Staff

Peter Morrison is our Executive Director. He has a Masters in Forest Ecology from the University of Washington and over 30 years of experience in ecological assessments, vegetation mapping, remote-sensing, GIS, botanical surveys, landscape analysis, conservation planning and project management. He leads our wildlands and biodiversity studies and has led projects related to forest and rangeland health assessments, surveys and habitat mapping of imperiled species, landscape-level watershed and ecosystem analysis, and the development of conservation priorities. Previously, he worked as an ecologist for Sierra Biodiversity Institute, the Wilderness Society, the US Forest Service, Oregon State University and the Sierra Club. He has been a consultant to government agencies and conservation organizations. Peter has received numerous awards for his conservation science work. His efforts have aided the protection of several million acres of critical habitat in the USA, Canada, and Latin America. Peter is an author or co-author of over 100 scientific reports, papers and book chapters.

Lace Thornberg enjoys connecting people to good causes and innovative ideas. She earned a Master of Arts in Museology from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Communications from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She spent the better part of 2012 in the Philippines as a Fulbright researcher examining community involvement in archaeology, sustainable tourism development and heritage management and helping to establish the Siballtan House Museum in El Nido, Palawan. Prior to that she served as the editor of Washington Trails, a magazine devoted to hiking in Washington state, which was just the most recent of the several positions, including Development Directorr, that she held at Washington Trails Association during her nine-year career with them. For fun, she's been pursuing Washington's top 100 peaks and enjoys all manner of muscle-powered outdoor recreation, hiking, biking, kayaking, rock climbing, et cetera.

George Wooten is a botanist and fire behavior analyst with a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and graduate studies in Molecular Biology. George has worked for Pacific Biodiversity Institute for over 13 years on botanical surveys, ecological assessments and wildfire behavior analysis. He also works with Conservation Northwest and is an adjunct instructor for Wenatchee Valley College where he teaches Botany, Ethnobotany and Natural Resources Lab.

Katie Swanson is our bookkeeper. Katie worked at the University of Washington for many years, as a computer programmer and data analyst for researchers in Fisheries, Psychology and the School of Nursing. In 2006, she retired from the UW and she and her husband moved to the Methow Valley, a long-time goal. Since then, she has pursued a new passion for weaving and other fiber arts, and also helps her husband with his cabinet and furniture making business. They also try to spend as much time as possible enjoying the valley life they moved here for, including many outdoor activities as well as cultural and social pursuits. Katie maintains a blog called "Twisp of Fate" (twispofate.wordpress.com).

Sue Ann Gifford, Anacortes. Sue Ann Gifford is a Volunteer Trainer for our harbor porpoise project. She began working on this project as an intern in 2009 and collected some of the earliest observation data while we were testing the concept. Her work over the last 3 years has provided consistency in the observation training the volunteers receive. She also works part time for Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes as a Research Associate.