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.

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.

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.

Michele is a CPA with over 20 years of experience in the finance and accounting field, primarily in the areas of management reporting and analysis, budgeting, risk management, and strategic business planning. She manages all accounting, budgeting, contracting, reporting, and human resources activities for the District. Michele lived several years in Germany, where she taught English as a second language and had time to indulge her passion for gardening, environmental conservation and all things outdoors.  She is also a Master Gardener and a graduate of the OSU Extension Services Organic Gardening Certificate Program. Since moving to Portland in 2009, she’s been an active volunteer with her son’s school, Multnomah County Master Gardeners, and various area running groups.

Mary has always been in awe of plants, especially the largest trees, which were her inspiration to move west. Since a young age, Mary has been interested in conservation and protection of forests. She also passionately focuses on the intersection of equity and environment in her work and has spearheaded many diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Mary earned her Executive Master’s in Public Administration at Portland State University’s Hatfield School of Government and B.S. in Environmental Science from Plattsburgh State University of New York. Prior to coming to WMSWCD in 2008, Mary worked on a farm, at Marion SWCD, as executive director of a watershed association, and served with AmeriCorps. Mary manages a wide array of urban conservation and restoration programs, school and community garden programs, and our education program offerings. When not at work, Mary enjoys gardening, skiing, hiking, and biking.

Renee connects the District with our local communities through our online presence, print and digital publications, media outreach, and annual Soil School workshop. She joined West Multnomah in August 2018 after nearly 11 years with the conservation non-profit Sustainable Northwest where she lead message development and branding, and oversaw their digital media and production of many annual fundraisers. After relocating to the West from rural Vermont, Renee was a graphic designer at an award-winning studio in San Francisco, and spent three years supporting scientific research at McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Antarctic research stations. When not at work, she enjoys all seasons in the backcountry on hiking trails or skis, and is attempting to reforest her backyard.

Randi is a huge animal and plant lover and has been grateful to support our conservation staff and all the wonderful work that they do since 2016. As the District’s Office Manager, Randi wears many hats to keep the District’s staff and programs supported. Randi’s professional background includes office management and video production and post-production.

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.