Board & Staff

Aaron Clausen is rooted in Montana and passionate about the well-being of its natural resources and all that they provide. Originally from South Dakota, Aaron has worked as an ecologist and conservation biologist on private lands in Montana for the past 10 years. He currently works with ranchers and other groups on agricultural financial and ecological sustainability as a Manager for the World Wildlife Fund. He lives in Bozeman with his wife Sonja and their furry cohort.

Robin is an aquatic ecologist with Confluence Consulting who specializes in monitoring and assessment of aquatic ecosystems. She served on the board of a small watershed coalition in Colorado and on the advisory committee and technical advisory committees for the Standard Mine Superfund Site clean-up. In 2010, she co-founded a non-profit organization focused on local, sustainable agriculture and food security. She is familiar with the workings of non-profits and with small business management, as a former small business owner.

Hannah Riedl is the section supervisor of the Nonpoint Source and Wetlands Program at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. She has been with the program since 2017 and the work includes monitoring project effectiveness and partnering with local organizations to implement water quality improvement projects. She has a B.S. in Restoration Ecology from the University of Montana, a M.S. in Ecology from Colorado State University, and lives in Helena, MT. She also serves on the board of the Helena Ultra Runners League, so it goes without saying that she loves time on the trails.

Zach has lived and worked in Montana for 15 years, realizing at some point that it’s home. He joined the Beaverhead Watershed Committee in 2017 to expand the group into the Red Rock Watershed. He loves the collaborative nature of his work in Southwest Montana and believes that this style of community-driven resource conservation that we’re all learning is what will allow us to solve the bigger problems coming in the future. Prior to working in the Beaverhead, Zach spent years working seasonal field jobs and then permanent office jobs before his work brought him to the Centennial Valley, where he learned a different conservation philosophy that has served him well in his current work. Zach has decided to stick around for a while in the watershed world and to lend his skills to the MWCC Board, partly due to sitting in a crowded room of watershed professionals and realizing “I really like these people” …

Jorri is originally from Brady, a small Montana farm town where she developed her love for conservation and obsession with water. She graduated from the University of Montana where she studied Wildlife Biology. Her work has been focused on aquatic ecology with a focus in aquatic invertebrates where she now works for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation managing the Watershed Grant Program. She enjoys exploring and traveling with her dog, Wren and is inspired by Montana’s collaborative and diverse approach to managing natural resources. Jorri’s passion for natural resources and conservation came from growing up in agriculture and spending weekends at the lake or family cabin in the Rocky Mountains. She is grateful for the opportunity to work with MWCC and keep serving Montana.

Mr. Smith is a Water Quality Regulatory Specialist for The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. After graduating from the University of Montana he began his career as a Fisheries Biologist.  After 10 years there he tried out being Program Manager for the tribes Wetlands. That was short lived when he moved to his current position after two years.  He has been working with the Tribes Natural Resource Department since 2003. Born in Missoula, MT and Graduated from the University of Montana. He will be attending the University of Gonzaga in the summer of 2022.

Jordan is a water quality scientist with NorthWestern Energy in Helena, MT and runs the water quality programs for NorthWestern’s 11 hydroelectric facilities. After getting a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from the University of North Dakota, Jordan spent some time working at various State and Federal natural resource agencies in North Dakota and Idaho before moving to Montana in 2012. Since moving to Helena, he has been passionately involved in Montana’s watershed community, working in the TMDL program at Montana DEQ and serving as the former chairman of the Lake Helena Watershed Group board, before starting his current role with NorthWestern Energy in 2017. He loves working with different watershed groups across the state and has a true appreciation for how tight-knit Montana’s watershed community is considering the vast size of the state.

Tracy is the Executive Director of the Sun River Watershed Group, based out of Great Falls in Central Montana. She grew up in a small agricultural community in Washington State, fishing the Yakima River, and camping in the foothills. She loves that her work in the Sun River watershed blends her background as a fisheries technician and habitat specialist with her appreciation for farming and ranching. Tracy has worked in Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming; and in Montana, she has worked on the Clark Fork, Blackfoot, and Sun Rivers. Tracy looks forward to working with the MWCC board and staff, bringing with her experience from serving on several previous boards and committees, and she can’t wait to help MWCC implement community-based conservation across Montana.

Holly is the Executive Director of the Gallatin Watershed Council where she and her team are working to guide collaborative water stewardship in the Gallatin Valley. Holly has been working with conservation-focused nonprofits since 2006 in the areas of land and water conservation, sustainable agriculture, clean energy, climate change, and sustainable communities on both regional and national levels. She holds a B.A. from Carleton College. Holly lives near the Gallatin River in the Gallatin Canyon with her husband and their two daughters.