Staff – Coos Watershed Association – Improving the health of our watershed

Staff Members

Haley Lutz

Executive Director

Haley Lutz

Executive Director

Email: hlutz@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 302

Haley is an Oregon coast native and was born right here in North Bend. She holds a Masters of Studies in Environmental and Natural Resource Law from Lewis and Clark Law School. Before coming to CoosWA, she was the Coordinator for the Nestucca, Neskowin and Sand Lake Watersheds Council in Pacific City. One of her career highlights was working as a deckhand on her now-husband’s commercial salmon troller. In her spare time, Haley enjoys fishing, bow hunting, swimming, exploring the outdoors, and trying to keep up with her toddler.

Role at CoosWA: Haley supervises all the long-term staff at CoosWA, works with the Board of Directors to set policy and procedures, represents CoosWA in state and regional partnerships, and keeps the CoosWA ship afloat and moving forward. She is also known as “Barnacle’s human,” for those who know and love the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon seen frequently on the 100-300 blocks of downtown Coos Bay.

Memorable experience outdoors in Coos County?

“Some of my fondest childhood memories are swimming in the Dellwood area and skeet shooting in the dunes as a kid.”

Sheena Wheeler

Finance Manager

Sheena Wheeler

Finance Manager

Email: finance@cooswatershed.org

Phone: (541) 888-5922

Sheena is a native Oregonian, growing up in Portland and living in various parts of the state throughout the last 10 years. She received her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation at Oregon State University in 2012 and worked several years as a seasonal technician before moving into the administrative role of two non-profit animal rescue organizations. She then spent three years backpacking the country’s national scenic trails before heading to Medford where she helped manage the financials of a small business. She is excited to combine her love of conservation with her knowledge of bookkeeping to support the mission of Coos Watershed Association.

Role at CoosWA: As the Finance Manager for CoosWA, Sheena manages all of our financial transactions and documentation, including managing the financial component of over 100 grants. Essentially, she makes sure funds flow through CoosWA smoothly (between $1.5 and $4 million annually) and go to all the right people and places!

Memorable experience outdoors in Coos County?

As of June 2024, Sheena is a brand-new resident of Coos Bay and looks forward to exploring the beaches, headlands, and lush forests surrounding this area. Her favorite memory so far is hiking to Upper Golden Falls, where she was blown away by the beauty and incredible perspective of a waterfall.

Diana Wright

Administrative Assistant

Diana Wright

Administrative Assistant

Email: admin@cooswatershed.org

Phone: (541) 888-5922

Diana recently moved to North Bend from La Grande, Oregon. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boise State University. Before coming to CoosWA, Diana spent six years as the Executive Assistant at a non-profit serving four counties in Eastern Oregon. She also worked for over 15 years in the financial services industry. Diana enjoys exploring her new surroundings with her husband and friends in her spare time.

Role at CoosWA: Diana does a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep the administrative and financial parts of CoosWA running smoothly! She is also likely the first voice you’ll hear when you call the CoosWA office, and the first face to greet you when you stop by in person.

Favorite book?

“My go-to answer for a book recommendation is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s the fascinating true story of a poor African American woman whose cancer cells were used without consent for research. Those HeLa cells continue to live on 73 years after her death and continue to be used for research against the wishes of her family. The book explores the racial politics of medicine and the family’s fight for recognition and compensation as over 11,000 patents have been developed using HeLa cells.”

Alexa Carleton

Outreach Program Manager

Alexa Carleton

Outreach Program Manager

Email: acarleton@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 306

Alexa joined CoosWA in 2013. Her background is in insect ecology, which she discovered while studying Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis. She went on to complete a master’s degree at Washington State University Vancouver, focusing on habitat restoration for rare butterflies. She now shares her passion about ecology with the Coos watershed community through stewardship projects, youth programs, and community outreach. In her spare time, you can find her crouched down taking photos of insects.

Role at CoosWA: Alexa oversees our school-based youth programs, manages CoosWA’s communications (website, social media, newsletters), and co-organizes outreach events including the annual Coos Watershed Mayfly Festival. Reach out to Alexa if you have any ideas/questions about our outreach programs!

Favorite memory working for CoosWA?

“Bringing the Coos Watershed Mayfly Festival to life! The most fun part of my job each year is to see people come out to sing, eat, dance, and celebrate the watershed that we all call home.”

Elena Bernier

Community Engagement Specialist

Elena Bernier

Community Engagement Specialist

Elena received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. She has held a variety of different positions as both an environmental educator and as a wildlife technician. This has involved working on wild primate research in the tropics, to teaching environmental education curriculum to school groups in Pennsylvania with the Audubon Society. She fell in love with the Oregon Coast when she moved to Coos Bay a year ago to work as a seasonal technician on ODFW’s salmon spawning grounds surveys and salmon life cycle monitoring project. She is excited to work for CoosWa where she can combine her two passions of environmental conservation and connecting people to their natural environment! In her free time Elena can be found enjoying Oregon’s natural environment through surfing, running, fishing, hiking, and skiing.

Favorite Activity/Place in Coos County: : “My favorite place in Coos County would have to be the Simpson’s Reef Viewpoint off Cape Arago Highway. Seals are my favorite animal, and I love observing the sea lions, elephant seals, and harbor seals that can be found there. I also regularly see a resident bald eagle perched on the rocks above the seals, in addition to numerous seabird species and an occasional gray whale if I’m lucky!”

Phone: (541) 888-5922 Ext. 311
Email:engagement@cooswatershed.org

Allison Tarbox

Restoration Project Manager

Allison Tarbox

Restoration Project Manager

Email: atarbox@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 307

Allison moved to Oregon to join the Coos Watershed Association in 2015 after receiving her M.S. in Geography from Alabama. Allison enjoys traveling, spending time with friends & family, and staying as active as possible–if she’s not in a creek for work, you’ll find her fishing, bowling, or playing softball!

Role at CoosWA: Allison is one of our restoration project managers who writes and manages multiple large grants each year that fund our work in the streams, such as large-scale wood placement, fish passage, tide gates, and riparian planting projects. Contact Allison if you have any questions about our restoration projects!

Favorite memory of working for CoosWA?

“Pranking a project partner by sending a human in a salmon suit through the new channels on Tioga Falls to be caught on the time-lapse cameras!”

Dan Draper

Restoration Project Manager; Fish Habitat Specialist

Dan Draper

Restoration Project Manager; Fish Habitat Specialist

Email: ddraper@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 308

Dan has lived in the Coos for more than 25 years and spent much of his youth exploring the Coos watershed. Dan started at CoosWA as a field technician in 2003, and is currently the Association’s most senior staff member. In his spare time Dan enjoys hunting, fishing, and just being outdoors.

Role at CoosWA: Dan is one of our restoration project managers who writes and manages multiple large grants each year that fund our work in the watershed, particularly in the lowland, tidally influenced areas where fish habitat and agricultural/working land productivity are both high priorities. He also leads our Aquatic Inventory (AQI) survey program, which gives us baseline info and helps us prioritize locations for future restoration.

Favorite memory of working for CoosWA?

“One summer while surveying, I saw a family of otters in the pool below the falls. They hung out for more than 30 minutes swimming around and looking at us from about ten feet away.”

Jeff Kerber

Restoration Project & Crew Manager

Jeff Kerber

Restoration Project & Crew Manager

Jeff grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Illinois where his parents and surroundings cultivated his love for the outdoors. He obtained a BS in Natural Resources Management with a concentration in Conservation Biology from Colorado State University. He took a detour to snowboard bum before finding his interest in restoration through a volunteer group while completing school. He taught skiing and snowboarding in between seasonal positions as a park ranger, working with plants on restoration projects for open spaces, consulting, and in outdoor education. He moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon in 2021 to work at an outdoor school before spending 2.5 years with Klamath Watershed Partnership completing administrative tasks and managing small projects. In his free time he enjoys hiking, fishing, concerts, cooking, paddling, hunting, foraging, gardening, and crabbing.

Role at CoosWA: Jeff will manage projects mostly in the lowlands with a focus on improving salmonid habitats and working lands while incorporating holistic benefits to other species whenever possible. Most projects will be on private lands where Jeff and CoosWA act as liasons between landowners and funders. He also works with the other project managers and Plants Program Manager to assess crew needs/scheduling and manages the crew program.

Favorite Activity/Place in Coos County: : As a land lubber (for now), Jeff enjoys racking up new species from shore. His first time catching rockfish was in Coos County after a long weekend of losing gear. One more cast became a school of rockfish and a late drive home. The trail from Sunset Bay to Cape Arago is his favorite on the coast.

Phone:(541) 888-5922 Ext. 309
Email:jkerber@cooswatershed.org

Taylor Jarding

Restoration Crew Lead

Taylor Jarding

Restoration Crew Lead

Email: tjarding@cooswatershed.org

Phone: (541) 888-5922

Taylor was born in California on the edge of the Mojave, moved to Oregon at 11 years old, and came to the Oregon coast in 2019 with his now-wife Mo. He always had a fascination with nature, especially fungi. A five-week, live on-site, trail maintenance program in high school gave him his first working experience in nature. He went on to work as a pharmacy tech for 8 years, only to burn out post-Covid and return to nature-based work through Oregon State Parks as a summer ranger before accepting the crew lead position at CoosWA in 2025.

Role at CoosWA: Taylor leads our crew-based programs throughout the year, including overseeing the summer youth crew. He is a core member of the plants/restoration team, so if there is nursery maintenance, fence-building, tree planting, equipment fixing or hauling, or crew mentoring to be done, Taylor will be there!

Favorite book:

“My favorite book is a tremendous catch-all by Tristan Gooley called The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs. It’s a no-nonsense guide to picking apart the natural phenomena around us in order to deduce information about direction, weather, tracking animals, prevailing winds, finding water, picking a campsite, understanding soil condition, and much more.”

Ed Cope

Plants Program Manager

Ed Cope

Plants Program Manager

Email: ecope@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 305

Ed is a restoration specialist, having spent ten years recreating highly imperiled habitat the Midwest. He obtained two bachelor’s degrees from Montana State University, one in Land Rehabilitation and one in Rangeland Ecology, and moved to Oregon in 2019 to pursue a master’s degree in Environmental Science. Before coming to the Coos Watershed Association, Ed worked for the Natural Land Institute, one of the nation’s oldest land trusts. Ed is also a passionate botanist and ecologist, and when he’s not working, you’ll find him out exploring Oregon’s remote landscapes while on the hunt for rare plants, especially species of paintbrush.

Role at CoosWA: Ed manages restoration projects as well as our Matson Creek Native Plant Nursery program. Reach out to Ed if you’re interested in purchasing native plants or volunteering at the nursery! Check out this video featuring Ed and the nursery.

Favorite book?

“My favorite things to read about are natural selection and evolution. The best book on the subject is ‘The Selfish Gene’ by Richard Dawkins.”

AJ Kliewer

Plants Restoration Technician

AJ Kliewer

Plants Restoration Technician

Email: akliewer@cooswatershed.org

Phone: (541) 888-5922

AJ has lived in Coos Bay his whole life, besides the time he spent getting his bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis. His connection with CoosWA began in 2014 when he joined our after-school watershed stewardship program for teens. He stayed in the program for multiple years, during which he and his peers helped bring the Mayfly Festival to life in 2017! After high school, he spent a summer as an intern with CoosWA’s LCM program and two summers on our summer youth crew, taking on more leadership responsibilities in each role. Most recently, AJ joined our team as a full-time, permanent staff member—teen years after tromping around the woods with us as an 8th grader!

Role at CoosWA: As our Restoration Technician, AJ assists with our noxious weeds program, winter planting crew, and summer youth crew. He is the Swiss army knife of the plants team, helping where he is needed.

Memorable experience in Coos County:

“I went chanterelle picking with a friend this last year and found a lobster mushroom the size of my head! It was the biggest lobster mushroom I’ve ever seen, and it didn’t have any bad spots, which was miraculous.”

Meagan Abele

Monitoring Program Manager

Meagan Abele

Monitoring Program Manager

Email: mabele@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922

Meagan is a recent import to Coos Bay, moving here at the end of 2023 after finishing her MSc. in marine resource management at Oregon State University. Before moving to Oregon, Meagan worked as a marine research technician, riding in boats up and down the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. This period also established her love of SCUBA diving, cycling, and canoeing, which is still strong today. Meagan is excited to live and work in the Coos watershed, joining her passions in the coastal mountains, estuaries, and marine environments–much like the salmon she monitors!

Role at CoosWA: Meagan manages our ongoing watershed monitoring programs, which includes developing the monitoring plans that guide which data are collected and how. Her efforts will also focus on monitoring the recovery of Oregon coho salmon populations by establishing baseline data and evaluating the effectiveness of our restoration programs.

Favorite place in Coos County?

“I love discovering the hidden gems of a new area! Although I’ve only been here for a short time, my top two are 1) the oyster flats in the Coos estuary, especially on a starry night at low tide, and 2) Tiny’s tavern, where you can enjoy a beverage while doing your laundry at a reasonable price!”

Freelin Reasor

Hydrological Specialist

Freelin Reasor

Hydrological Specialist

Email: freasor@cooswatershed.org

Phone: 541-888-5922, Extension 303

Freelin has spent most of his life in the Coos watershed. After receiving his education at Southwestern Oregon Community College, Freelin worked as a Water Quality Technician with the Coquille Indian Tribe, and has been at CoosWA since 2004. Freelin manages our Water Resources and Road Assessment Programs. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, surfing, and mushroom picking.

Role at CoosWA: Freelin leads our water resource monitoring programs, most notably our stream flow gauging stations that collect real-time water quality and flow info at multiple sites throughout the watershed. He also manages our road survey program each summer, which assesses the condition of forest roads and erosion potential along streams. Reach out to Freelin if you have any questions about any of these programs!

Favorite memory of working for CoosWA?

“One day doing spawning surveys with Dan Draper, we saw about 450 Coho, two salmon, four bald eagles, two herds of elk, and five deer. It was amazing to see so much wildlife in one day on the job.”

Anders Hansen

Monitoring Specialist

Anders Hansen

Monitoring Specialist

Email: [Email Address]

Phone: [Phone Number]

Anders is a Pacific Northwester, born and raised. From a young age, nature and the outdoors fascinated him, leading him to a degree in Marine Biology at the University of Oregon in 2014. Once in Charleston, OR, it’s no surprise he fell in love with our local ecosystem, which he now takes great pride in monitoring. When he’s not at work, you can find Anders outside cataloging the biodiversity of his backyard.

Role at CoosWA: Anders has worn many hats at CoosWA, primarily on the plants/restoration team (Field Technician and Noxious Weed Coordinator). He made the switch recently to the fish side, where he now manages the Coho Life Cycle Monitoring (LCM) program, including data collection, compilation, analysis, and reporting.

Favorite place in Coos County:

“I’d have to say the Umpqua dunes. The alien expanse of the rolling sand and the unique life adapted to it are mesmerizing. Furthermore, the substrate makes for excellent dune bocce play, an upcoming sport that continues in it’s rapid development.”

Kevin Whittaker

Fisheries Research Assistant

Kevin Whittaker

Fisheries Research Assistant

Email: fishresearch@cooswatershed.org

Phone: (541) 888-5922, Extension 310

Kevin was born and raised in Oregon. He loves being outdoors, whether it’s paddleboard fishing at Eel Lake, riding mountain bikes at Whiskey Run, or disc-golfing at Ferry Road Park, usually with his wife Misha and dog side-kick Max! Kevin started his career in riparian restoration with the Siuslaw Watershed Council in 2021 and has since fallen in love with this work. He joined the CoosWA team in 2022 and looks forward to making a positive impact in estuaries and riparian zones as our Fisheries Research Assistant.

Role at CoosWA: Kevin works with volunteers and interns to monitor coho salmon populations throughout the Coos Basin. Contact Kevin if you’re interested in learning more about CoosWA’s Life Cycle Monitoring Program!

Memorable experience outdoors in Coos County:

“Visiting Golden and Silver Falls for the first time!”

Staff Members

Haley Lutz

Sheena Wheeler

Diana Wright

Alexa Carleton

Elena Bernier

Allison Tarbox

Dan Draper

Jeff Kerber

Taylor Jarding

Ed Cope

AJ Kliewer

Meagan Abele

Freelin Reasor

Anders Hansen

Kevin Whittaker

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