Tonya Graham, MA
Executive Director

In addition to oversight of all organizational operations and fund-raising, Tonya has taken a lead role in developing the ClimateWise® nonprofit consulting firm, and leading the organization’s ongoing strategic planning processes and communications efforts. Tonya has received training through the Institute for Conservation Leadership, Training Resources for the Environmental Community, Community Strategic Training Initiative, Rockwood Leadership Program, Lorman Educational Services, and Technical Assistance for Community Services.  Tonya holds a B.S. in Biophysical Environmental Studies from Northland College and a M.A. in Community Development from Goddard College.

Cindy Deacon Williams, MS
Senior Fellow

A fisheries biologist by training, Cindy currently facilitates ClimateWise®, workshops to help communities prepare for a changing climate. She also assists the National Center in writing articles for publications in scientific journals. She has over 25 years of experience as a policy analyst and field biologist working with conservation organizations, governmental agencies, and the California legislature. Cindy helped write natural resource laws in California and Washington, D.C. to protect endangered species, water resources, and wetlands, and assisted the Bureau of Land Management and USDA Forest Service in development of regional federal land management plans for the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River Basin. She is the co-author of an essay to be published in the upcoming book Moral Ground. Cindy holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Oregon State University and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from California State University at Sacramento.

Randi Spivak, BA
Vice President of Government Affairs

Randi leads the National Center's efforts to educate lawmakers in Washington, D.C. office and directs all work related to governmental affairs for the organization. Prior to joining the National Center, she served as Board President and then Executive Director of the American Lands Alliance. Randi comes to the National Center with extensive experience in national campaigns, science-based public interest advocacy, and marketing. She has been a national leader in efforts to encourage appropriate management of natural resources and to protect National Forest roadless areas and protect old-growth forests. Randi serves as the National Center’s primary negotiator in the effort to work with the timber industry to develop collaborative legislation for Oregon forests east of the Cascades. Randi studied at the School of Communications at Boston University, and received a B.A. in Advertising and Marketing.

Marni Koopman, PhD
Climate Change Scientist

Marni takes a lead role in developing ClimateWise®, projects in different regions of the country to help local communities and federal land managers prepare for a changing climate. She also provides analysis of existing climate change planning efforts on public lands to secure better management for the National Landscape Conservation System.  Marni joined the National Center’s staff after completing postdoctoral research with the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. That research investigated the effects of climate change on wildlife and wildlife habitat by working with a team to model climate stress and assess the level of state planning for climate change in the State Wildlife Action Plans. Marni has expertise in climate change effects on wildlife, ornithology, metapopulation ecology, conservation genetics, and invasive species issues.  Marni holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a M.S. in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Wyoming.

Brian Barr, MS
Aquatic Habitat Restoration Project Manager

Spearheading the Freeways for Fish Program, Brian has helped develop commitments to remove 17 fish passage barriers that will restore or improve access to 1,100 miles of stream in the Rogue River Basin and is working to remove several mainstem dams on the Klamath River. Both of these projects are part of the National Center’s efforts to showcase on-the-ground efforts to restore connectivity to river systems as they face the additional stress of a changing climate. He also works with our ClimateWise®, program to help the communities in the Klamath and Deschutes Basins prepare for a changing climate. Prior to joining the National Center staff, Brian worked on relicensing and dam removal projects as a biologist within the hydroelectric industry. He holds a B.S. in zoology from Miami University and a M.S. in fisheries and wildlife science from Virginia Tech.

Julie Norman, MA
Program Coordinator

Julie has been engaged in many different roles with nonprofit organizations in Southwest Oregon for the last 27 years. She served as a panelist at President Clinton's 1993 Forest Conference and was named Conservationist of the Year by Oregon Wild (1992) and Environmental Hero by the Wilderness Society (1998). In her current position at the National Center, Julie supports the development, conservation, and communication programs in a variety of capacities. She holds an M.A. degree from the University of Texas in Computer Science and Educational Psychology.

Rich Nauman, MS
Spatial Analysis Program Manager

Rich manages the National Center’s fast growing Spatial Analysis Program and has developed a series of data processing tools that allow our ClimateWise® program to develop local climate change projections for community and agency planning efforts. Prior to joining the National Center, Rich worked for the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station where he was a member of the Survey and Manage Team managing research projects and assisting in Northwest Forest Plan implementation. He brings a broad range of knowledge, including extensive experience with the Northwest Forest Plan, conservation planning, wildlife biology, fisheries, and Geographic Information Systems. He is a recognized expert in amphibian biology and is a co-author of a scientific paper describing a previously undiscovered species of salamander from the Siskiyou Mountains.  He has published over 80 maps and written numerous scientific papers and reports. Rich holds a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of California-Santa Cruz and a M.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon.

Jessica Leonard, BA
GIS Analyst

Jessica provides primary support to the National Center’s Spatial Analysis Program with a focus on preparing local climate change projections for local communities and agencies engaged in a ClimateWise® process. She is co-author of a report analyzing glacier change in Oregon using Mazamas oblique aerial photography and has a wide range of GIS experience at the municipal, planning, and scientific levels. Jessica also assists with the mapping needs of the rest of the programs at the National Center.  She holds a B.A. in Geography from Augustana College in Illinois and a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Portland State University.

John Stahmer, BA
Finance Director
 
John brings to the National Center 25 years of experience working for non-profit organizations in a variety of administrative and financial positions. He has served on the staff of other conservation and cultural heritage organizations and was instrumental in the formation of Rogue Environmental Inc., a group of supporters that provides office space to the National Center at very reasonable rates. His broad range of administrative and accounting skills, along with his commitment to making the world a better place, make him a perfect complement to the rest of the staff. John received a B.A. in Political Science from Hanover College in Indiana, and furthered his post-graduate studies in accounting and non-profit administration at Southern Oregon University.

Sunya Ince-Johannsen,
Intern

Sunya is a junior at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where she is pursuing a degree in environmental studies. She was raised on a ranch in Southern Oregon and attended St. Mary's High School in Medford, where she founded an Environmental Awareness Club that took part in the work of the Lomakatsi Restoration Project, recycling drives, and other projects.