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Staff

	Tim Carlson, Executive Director. Tim was among the co-founders of the Tamarisk Coalition and took on the duties of the Executive Director in 2002. He received a BS in Civil Engineering and MS in Environmental Engineering at Arizona State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado. He has had a long career of tackling prickly environmental issues in the west and has used his extensive experience to guide the Coalition through its formative years. Over the past 6 years, Tim has established the Tamarisk Coalition as the most credible organization addressing the tamarisk problem.
	John Heideman, Watershed Director. John has been a part of the Tamarisk Coalition since Day 1. He helped create the Coalition with the help of the Colorado Riverfront Commission in 1999. John received his DVM from Colorado State University in 1973. For the last 30 years he has owned and operated 2 different veterinary hospitals. John grew up on a sharecrop farm in Nebraska, where he learned an appreciation for the land early on. He now enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, backpacking and golfing in western Colorado.
	Stacy Kolegas, Associate Director. Stacy joined the team in 2008 to shadow Tim Carlson and will eventually replace him as Executive Director (But don’t fear! Tim will still be here working as Research and Policy Director). Stacy earned her BA in Environmental Studies and Art from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2003. She previously served as Executive Director of Yampatika, an environmental education nonprofit in Steamboat Springs, CO. Most recently she has worked for the city of Phoenix as Environmental Programs Assistant, where she helped the city tackle sustainability and climate change among other environmental challenges. Stacy’s experience in both the nonprofit and governmental sectors makes her an ideal addition to our team. She is an artist and avid hiker and will be spending her spare time exploring Colorado!
	Nate Ament, Restoration Ecologist. Nate is a species native to western Colorado. He began working for the Tamarisk Coalition in 2005 after earning a BS in Environmental Science from Mesa State College. Nate has extensively searched the riparian areas of Colorado for tamarisk, and in 2007 completed a statewide tamarisk inventory for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Additionally, Nate has partnered with the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at CSU in their invasive species ecology research efforts. He has a passion for all things desert, mountain, river and snow, including the preservation and understanding of each.
	Clark Tate, Environmental Scientist. Clark came to play in Colorado after finishing up her MA in environmental sciences with a concentration in land use planning at the University of Virginia. A Virginia native, Clark moved to the Rockies to snowboard and ended up raft guiding, mushing, wrangling, and observing interactions between people and the land for two years. After learning of the tamarisk and Russian olive issues in the west Clark went to work for CSU mapping Russian olive populations in Montana. Shortly thereafter she joined the Tamarisk Coalition in the late summer of 2006. Now a semi-seasoned weed warrior, Clark is passionate about protecting and restoring the proper functioning condition of western rivers.
	Meredith Swett, Volunteer and Education Coordinator. Meredith moved to Colorado after completing her Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Ecology at the University of Montana where she studied bird behavior and physiology. Over the years she has chased birds from Wyoming to the Bay of Fundy, South Africa to Vermont. She joined the Tamarisk Coalition in 2008 and will be coordinating the Volunteer and Education Program. Meredith lives in Fruita where she enjoys hiking in McInnis Canyons with her dogs and has recently taken up mountain biking. She is thrilled to be part of the Coalition’s dynamic and collaborative effort to tackle the invasive species problem.
	Christy Duncan, Business Administrator. Christy came to the Tamarisk Coalition in 2006. She earned her BBA in Business Management from Mesa State College. Christy helps keep the Coalition organized by electronically sending the bi-monthly newsletters, keeping our database up-to-date, and organizing all membership information. Christy stays busy with her two fun kids, while still finding time to share her wit and a laugh with her office-mates.
	Jamie Nielsen, Ecologist. Jamie joined the Tamarisk Coalition team in 2008, after moving down to the Colorado Plateau from Anchorage, Alaska. Based in Flagstaff, Arizona, she helps to represent Tamarisk Coalition in the southern portions of the Colorado River Watershed. Jamie has a BS from the University of Michigan in Resource Ecology & Management, an MS from the University of Idaho in Forest Resources, and a couple of years of Peace Corps service in Latin America under her belt. Most recently, she worked for the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension, doing invasive plants public education, jump-starting Cooperative Weed Mgmt Areas, and working with state policy makers on weed regulations and legislation. She now spends her free time (with her husband and their dog) hiking and exploring their new Arizona home.
	Sarahlee Lawrence, Education Intern. Sarahlee is a river rafting guide and experiential educator who lives an adventurous life running rivers, researching riparian environments, training horses, farming, and writing. She graduated from the University of Montana in May 2008 with a master’s degree in Environmental Science. While completing her graduate studies, she has researched the Colorado River watershed with the Tamarisk Coalition, and hopes to create an environmental education program using resources and curriculum she developed during her master’s program.