Staff

Martina’s connection to the natural world began at a young age with family hikes, picnics, and tubing down the powdery slopes of Mt. Hood. These trips fostered her love and curiosity for the outdoor and later inspired her to pursue a career in conservation. As the Conservation Technician, Martina assists with monitoring and field work to support the District’s Healthy Streams, Forest Conservation, and Invasive Species Management services. Previously, Martina worked as a field technician in Portland and Eastern Oregon, and held internships with the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, West Multnomah SWCD, and Columbia Riverkeeper. Martina earned her bachelor’s in Biology from Warner Pacific University. During her free time she enjoys baking a variety of desserts, exploring the outdoors with her family, and searching for thrift store treasures.

Lynn Barlow brings over 24 years of experience in the conservation field to the District. Her career includes 19 years acquiring, managing, and restoring public natural areas with City of Portland, and most recently, nearly four years with the state Department of Environmental Quality where she managed a federal loan program that funds water quality improvement projects throughout Oregon. Lynn began her conservation career as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer working with food crop farmers to conserve topsoil in a mountainous region of west Africa. She values public and private landowner engagement in sustainable stewardship of natural and working lands. Lynn is committed to the District’s work in culturally inclusive outreach to communities for the purpose of enhancing livability through healthy soil, clean water, and diverse habitats.

Michelle oversees the Early Detection-Rapid Response (EDRR) program and leads restoration efforts at priority sites affected by EDRR species. Michelle also co-chairs the 4-County Cooperative Weed Management Area, leads the PNW Garlic Mustard Working Group and serves on the Oregon Invasive Species Council. Michelle enjoys both connecting people together working on similar invasive species management goals and getting her hands dirty in the name of protecting Oregon’s natural resources. There is nothing more satisfying to her than working with a property owner to find and remove a patch of high priority invasive weeds before they can proliferate into a natural area. Her background is in forest research, conservation planning, ecological restoration, and invasive species management.

Sherman Enstrom comes to West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District with over 20 years of experience in financial reporting, budget preparation and development, financial modeling, strategic planning, economic forecasting, performance measurement, and cash and investment management. He also has significant experience in staff and organizational development and has built and led successful financial teams.

Sherman also brings the ability and experience to direct financial systems implementation and integration for Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, Microsoft Dynamics, and MIP/Sage. His leadership has resulted in improved coordination between teams, streamlined processes and optimized resource utilization, data-driven decision-making, enhanced communication, and cost savings through reduced duplication of efforts.

He joined West Multnomah SWCD in June 2025 after being instantly attracted to the district’s history, mission, vision and conservation priorities. Previously he worked at Guardian Financial Consulting LLC, and prior to that, he provided financial leadership for nonprofit organizations, banks, city and state government agencies, port authorities, housing authorities, and financial consulting groups.

Sherman holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Portland State University, a Graduate Certificate in Accounting, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Scott has been working for soil and water conservation districts since 2006 and at West Multnomah SWCD since 2008.  Scott provides technical expertise to farmers, livestock operators, and horse owners in the District. He also leads the District’s efforts to restore large scale floodplains and wetlands along the Columbia River and Multnomah Channel, specifically the restoration of Sturgeon Lake, which has been a signature project of the District for over 30 years. Prior to working at West Multnomah, Scott got his start at the Columbia SWCD where he was the technical lead and district manager. In his spare time, Scott enjoys kayaking, skiing and trying to keep up with his two daughters.

Eleanor connects the District with our local communities through our online presence, print and digital publications, media outreach, workshops, and webinars. Before joining West Multnomah in September 2023, Eleanor worked at the environmental and social justice nonprofit Green America, where she was the editor-in-chief of Green American magazine for five years in Washington, DC, where she also got her degree in journalism, from American University. When not at work, Eleanor enjoys exploring Portland by bike and taking advantage of Oregon’s long sweater weather seasons through copious knitting projects.

Kammy is inspired by the beauty of the natural world and how it sustains us. She came to appreciate our collective dependence on “nature” in the U.S. and in rural communities of the developing world, where folks literally live off the land and confront scarce resources daily. As a child, she enjoyed climbing her neighborhood’s trees and exploring its woods, meadows, and creek. She now enjoys camping, hiking, biking, paddling, gardening, and learning about other cultures and places. Kammy earned her M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan and has been a natural resource professional since 1997. Her background includes environmental planning, community development, and protection of coastal lands, fish and wildlife. She is Senior Conservationist at WMSWCD, where she’s worked since 2004.

Shahbaz is determined to explore our collective natural heritages and common roots, and advocate for restoration efforts at the intersection of people and nature through climate justice. His experience includes research in both the genomic ecology of global change in agriculture and mapping succession trends in old-growth forests. More recently, he has gained valuable experience through the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) Climate, Health and Housing Institute Fellowship and working hands-on as a Forestry/Restoration Technician at Mosaic Ecology. He graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a BSc. in Integrative Biology and a focus in Plant Biology/Ecology. He is also a candidate to receive the Geographic Information Systems and Geospatial UAS Specialist certifications at Portland Community College.

Ariana brings a deep passion for habitat conservation and a diverse background in research, restoration, and mitigation to her role as Urban Conservationist. Her career has spanned continents and ecosystems—she has reintroduced Kiwi in New Zealand, radio tracked Swift Fox on the Great Plains, and studied Northwestern Pond Turtles in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Before joining West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District in August 2024, she served as a Regional Habitat Biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, where she advanced conservation for Oregon’s Strategy species through landowner engagement, technical consultation, and broad partnership-building. She collaborated with agencies, sovereign nations, non-profits, and watershed councils across seven counties, managed two habitat tax incentive programs, and reviewed land development activities across diverse landscapes and recommended mitigation.

In her current role, she supports conservation planning for private lands, helping landowners restore habitat, improve landscape connectivityConnectivity the degree to which patches of landscape are connected, either helping or impeding animal movement and other ecological processes like the flow of water or dispersal of seeds, and prepare for the growing challenges of stormwater, climate change, and wildfire. She integrates climate resilience into projects ranging from community gardens and the District’s small grant program to habitat connectivity. She enjoys weaving together science, environmental justice, and Indigenous knowledge to support communities and ecosystems alike.

Her greatest joy is encouraging and empowering people from all walks of life to connect with and care for the land. Outside of work, she finds inspiration in nature—whether catching bullfrogs with her three children or backpacking with her girlfriend in alpine lake country.

Pavlina studied biology and environmental science at Occidental College. She has worked at an environmental nonprofit mapping wetlands, as a gardener, and as a botany technician. Pavlina is looking forward to applying both her botany and GIS interests to projects in the Portland area, where she grew up, and is especially excited to help with soil restoration and management in the District’s agricultural areas.

Laura grew up exploring the natural world, from dandelion patches and ponds near home to the diverse wilderness areas where her family camped and backpacked. Laura earned a Bachelor’s degree in forest ecology and botany from the Evergreen State College, and a Master’s degree in invasive plant ecology from Portland State University. She provided botanical and ecological expertise to a number of public, private, and non-profit organizations before joining the District. She now helps woodland owners grow healthy resilient forests by developing forest stewardship plans, providing technical assistance, and managing forest health projects for their properties. She also provides expertise on monitoring and data collection, plants, and pollinators. Laura has been a member of the District’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee since 2018 and currently serves as co-chair. Laura still loves backpacking and hiking as well as gardening and then cooking with all the abundant produce she harvests.

James Tracy was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and loves spending time appreciating the unique and diverse ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. He is currently a student at Portland State University (PSU), studying Biology and pursuing a certificate in Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK). Their academic and personal interests include plant ecology, ethnobotany, and habitat restoration, especially through the lens of ITECK. James conducts research on mosses from both the Pacific Northwest and Antarctica in the Eppley Lab at PSU, where he continues to deepen his understanding of plant and soil systems. They are also an active member of the PSU Plant Science Club and enjoy volunteering on restoration projects alongside fellow ITECK students and community partners. As an intern with West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, James is excited to get more experience working in the field and supporting efforts to connect more people with healthy, thriving habitats.