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Tom has been an environmentally minded outfitter and guide in the Swan Valley and surrounding wilderness areas for over 30 years. He has worked several years as a research assistant for the Hornocker Wildlife Research Institute in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. Tom has an intimate knowledge of the landscape and ecology of the Swan for which he is well respected by a wide array of citizens, scientists and activists in the region, the state and the country. Tom is Northwest Connections' Program Associate and Conservation Specialist.
tparker@blackfoot.net
Andrea is a science instructor and environmental educator with twenty years of experience teaching field-based ecology and natural history. Her particular expertise is in watershed function and stream restoration. Andrea earned her Master's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana where her thesis focused on using restoration as a vehicle to teach ecology. Andrea has worked for Northwest Connections for ten years, acting as Education Program Director until 2005, and conducting monitoring and restoration projects with the Wildlands Volunteer Corps. Currently she teaches the Watershed Dynamics course for Landscape and Livelihood. Andrea and her husband Dave McEvoy are busy raising two daughters, Anna and Maria, a stone's throw from Rattlesnake Creek.
andrea@northwestconnections.org
Melanie Parker is co-founder and Executive Director of Northwest Connections. Melanie graduated with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science. She attained a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana in 1997. Melanie has taught field-based ecology courses for twenty years, and has worked in a wide diversity of outdoor jobs including backcountry ranger, wilderness guide and field ecologist.
Melanie is an active spokesperson for place-based collaborative conservation. She has a strong reputation as someone who can bring people with diverse interests together and craft a solution that benefits both people and land. Melanie facilitates the Swan Valley Coordinating Committee, a group that includes state and federal agencies, local government, as well as local and regional non-profits to coordinate conservation and restoration work. She is also the current chair of the Swan Valley Elementary School Board of Trustees.
Melanie grew up in Arizona and has always been an avid outdoors person. She and her husband Tom Parker now have two small children, Kyra and John, whom she hopes to instill with a similar love for nature.melanie@northwestconnections.org
Steve is Northwest Connection’s Program Manager. He has a B.S. in Outdoor Recreation from Murray State University. Steve has worked for the Forest Service for 17 seasons as a forestry technician and backcountry ranger. He has also worked as an outdoor instructor and guide for 12 seasons, is a rustic furniture craftsman and local history buff, recently completing a book on Swan Valley place names. Steve has worked for Northwest Connections as an instructor and field assistant on grizzly bear DNA and whitebark pine research projects.
steve@northwestconnections.org
Maureen Hartmann is Program Director and Student Coordinator for Northwest Connections. Maureen received her Master’s of Science in 2004 from the University of Montana’s Environmental Studies Program and was selected as a Doris Duke Environmental Fellow. Her graduate work focused on the divestment of corporate timberlands and the conservation strategies being utilized to maintain rural landscapes and working forests. Prior to her graduate work, she spent 5 years working for various government agencies (USGS, USFS, NPS, Nez Perce Tribe) doing wildlife and forestry related fieldwork. She has been working for Northwest Connections for the past 5 years coordinating NwC’s student educational programs and assisting with land conservation projects on both public and private lands. Her passion in the conservation field lies with protecting rural places – working towards balanced solutions that sustain the abundant natural resources while simultaneously sustaining local economies and protecting rural culture. Maureen grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and has lived in Montana for 12 years. Although happy doing any outdoor activity, she can most often be found on long trail runs with her dog Lewis.
mo@northwestconnections.org
Adam has spent the last 6 years sharing his time between the Swan Valley, Blackfoot Valley, and Missoula. While completing his undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, Adam was also busy taking courses, interning, and eventually instructing for Northwest Connection. Both a Winter Field Studies and Landscape and Livelihood alumni, he is now Program Coordinator for Northwest Connections. Adam also spends a good deal of time working for the University of Montana’s Division of Biological Studies as the lead field technician on a long-term predator, small mammal, and vegetation research project in the Blackfoot Valley. Adam has a passion for studying the natural world and enjoys teaching natural history to people of all ages.
adam@northwestconnections.org
Mike Stevenson
Mike, a native Montanan and long time trapper in the Swan Valley and Bob Marshall Wilderness, also has a firm grasp of the site specific ecology of several of our threatened and endangered species. Mike works as a master woodworker and building contractor, and contributes to NwC monitoring and education programs part time. Mike enjoys journeying across the mountains to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation where both he spends time with family and old friends.
Tiger and Deb Hulett
Tiger is a third generation logger from the Swan Valley who has an intimate understanding of wildlife and habitat linkages. Tiger, and his wife Deb, both work with Northwest Connections in the Winter and Spring, tracking carnivores and setting up remote camera sets for grizzly bears. When they're not working, they enjoy spending time with their three boys, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and horse packing in the mountains.
Grace Burgess
Grace is the Office Manager for Northwest Connections. She was born in North Carolina and lived in Virginia until she moved to Condon with her husband in May of 2005. She has three grown children and two grandsons. She enjoys her church and riding her horse.
grace@northwestconnections.org
Jessie Lund
Jessie is the Outreach Coordinator and has contributed to NwC field projects since 2001. Jessie has a B.S. in biology, and a B.A. in philosophy from Rocky Mountain College. When she is not working, she is likely to be found outside, hiking, biking, or horseback riding. Jessie volunteers with the local ambulance as an NR-EMT, and is a member of Missoula County Search and Rescue. One of her greatest undertakings has been the training of two Search and Rescue dogs.
jessie@northwestconnections.org
Susan Novosel
Susan is Northwest Connections' Marketing Coordinator. She traded in her fast-paced advertising career for an idyllic life in the Swan Valley. She enjoys hiking and when the snow muse hits, mushing her Siberian huskies.
susan@northwestconnections.org
Zach Wallace is our Intern for the 2008 Field Semester. Zach is a field biologist, naturalist and musician. Originally from Michigan, he graduated from Bard College in 2005, with a double-degree in Environmental Science and Music. Attending the Landscape and Livelihood field semester in 2003 was a defining moment in his education. Since college he has traveled the country playing music and working as a biologist on birds, turtles and forest ecology. He recently earned his Wilderness EMT-B certification. He returned to the Swan Valley this past winter to assist with Winter Field Studies and is excited to be around again for Landscape and Livelihood.
Cori Stanek joined NwC as our Intern for the Summer of 2008. Cori is currently a student and Northland Environmental Liberal Arts College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where she will be completing a degree in Environmental Studies/Community Organizing next spring. Cori is from Minnesota and was a student with Landscape & Livelihood in the fall of 2007. A true Minnesota girl at heart, she enjoys the world through a paddle, a saddle, a backpack, a paintbrush, and a pen.
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