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Owner of Applied Geomorphology, Inc. and a registered professional geologist with twenty-five years experience in river process assessment, restoration concept development, stream channel design, and permitting. Karin is a founding director of MARS.
Pat is the Director of Trout Unlimited’s Montana Water Project. An attorney and fisheries biologist with over 16 years experience as a special projects and regional fisheries biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks where he gained expertise in stream and fisheries restoration and in state and federal permitting authorities and procedures and led restoration efforts for Arctic grayling and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Pat was founding Chairman serving through 2015 and remains active on the Board as a representative of the Executive Committee.
Deb is the Managing Director of DMS Natural Resources LLC. With over ten years of experience in the water rights sector, Mrs. Stephenson is skilled in water valuation, water right management, and water investment analysis. Deborah brings a wide range of business and economic experience to MARS and is one of the country’s few experts in water appraisal and valuation. Mrs. Stephenson assists clients in making business decisions regarding one of their key assets, water. In addition, Deborah routinely provides land owners technical water right analysis, change / new water right application development, and strategic management recommendations. Deborah’s water business and economic experience spans the Western United States. Deborah joined the MARS board as a Director in 2013.
Jen has spent 15 years leading watershed groups and non-profit organizations navigate challenges in water-related issues as diverse as open-space bonds, endangered species, floodplain regulations and river conservation. She also owns and operates Farm 51, a goat farm in Bozeman. Jen joined MARS as Director in 2013.
As Confluence’s Senior Project Manager, Mike incorporates his background in wildlife, fisheries, hydrology, and watershed science in the design and construction of water quality and fisheries restoration projects. His project management experience includes channel design and construction, fish passage and screening, revegetation, habitat enhancement, and grant acquisition. Mike works with a wide variety of clientele ranging from industry to private landowners, conservation groups to developers. He is often involved in the construction oversight components of Confluence’s design-build projects, and interfaces with regulatory agencies and the public. Mike joined the MARS board in 2015.
Ted is a professional engineer and certified floodplain manager with 30 years of experience in water resources engineering, specializing in the planning, design and construction of river channel and floodplain improvements including hydraulic analysis of bridges and culverts; river channel bed and bank stabilization; flood storage improvements and mitigation; aquatic, riparian and wetland habitat enhancements; and, development of recreational amenities such as boat chutes, trails and public park features. Ted also has expertise in regulatory coordination including Clean Water Act Section 401 and 404, Endangered Species Act, NEPA analysis, FEMA floodplain map changes and Section 106 Historic Preservation Act; the use of GIS in analyses of project criteria and requirements; hydrologic and hydraulic analyses; sediment transport and scour and deposition analyses; erosion control BMPs; and, habitat analyses. Ted joined the MARS board as a Director in 2015.
Abby is a Biologist with Ducks Unlimited in partnership with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. Abby works closely with the NRCS and private landowners to help implement Farm Bill programs across the state. She specializes in the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program, which includes the Grassland and Wetland Reserve easements. Abby brings over 10 years of experience as a wetland scientist and watershed restoration professional specializing in protection and restoration of wetlands and streams. Abby joined MARS as a Director in 2013, and took over as Chair of the Board in 2015.
Kelly works in real estate investing and conservation through her own firm, Topos & Anthros. Prior to starting the company, Kelly worked across Montana in her role as acquisitions associate at Beartooth Capital Partners. Kelly’s brings years of real estate transaction experience to the MARS board, which she joined in 2016.
Marcus brings nearly a decade of land and water conservation experience to the board. He has practiced environmental law in both Washington and Montana, guiding private and public-interest clients through complex real estate and water rights transactions, and working extensively with state and federal environmental and land-use regulations. During his law career he has helped partners and clients develop market-driven ecosystem services banking models to promote groundwater mitigation, wetland mitigation, water quality trading, and natural resource damage assessment restoration projects. Prior to practicing law Marcus worked for a conservation real estate investment fund. Marcus joined MARS as a Director in 2016.
As the Communications Manager for Montana Conservation Corps, Kelly is always searching for new ways to mobilize the public to steward our lands and care for our planet. She approaches the communications field from a unique angle, having spent several years as a lab chemist and field scientist before dipping her toe into the “softer” world of communications. A storyteller at heart, Kelly appreciates quick wit and a well-crafted sentence, and firmly believes that when it comes to solving the world’s environmental problems, communication is key.
Hannah is a senior studying political science and history at Montana State University. She grew up farming in the Golden Triangle north of Great Falls, MT which inspired her interest in the relationship between the environment and the communities it supports. Her work piloting the Governor’s Fight Childhood Hunger initiative jump started programs in over 15 regions in Montana. Hannah was employed by Brown & Dinwiddie, PLLC for the first 3 years of her collegiate career as a legal assistant and plans to attend law school upon graduation.
Tom Parker is President and Principal Ecologist of Geum Environmental Consulting, based in Hamilton, Montana. He focuses on riparian and floodplain restoration as part of long term river restoration projects in Montana and Idaho. Tom has a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry and a Master’s degree in Resource Conservation, both from the University of Montana. Between degrees, Tom was in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, and managed trails and wilderness education programs for the Adirondack Mountain Club in Lake Placid, New York. After graduate school, Tom worked for Bitterroot Restoration and Herrera Environmental Consultants before starting Geum in 2003. Tom‘s interests include yoga, gardening, Brazilian jujitsu, philosophy, mountain biking, telemark skiing, and programming computers. He lives in Hamilton with his wife, Lauren, and 15 year old daughter, Becca. His son, Sam, is a college junior majoring in music and Spanish at St. Olaf College, currently studying abroad in Valparaiso, Chile.