Erin Farris-Olsen joined MWCC as Executive Director in June 2015. Erin is a member of the Brothertown Indian Nation and graduate in Environmental Studies and Communication from Carroll College and Natural Resources Law at the University of Oregon. Erin’s passion for the Montana landscape first evolved in her college years through surveying wetlands for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Natural Heritage Program. She later took her passion for environmental education and conservation abroad and worked on environmental awareness campaigns in Liberia and Belize. Erin enjoys actively promoting the role of community based conservation in ensuring the resiliency of Montana's landscape for future generations. In her spare time, Erin likes to fly fish, camp, and hike around Helena with her husband Rob, son Tupper, and their dog June Bug.
Kierra was previously the Big Sky Watershed Corps member for MWCC and CFKRBC and has decided to stay on at MWCC as the Partnership & Events Coordinator. She originally hails from the land of bourbon and horse racing (KY) where she received her Bachelors in Wildlife Management and GIS from Eastern Kentucky University. Kierra is passionate about many things including the conservation of land and water, sweet tea, knitting, and any of the wildlife -ologies. Montana stole her heart when she served a term of service the summer of 2016 at the National Bison Range and is now proud to call it home with her husband.
Terri comes to MWCC from the Flathead Valley, with a stop in Missoula where she earned a master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Natural Resources Conflict Resolution. She previously worked as a stream and wetland technician for the U.S. Forest Service and Montana Natural Heritage Program. With a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wayne State University in her hometown of Detroit, Terri spent years as a writer and editor before trail work and volunteer stream sampling pulled her happily into the natural resources realm. She has worked for the Student Conservation Association and served as a forestry and agriculture volunteer in the Peace Corps in rural northern Zambia. Terri loves hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, swimming in slow-moving rivers and high alpine lakes, and working with communities to preserve and protect the resources on which they depend.
Robert Ray is a Water Quality Specialist in the Watershed Protection Section at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. He managed the Nonpoint Source Program for the State of Montana from 2002 to 2016 and the TMDL program from 2002 to 2006. Prior to working for the state of Montana, he was the Director of Watershed Services at the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. In that role he updated and implemented the Regional Water Quality Plan (208 Plan) and supported and participated in numerous watershed-scale water quality planning and implementation efforts. Robert has also worked in water quality protection for the city of Arvada, Colorado, the Virginia Water Control Board, and as a Research Associate at the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Environmental Laboratories. He earned a BS in Biology from the University of New Mexico in 1982 and a MS in Marine Science from the College of William and Mary in 1986.
Robert is married and has a grown son and daughter. He loves the out-of- doors and gets great joy from skiing, running, mountaineering, biking, rafting, canoeing, etc.