Meet Our Staff

Adam Baek grew up in Portland Oregon with his twin brother and two sisters, always playing games and spending time with friends and family. He enjoys rollerskating, riding motorcycles and (attempts) DJ’ing. Traveling is something important to Adam, and it was because of his trip to Peru that he found a strong interest in conservation. He remembers being in the Amazon rainforest and learning about tradition, culture, and environmental inequity. Outside of work, Adam engages and educates youth as a mentor for the Blueprint Foundation.

Debbie joined the Land Trust in 2015 with 20 years of experience in nonprofit accounting and a passion for the health of our wonderful earth. She’s thrilled to work alongside like-minded folks doing work she cherishes. Outside the office, Debbie loves to walk with her dog, Hannah, and tend to the mini-forest on her apartment balcony.

Amy joined the Land Trust in early 2023, bringing more than 25 years of experience in tidal wetland research, monitoring, and restoration. She is fascinated by the interaction of hydrology and vegetation, and how this can inform restoration. She has spent many hours in waders and boats collecting data throughout the Columbia River Estuary and is excited to expand this experience to prairie and forest ecosystems. Amy leads our ecological monitoring program and conducts data analysis to inform our strategic management decisions. Outside of the office Amy enjoys hiking, traveling, and gardening.

Theo moved to the Pacific Northwest from Tennessee in 2014 and has since become a lover of outdoor spaces. They joined the Land Trust as the administrative assistant in March 2022. Currently, they are pursuing an undergraduate degree in Sustainability with a focus in Justice Studies while also obtaining a GIS certification. Theo enjoys hiking, rock climbing, camping, reading, and spending time with their three cats.

Peter Condra joined Columbia Land Trust in 2022 as Events Manager after working for over a decade in event planning and business administration. His professional origins are in Portland’s music community, as a guitarist and as an event producer formerly at Mississippi Studios and She Shreds Media. In his spare time, he loves planting trees, going to shows, and spending time with his partner Izzy and their dogs.

A true champion of collaboration, Kate came to the Land Trust in 2013 after five years leading the Wasco County Watershed Councils. Based out of our White Salmon office, Kate stewards our Oregon-side gorge properties, from rolling hills near The Dalles to Hood River’s Powerdale Corridor near her own backyard. Hula hooping makes Kate happy.

Since 2002, Lindsay has headed up a wide array of restoration and land-management projects in the East Cascades, including the removal of eight miles of road from the Klickitat River floodplain. A writer and storyteller at heart, Lindsay enjoys exploring with her family and her llamas from her home base in White Salmon.

Max comes to Columbia Land Trust from Eugene, OR where he spent the past two years developing an inclusive community program for youth. Raised in the Willamette Valley, Max draws inspiration from the wild places around him and the diverse ecosystems of the Northwest. He is excited to apply his experience to the work of the Land Trust by connecting people to nature and sharing unique conservation stories. In his free time, he enjoys trail running, biking, and traveling with his family.

Marie joined the Land Trust as Executive Assistant in 2023, providing key support to the Executive Director, leadership team and board of directors. Marie has a passion for community-centered work and comes to the Land Trust after several years of direct service at a local shelter. She is an Oregon State alumna and holds a master’s degree in International Affairs focusing on conflict and peacebuilding from the Geneva Graduate Institute of Switzerland. When not organizing and maintaining schedules, you’ll find her making flower arrangements and spending time with her pup in the family garden.

Kelsey brings several years of nonprofit communications experience to her role with Columbia Land Trust. She is excited to put her skills and creativity to use sharing the Land Trust’s conservation work and stories of the incredible nature and communities of the Columbia River region. She loves exploring the Northwest on foot, skis, paddleboard, or bike!

Helen joined Columbia Land Trust in 2019 as the Administrative Assistant. In 2021, she transitioned to the Stewardship Team as a Stewardship Assistant, where she gets to live out her passion for conservation by caring for our conserved lands. Helen recently earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Oregon State University, with a focus in ecological restoration. Outside of work, she enjoys adventuring outdoors with her family and admiring old-growth forests.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Mariah joined the Land Trust in 2023. She has worked in nonprofit administration since 2016 and is excited to join the Backyard Habitat team to assist gardeners in creating greenspaces that benefit both people and wildlife.

Kate comes to the Backyard Habitat program as a personal learner of the patterns and relationships of humans and non-humans who live here, land stewardship and permaculture farming, regenerative landscape design, and wetland and pond design and construction. Kate has always lived in what is now called Oregon and has a deep affinity with the places and biomes that make this place special. They have been exploring their own settler colonial worldview and the impacts of this worldview on our daily life cycles and the non-humans we live with. They weave this process into their work at Backyard Habitat to learn alongside other non-native humans to deepen our care for the place we love and build new practices to engage with our fellow beings. Kate is passionate about water resiliency and waterbody creation, forest advocacy, wetland ecology, decolonization, and climate resilience. They are always excited to have conversations about these topics, so feel free to ask.

After joining the Land Trust in 2017, Sanoe worked her way up through the ranks from Stewardship Assistant to Natural Area Manager and now oversees two large, complex properties in the Land Trust’s portfolio. She enjoys the physicality of on-the-ground restoration and revels in the meticulous detail landscape-scale conservation requires. In her spare time, Sanoe is a connoisseur of tequila, master jigsaw puzzler, and massive fútbol fan.

Hannah joined Columbia Land Trust in 2023 after more than a decade working as an environmental educator at several organizations including Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Nisqually Reach Nature Center. She holds a Biology degree from the University of Puget Sound and is glad to return to the Portland/Vancouver area where she grew up. Outside of work, Hannah enjoys birdwatching, jigsaw puzzles, and outdoor adventures with friends and family.

Adam Lieberg joined the Land Trust as a Natural Area Manager in June of 2022. Prior to settling down at the mouth of the Klickitat River in Lyle, WA, Adam worked as a field biologist monitoring a variety of plants, trees, and critters from the northern Rockies to the eastern Sierras. Adam has a passion for all things natural history and is always looking to get off the beaten path and explore wild places.

Born and raised in Kansas, Elizabeth moved out west in 2014. She worked in various land stewardship and restoration roles until heading back to school to earn a graduate certificate in GIS at Portland State University. She joined the Land Trust in 2022 and is excited to use her ecological knowledge and technical skills to support the Land Trust’s mission. In her free time, you will find Elizabeth birding, baking, and spoiling her dog, Henry.

Emily has worked for the Land Trust since 2014. Before joining the Land Trust she worked on habitat restoration projects for watershed councils and a local stormwater utility. Her master’s degree research took her to the Ecuadorian Andes, where she studied grassland plants at an elevation of 12,000 feet. When she’s not traveling, Emily enjoys being home in the Northwest and caring for her flock of backyard chickens.

Since 2021, Cindy has been monitoring bird use of Cranes’ Landing in the Vancouver lowlands to inform stewardship planning and management. Her previous experience includes wildlife and botanical fieldwork, specializing in avian surveys, in the wonderful variety of habitats of the Pacific Northwest. When not immersed in the activity of Sandhill Cranes and their associates, she spends her free time on volunteer activities, hiking, gardening, reading and puzzles. She is always birding!

Brad has been working in natural resources since 2012, primarily doing invasive species control, riparian restoration projects, and botany. Growing up in Southern Oregon, he gained an appreciation for plants and their foundational role in the ecosystem. In his spare time, Brad enjoys playing strategy board games and hunting elusive mariposa lilies.

Dani brings administrative and human resource experience to the Land Trust and is passionate about helping people find success in their roles. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Colorado State University and is excited to support the mission of the Land Trust to conserve the Northwest. Since moving to Portland in 2020, she has fallen in love with the outdoors and enjoys mountain biking, coffee shops, and weekend road trips.

Born and raised in Okinawa, Japan, Marian moved around the Northeast, South, and Northwest before settling in the Portland area in 2015. She has worked at non-profit organizations in development since 1994, specializing in Raiser’s Edge database software. Marian spends her free time reading or checking out new places and foods to try with her husband.

Rachael Pecore-Valdez is an environmental scientist and educator who began learning about Pacific NW plants as a child growing up around a farm near Aurora, Oregon. At OSU, she studied BioResource Research and completed an honors thesis evaluating pesticide exposure in juvenile steelhead. While she is a science nerd at heart, she recognized that the lens of Western science often misses how all the dots relate. This led to an MS in Holistic Science with a focus on multiple ways of knowing at Schumacher College. Rachael’s work has centered on leading nonprofit volunteer and education programs in water quality monitoring, beach clean-ups, nature connection, and Science-Tech-Engineering-Arts-Math education. She also produced the Wolf OR-7 Expedition, a documentary film about the people along an Oregon wolf’s dispersal route. She enjoys being a part of the Backyard Habitat program as it brings her passions for wildlife, rivers, and trees together. It took her about 5 years but her yard is now gold-certified! As a kid with sensory processing sensitivities, Rachael found solace in nature early on and still does. She enjoys spending time in trees and recently completed a certificate in arboriculture at PCC. Her current passion projects include learning about oak habitat and finding homes for baby oak trees that sprout up in her yard!

Susie is passionate about helping community members create vibrant and beautiful spaces in their yards and neighborhoods. Before joining the Land Trust she worked at Friends of Trees helping neighbors at community planting events. Susie loves nearly any outdoor activity, but especially enjoys hiking, camping, birdwatching, and looking for interesting flora and fauna.

The core tenant of Katie’s career has always been collaboration, from shellfish restoration projects on the East Coast and forest restoration in the East Cascades, to commercial fishing regulations in federal waters off the West Coast. She enjoys finding solutions to tough challenges and doing so with as many diverse people as possible. She is excited to take her varied experiences and apply them to land stewardship with Columbia Land Trust. Outside of work Katie loves to read, be outside and play with her dog Trea.

Noel began his career with the Land Trust in 2018 as a seasonal stewardship assistant while conducting graduate research in land trust-tribe relations. He found such an affinity for conservation that he spent the following three years stewarding natural areas for Washington DNR. Noel re-joined the Land Trust in 2022 to take on all things conservation easement-related, working with landowners to protect and enhance the precious lands, resources, and habitats under their care. Outside of work Noel is happiest landscaping, gardening, building things, climbing things, and traveling as much as possible.

Shelby is a nature enthusiast and environmental advocate who has proudly called Oregon’s Willamette Valley home for the majority of their life. They hold a B.A. in Environmental Studies – Sustainable Design with a minor in Outdoor Leadership from Pacific University. After finishing their education, they dedicated themselves to helping others create a connection, find belonging, and a sense of wonder in nature. They’ve had the privilege to work with several PNW-based non-profits as an environmental educator and outdoor guide, encouraging folks to appreciate and protect the natural world around them. In their free time, Shelby finds joy by exploring outdoor spaces either by foot or kayak and is passionate about foraging for wild edibles, cooking them, and most importantly eating them!

Jennifer started her career with Columbia Land Trust in 2021 as the Advancement Administrative Assistant and in June 2022 transitioned into her current role as the Advancement Coordinator. She is passionate about nonprofit fundraising and is excited to use her skills in a way that will make a lasting impact on our region. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys trying new recipes, going to spin classes, and picnicking when the weather is nice!

Hailing from the Willamette Valley, Kat found her footing in communications and conservation while working for nonprofits in Nevada and southern Oregon. Connecting people around the shared goal of protecting wild places is her way of combining her creative passions with an enduring love of nature. Kat joined Columbia Land Trust in 2023 and hit the ground running with the East Cascades Oak Partnership. In her free time, you’ll find her making music and visual art, enjoying whitewater sports, and exploring with her dog, Washburn.

Stacy joined the Land Trust in February 2023 as a Technical Coordinator for the East Cascades Oak Partnership. She holds a M.S. in Ecology from Montana State University with a varied background in plant ecology, grazing, invasive species, and pollinators. She is excited to bring her expertise and technical knowledge to the ECOP team. Stacy enjoys hiking, birding, and botanizing wherever she goes!

Susanna Summers loves connecting great people with great causes to create positive change. An integral part of Columbia Land Trust’s advancement team, she works to build connections between our donors and the land their gifts help conserve and care for. Susanna also enjoys gallivanting in nature—in the city and beyond—with her husband and two young sons.

A second-generation real estate industry professional, Pamela is honored to combine her years of real estate experience with her love for the Pacific Northwest wild spaces. Raised in the dusty dry desert of the SW, she now happily calls the rainy Pacific Northwest her home. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, reading, and listening to vintage vinyl records.

Austin was raised on the northern Oregon Coast, where he returned after graduating from Humboldt State University with a degree in soil science. He has worked for various conservation organizations throughout the Northwest, many of which specialized in restoration of riparian, forestry, and wetland habitats as well as agricultural impacts to water quality. Austin enjoys surfing, fishing, and hunting.

Jocelyn joined the Land Trust in 2023 and is responsible for its conservation efforts on the lower Columbia. She has worked in conservation GIS in the Pacific Northwest for over 15 years, translating complex data into stories and maps that support ecologically and culturally restorative landscape stewardship. She loves a rainy hike and exploring by bike, book, fork, or foot. She is usually knitting.

Nate manages our land acquisitions east of the Cascades out of the White Salmon office. He has a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon with an emphasis on development of conservation tools that facilitate landowner and community priorities. He mostly gardens.

Alex joined the Land Trust in July 2024 as a Natural Area Manager. She started her career in habitat restoration right out of college in 2018 where her love for controlling invasive plants bloomed. Her passion for restoration has taken her many cool places including San Francisco, Crater Lake National Park, Southeast Alaska, Wyoming and finally to Astoria, Oregon! She is thrilled to be back on the coast and helping to steward these beautiful lands. She loves cooking, reading, crocheting, and anything outdoors.

Born and raised in the woods of New Hampshire, Ian joined the Land Trust in 2019 bringing a passion for world-saving projects. He has managed fiscal & contract operations for various social service non-profits since 2002, most recently in Santa Cruz, CA. In his free time, Ian is a tax accountant, hot springs enthusiast and dance–party DJ.

Since 2010, Jennifer has managed, monitored, and cared for our lands in our stewardship department, where she applies her keen mind in the management of our land-information systems. Her previous work includes consultant work with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and natural area management with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. She spends her free time marveling at her young son, growing food, and getting outside as much as possible.