reporting, as well as post-project monitoring and performance evaluation. She is a certified remote pilot through the FAA and has experience utilizing unmanned aerial systems for geomorphic surveying and mapping. Additionally, her skills include water quality analysis, stream and habitat assessments, and field-based topographic surveying.
Missy is a Staff Natural Resource Scientist with the Pacific Watershed Associates. She has a background in Natural Resource Sciences with an emphasis in geospatial applications, watershed restoration, and fluvial geomorphology. She specializes in environmental land use permitting, regulatory monitoring and reporting, as well as post-project monitoring and performance evaluation. She is a certified remote pilot through the FAA and has experience utilizing unmanned aerial systems for geomorphic surveying and mapping. Additionally, her skills include water quality analysis, stream and habitat assessments, and field-based topographic surveying.
Melanie Cunningham - Secretary
Melanie is a partner at Shakefork Community Farm, a regenerative, oxen-powered farm on the Van Duzen River floodplain. Shakefork serves Humboldt County farmers' markets in Fortuna, Garberville and Arcata and feeds 160 families through their seasonal CSA program. The farm produces a variety of vegetables, strawberries, apples, pastured eggs, chicken, turkey and beef, while tending to soil and ecosystem health Melanie also serves as the Board President for the North Coast Growers' Association.
John Summers - Treasurer
John works for the Mattole Restoration Council as a Field Crew Leader for the Native Ecosystem Restoration Program. His work focuses on invasive species removal, riparian ecosystem restoration, and Sudden Oak Death (SOD) monitoring. His prior work experience includes several terms with AmeriCorps specializing in habitat restoration and environmental interpretation, and as a forestry technician for Full Circle Forestry. He is a graduate of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a BS in Conservation Biology.
John works for the Mattole Restoration Council as a Field Crew Leader for the Native Ecosystem Restoration Program. His work focuses on invasive species removal, riparian ecosystem restoration, and Sudden Oak Death (SOD) monitoring. His prior work experience includes several terms with AmeriCorps specializing in habitat restoration and environmental interpretation, and as a forestry technician for Full Circle Forestry. He is a graduate of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a BS in Conservation Biology.
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Sandra is a Senior Biologist at Pacific North Western Biological Resources Consultants. She has been a wildlife biologist in Northern California specializing in sensitive and endangered species since the mid 1990’s. Her recent work includes surveying for dragonflies and damselflies, aka odonates. She has presented and/or led field trips on dragonflies for Godwit Days Bird Festival, Redwood Region Audubon Society, Plumas Audubon Society, Point Reyes Field Institute, and Redwood Parks Association & Tolowa Dunes Stewards, among others.
Sandra is a Senior Biologist at Pacific North Western Biological Resources Consultants. She has been a wildlife biologist in Northern California specializing in sensitive and endangered species since the mid 1990’s. Her recent work includes surveying for dragonflies and damselflies, aka odonates. She has presented and/or led field trips on dragonflies for Godwit Days Bird Festival, Redwood Region Audubon Society, Plumas Audubon Society, Point Reyes Field Institute, and Redwood Parks Association & Tolowa Dunes Stewards, among others.
Mel Kreb
Mel Kreb and his family have lived in the flood plain of the Eel River for over 40 years and operate the Flood Plain Produce, an organic seasonal produce farm. He is one of the founding members of the Salmonid Restoration Federation and ERWiG. As the northern district director of the California Conservation Corps he worked closely with his staff and the Department of Fish and Game to insure the founding and continuing success of the CCC Coastal Fisheries Restoration Program and the Americorps Watershed Stewards Program. He is currently retired from state service and can be found peddling produce at all the local farmers markets.
Mel Kreb and his family have lived in the flood plain of the Eel River for over 40 years and operate the Flood Plain Produce, an organic seasonal produce farm. He is one of the founding members of the Salmonid Restoration Federation and ERWiG. As the northern district director of the California Conservation Corps he worked closely with his staff and the Department of Fish and Game to insure the founding and continuing success of the CCC Coastal Fisheries Restoration Program and the Americorps Watershed Stewards Program. He is currently retired from state service and can be found peddling produce at all the local farmers markets.
Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.
Professor - Ecological Restoration
Alison teaches environmental science, ecological restoration and aquatic ecology at Cal Poly Humboldt. Her research involves the use of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish to explore topics related to stream and wetland restoration, invasive species, wildfire, dams, and step-pool sequences in steep, mountain streams.
Alison O’Dowd, Ph.D.
Professor - Ecological Restoration
Alison teaches environmental science, ecological restoration and aquatic ecology at Cal Poly Humboldt. Her research involves the use of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish to explore topics related to stream and wetland restoration, invasive species, wildfire, dams, and step-pool sequences in steep, mountain streams.
Nancy Kaytis-Slocum
Nancy lives and farms on the banks of the Eel River, where the river meets the sea. Encircled by Salt River, Morgan Slough and Eel River, the “Island,” also known as Camp Weott, lies on the south side of the Eel River Estuary. Nancy is entering her 30th year as secretary for the Humboldt County Fish & Game Advisory Commission. When she is not traveling, she and her husband Bruce raise chickens and grow and preserve most of their own food on the floodplains of the lower Eel.
Marisa McGrew
Marisa works for the Wiyot Tribe’s Natural Resources Department in fisheries and natural resources. Her work and experience includes designing and installing large wood features, surveying for juvenile and adult salmonids, Sacramento pikeminnow suppression, Pacific lamprey monitoring, and fisheries monitoring at Ocean Ranch. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Science with an emphasis on Ecological Restoration and a minor in Botany from Humboldt State University. She fills her free time with running, biking, whitewater rafting, and her dearest dog mate, Fish.
Bruce Slocum
Bruce, the Coast Guard Licensed operator and owner of the Camp Weott Guide Service, has been traveling and exploring the Eel River Delta waterways since 1955. He once said “Some people like to travel to different places to explore new surroundings – I want to spend my life discovering everything there is to know about my own back yard.” You can find more information about Camp Weott in this North Coast Journal Article.
Bruce, the Coast Guard Licensed operator and owner of the Camp Weott Guide Service, has been traveling and exploring the Eel River Delta waterways since 1955. He once said “Some people like to travel to different places to explore new surroundings – I want to spend my life discovering everything there is to know about my own back yard.” You can find more information about Camp Weott in this North Coast Journal Article.
Scott Downie
Mr. Downie, a Humboldt County native, recently retired after twenty-two years as a fisheries manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He initiated and developed a large scale assessment effort for CDFW on the North Coast that became the Coastal Watershed Assessment and Planning Program. Since the 2010 passage of the medical marijuana legislation, Downie's attention has been increasingly drawn to excessive and illegal water diversions, wastewater discharge abuses, and their impact on fish, wildlife, and rural quality of life. He has been honored by CDFW, the American Fisheries Society, the Salmon Restoration Federation, Humboldt County, twice by the California Assembly (1991 and 2013), and by the House of Representatives for this extensive work in watershed and fisheries.
Mr. Downie, a Humboldt County native, recently retired after twenty-two years as a fisheries manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He initiated and developed a large scale assessment effort for CDFW on the North Coast that became the Coastal Watershed Assessment and Planning Program. Since the 2010 passage of the medical marijuana legislation, Downie's attention has been increasingly drawn to excessive and illegal water diversions, wastewater discharge abuses, and their impact on fish, wildlife, and rural quality of life. He has been honored by CDFW, the American Fisheries Society, the Salmon Restoration Federation, Humboldt County, twice by the California Assembly (1991 and 2013), and by the House of Representatives for this extensive work in watershed and fisheries.
