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  About the MRC Members  

 


Hi Bronson of Utsalady is a retired Navy captain and helicopter pilot (his first career) and land-use planner for Snohomish County (second career). Until 2010 he was the sole MRC member from Camano Island. “It just worked out that way,” he says. Bronson is a WSU Beach Watcher who helped create the Camano Island pilot program of Shore Stewards, which has since spread to Whidbey Island and throughout Puget Sound. He has served on the MRC since 2000. Despite the long, three-county commute to MRC meetings on Whidbey he insists, “This is one of the more interesting and worthwhile things I do.”

 

 


Marshall Bronson of Coupeville represents the Port of Coupeville. Bio to be posted soon.

  
  Lenny Corin, of Oak Harbor retired to Whidbey Island in 2008 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. “My wife and I have always loved this area,” he said. “Given my 30-plus years in natural resources management I wanted to give back to the community.” Corin received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in wildlife conservation and his master’s from Northern Michigan University, focusing on wetlands management. For three years preceding retirement he was the USFWS representative on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, which provides oversight for the $1 billion commercial fishing industry in Alaska’s waters out to 200 miles. He is an avid SCUBA diver, kayaker, biker, hiker, bird watcher, cross-country skier, eco-traveler and photographer, and serves also on the board of Whidbey Camano Land Trust.  
  Leal Dickson, PhD, of Oak Harbor is a retired research scientist in Arctic ecology and marine phycology. At the University of Washington he was a member of the botany and later the biology departments. “My research has been in the areas of high Arctic plant ecosystems, kelp psysiology and Nori aquaculture,” he said. “I continue to have an interest in conservation biology and marine and terrestrial ecosystem sustainability.” Besides teaching marine botany and ecology, he has carried out research in marine aquaculture. Currently, Dickson does volunteer teaching and fund-raising for two schools in Africa. Other interests include sailing, woodworking, travel and hiking.  
  Judy Feldman, of Freeland is MRC county lead and acting director of Washington State University (WSU) Extension in Island County. With a degree in natural history from the University of Washington and an MA in organizational psychology from Antioch University in Seattle, she brings to the MRC her love of the natural world and knowledge of group dynamics and human behavior. She has been with WSU Extension since 2000 and sees the MRC as a vital community partner in the effort to preserve our Pacific Northwest ecosystem.  
  Sarah Haynes Ph.D., of Camano Island is a nuclear physicist who trained in medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Her specialization is in digital diagnostic radiological imaging. She has been a university academician, researcher, clinician and administrator in radiation oncology, nuclear medicine, internal medicine, and diagnostic radiology. As a radiation safety officer, she was responsible for high-level radiation source management and disposal of radioactive + chemical hazardous waste generated in hospitals and university research labs. Dr. Haynes helped design a digital radiographic imaging system for the International Space Station’s Health Maintenance Module. Other interests include climate change, world peace, sustainable agriculture, her felines duo Electron and Photon, gaited horses, international lecturing, mediation and photography. Dr. Haynes speaks two languages: Texan and English.  
  Joe Hillers, PhD, PhD, of Coupeville is professor emeritus of animal genetics in the Department of Animal Science at Washington State University. He was a member of the faculty for 35 years and has been involved with the dairy industry of Washington since 1965. Hillers represents agriculture and his committee works focuses primarily in the areas of marine water quality and data collection.  
  Ian Jefferds, of Coupeville is general manager of Penn Cove Shellfish LLC and represents commercial marine interests and aquaculture. His focus is on marine water quality and shellfish. Jefferds came to Whidbey Island in 1975 when his family started a mussel farm on Penn Cove that has since grown to be the nation's largest. Jefferds holds a degree in marine resource assessment planning and biology from Huxley College of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University. He is a board member of Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers' Association and enjoys fly fishing, photography and mountain biking.  
  Matt Kukuk, of Clinton is resource enhancement manager for the Island County Department of Environmental Health, in charge of water quality monitoring and salmon recovery. In his nine years with the county he has performed code enforcement, shoreline and critical areas planning, and currently environmental protection and enhancement duties. Kukuk holds a degree in geography from Central Washington University and is continuing his studies in wetland science and marine ecology through the University of Washington and other training programs. His interests include salmon fishing, SCUBA diving, rock climbing and photography. To the list of interests he also adds, “And surprisingly, my work at the county!”  
  Steve Mitchell of Clinton is both a long-time commercial fisherman and an environmental consultant. Currently, he fishes Alaskan waters for six weeks every summer from his boat, the Williwaw. His environmental consulting business provides biological surveys and reports, and assistance with the regulatory permitting process, primarily to residential clients and small-business owners. Mitchell feels the preservation and restoration of Puget Sound’s nearshore environment is extremely important and he works actively with his clients toward achieving that goal.  
  Linda Rhodes PhD, of Greenbank is a research microbiologist at the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. She has conducted research in salmon infectious disease and immunology and in aquatic toxicology around Puget Sound since the mid-1970s. She received a doctorate degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Washington and conducted postdoctoral studies on soft-shell clam and medaka at the University of Maine in Orono. Since 1976 she has lived on islands -- Bainbridge, Whidbey and even Marsh Island in Maine -- and she is acutely aware of the importance and sensitivity of marine ecosystems. She simply enjoys being outdoors, whether walking, watching all kinds of critters, or boating. She is excited to contribute to public understanding and awareness of Puget Sound through the MRC.  
  Dick Toft of Oak Harbor is a retired Navy captain and former commanding officer of NAS Fallon, Nev., who once flew A-6 Intruders from NAS Whidbey. He is an avid boater and salmon fisherman who represents Navy and recreational interests on the MRC. “I came to Whidbey in 1963 and fell in love with salmon fishing,” he said, “so I orchestrated my Navy career to get back here at the end. I wanted to spend my quiet years out in Deception Pass with a cup of coffee and a herring turning at the end of my line.” But the decline in Puget Sound salmon stocks changed that and, instead, Toft turned his energies to working to restore local marine waters, habitat and species.  
 

Ken Urstad of Greenbank is a retired Department of Natural Resources forester and long-time member of the Skagit Fishery Enhancement Board. “But I’m retired on Whidbey Island now and it’s a 70-mile round trip to the Skagit, so I’m spending more of my time right here.” Urstad is both a WSU Beach Watcher and a Shore Steward, and is president of the Whidbey Island chapter of Puget Sound Anglers. As an MRC member his chief interests are creosote removal and ongoing research in how juvenile fish use the pocket estuaries of Whidbey and Camano islands. Urstad participates in seining studies of several estuaries conducted by WSU Beach Watchers with MRC support. “The reason I’m on this committee is to help the fish,” he says.

  
  Stan Walsh is with the environmental services program of the Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC), headquartered in La Conner, in Skagit County. The agency provides natural resource management services for the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Walsh holds a degree in marine biology from Western Washington University and volunteered to represent the SRSC to help build better relationships. He pointed out the SRSC has been working increasingly in Island County in recent years. “It is important, not only through regulation but through collaborative relationships and education, to preserve as much habitat as we can,” he said  
  Frances Wood of Langley is a nature writer with particular interest in birds and bird watching. A WSU Beach Watcher and Shore Steward, she has served as president of Whidbey Audubon and represents environmental and conservation interests. Frances is the fourth generation in her family to own property and spend summer vacations on Whidbey. She moved here permanently in 2000 and soon after began coordinating the MRC’s Pigeon Guillemot Breeding Survey. Hiking, kayaking, gardening and birding are her favorite outdoor activities.  
  Todd Zackey is a coastal geographer with the Tulalip Tribes. He is also co-chair of the Island County Salmon Technical Advisory Committee (TAG). One of his goals is to improve communication and cooperation between the MRC and TAG. “I think there would be benefits in working together on a whole bunch of things,” he said. Zackey started attending MRC meetings voluntarily after observing a breakdown of communication and understanding over a proposed estuary restoration project at Greenbank several years ago. He has participated in pocket estuary research on Camano Island with WSU Beach Watchers, as well as in small-stream studies of juvenile Chinook.  
 
Committee staff		  
 

Rex Porter of Coupeville is MRC executive director. He brings a broad mix of federal and county management experience. He was watershed and salmon recovery project manager for the Island County Public Works and Planning departments and previously led several State Department and Air Force grant management programs, as well as federal and state grant-funded environmental projects. Porter is a sea-kayaker and hiker, a WSU Beach Watcher, and is a member of Whidbey Watershed Stewards and The Nature Conservancy.

  
  Dan Pedersen of Langley is MRC communications manager. A former community newspaper editor and reporter, he managed publications in the marketing and public relations departments of Safeco before assuming his current role with the MRC. Pedersen is author of Whidbey Island’s Special Places and the People Who Love Them and co-author of Getting to the Water’s Edge on Whidbey and Camano Islands. He serves on the board of Whidbey Camano Land Trust and is a member of Whidbey Audubon Society and Whidbey Watershed Stewards.