Board of Directors 

James Tiefenthaler | he/him | President

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James is a long-time advocate for the Willamette River’s health. He is an avid outdoors person, and works to steward multiple Greenway properties along the Willamette River. He is an advocate for the outdoor experience!

 

bart rierson | him/him | treasurer

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Bart first fell for rivers during the early 1980s when he worked as a whitewater rafting guide while attending college in Bend, Oregon. Raising his family and work demands pulled him away from the sport for a time.

Bart’s River Fever is back. He and his family enjoy paddling canoes, kayaks, and SUPs year-round on their home waters of the Willamette. He is a Paddle Oregon pod leader and frequent volunteer for WR adventures. 

 

jessie rohrig | she/her | secretary

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Jessie has been playing in the rivers and forests of Oregon her whole life and uses the expanse of the trees and the night sky to recharge and refocus.  She is a pod leader for Paddle Oregon and supports other WR adventures, especially in summer. For the rest of the year, Jessie is a middle school science teacher.

As a teacher, she hopes to cultivate a sense of wonder and awe in her students, the future generation of citizens and voters.  She encourages young learners to follow the evidence and check that any scientific claim they encounter is backed with ample data and sound reasoning.  She enjoys sharing stories of her participation in WR’s mussel research with her students. She believes that no person can complain about the state of things unless they are taking action in some small part, which for her is teaching and advocating for wild places.

 

Steve Hernandez | He/Him

Steve, a native Oregonian, he grew up exploring the forests and streams near his childhood home a few miles from the Santiam River. He was raised by parents who took him on countless backcountry adventures in the Cascades Wilderness areas. Steve now leads his own family on many outdoor adventures. His daughter has developed a keen eye for shiny rocks, after many paddling trips on the Willamette river. He serves as board member for Straub Outdoors, an organization that provides nature based learning to children and marginalized communities. He enjoys connecting people to nature on an emotional and intellectual level through his almost 20 year career as an Oregon State Park Ranger working in various corners of the state. Steve currently works on the Willamette River taking care of Oregon State Park’s Greenway properties. He believes that wilderness-like experiences can be found locally, without all the barriers that often limit access for our unrepresented and marginalized communities.

 

ALAN ROPE | HE/HIM

Alan grew up in southwestern Ohio where he developed a passion for Ohio, Great and Little Miami river systems. 

He was involved in The Boy Scouts for most of his childhood, but focused more on nature-oriented merit badges instead of the ones required for the rank of Eagle, and is especially proud of that to this day.

After graduating with a degree in Biology from The University of Cincinnati, he spent 5 years as a researcher with the Environmental Protection Agency working on various projects including bioremediation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and developing bacterial strains engineered to neutralize Agent Orange.

He eventually went to medical school and completed a residency in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics at The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

After the completion of these programs, he fully immersed himself in academic medicine at The University of Utah, but after 10 years could not tolerate the dryness of the environment and made the logical choice to relocate his family to The Pacific Northwest.

“I am especially honored for the opportunity to be a part of the Board of Directors of The Willamette Riverkeeper. The mission of this organization inspires me and allows me to honor my brother's legacy of acting to protect and conserve our natural resources.”