Meet CRWC's Staff
Our work could not be sustained without a highly talented and dedicated staff. They work tirelessly on behalf of the watershed, and make sure that work is leveraged in its effectiveness through partnerships with like-minded citizens, agencies, and groups.
Executive
Andrew Fisk, Ph.D., Executive Director. Contact Andy
Prior to joining CRWC in May 2011, Andy served as Director of the Land and Water Quality Bureau at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for seven years. As Maine’s land and water quality director, Andy had extensive experience with a range of state and federal environmental quality statutes. He worked with municipalities, industry, and citizens to develop, finance, and implement clean water requirements that eliminated algae blooms, sewer overflows, and maintained stream and river flows. He was also actively involved in enacting and implementing scientifically-based protections for hundreds of thousands of acres of significant wildlife habitats for tidal and inland waterfowl as well as protections for vernal pools.
Andy has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, as well as a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. He has served as President of the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Agencies and Chair of the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC). He has been active in land conservation for over a decade. At NEIWPCC, Fisk initiated the country’s first regional mercury clean-up plan for the seven Northeast states’ impaired waters which maps out strategies to make the region’s fish safe to eat.
Chelsea Gwyther, President. Contact Chelsea
Chelsea Gwyther joined CRWC as executive director in May of 2005, and moved to the newly-created position of president in May 2011. As ED she led the organization through a strategic assessment of its priorities, implemented a water quality monitoring program, opened CRWC's new water testing laboratory, and expanded existing programs including the annual Source to Sea Cleanup and its watershed-wide fisheries restoration work. Chelsea brought along with her a strong commitment to membership and community involvement, which will be the focus of her new position.
Chelsea has a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a B.A. in environmental studies from Prescott College. She has 15 years of nonprofit experience, including 8 years as a director of conservation organizations. Chelsea is on the Board of Earth Share New England. She has a background in professional theatre, and also has future plans to learn the two-step. Chelsea lives with her husband and two children in Pelham, MA. If you stop by to see her at CRWC’s Greenfield Headquarters, you are also likely to meet Toby, her black lab.
River Stewards
David Deen, River Steward, Upper Valley. Contact David
David Deen began at the Watershed Council in 1998. David views his river steward work as “resisting the bad things that could happen to the Connecticut River and celebrating the good things about the river.” Much of David’s time is spent reviewing permits and answering calls about possible problems on the river—as well as catching up with normal work assignments. He’s spent 20 years as a Vermont legislator, focusing on public policy and advocating for river protections. For most of his legislative time he’s been on the Natural Resources/Water Resources committees.
David holds a M.S. from Antioch New England Graduate School. He’s been learning about water, rivers and aquatic species for decades. David has been a NH licensed flyfishing guide for 26 years, teaching people to fish while simultaneously teaching them the basics of healthy rivers. David likes to read everything from Shakespeare to trash mystery thrillers. His science reading interests range toward research, field reports, and quantum physics, with a particular interest in ecology and fishing worldwide. Whenever possible, David goes fishing.
Andrea Donlon, River Steward, Massachusetts. Contact Andrea
Andrea Donlon became CRWC's first River Steward for the Massachusetts part of the watershed in 2003. Prior to that, she was a nonpoint source pollution specialist at the NH Department of Environmental Services in Concord. She has worked at the Lake Champlain Basin Program; environmental consulting firms in MA and DC; and on several forest, water quality, and air monitoring studies in VT and NH. Andrea has a BS in math from Haverford College and an MS in forestry from UVM. Her master's studies focused on trace levels of mercury in soils and streams on Vermont’s Mount Mansfield.
As River Steward, Andrea advocates for the Connecticut and its tributaries in regulatory proceedings with hydropower facilities in MA. She comments on pollutant discharge permits; reviews development plans affecting the watershed, and works on state-wide regulatory issues with other non-profits. She enjoys canoeing and kayaking. Andrea coordinated CRWC’s Source to Sea Cleanup for four years. Currently she leads the volunteer water monitoring effort, including responsibilities for the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). Andrea and her partner Christopher live in Buckland MA with their baby daughter Ursula and corgi, Addie (one of the office mascots).
Ron Rhodes, River Steward, North Country. Contact Ron
Ron joins CRWC in our newly created North Country River Steward position. Ron will spend most of his time in the North Country of VT & NH, an area he knows well from his years as a licensed NH fishing guide and his decade of service on the boards of Trout Unlimited and the White River Partnership. Ron also teaches the Fly Fishing and Fly Tying classes at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.
Ron is a graduate of Wittenberg University in Springfield (OH) where he majored in Political Science and Economics. Prior to moving to the Upper Valley, where he lives with his wife Betsy of 21 years and two bird dogs (Rusty and Kaylea), Ron worked in politics and government in Washington D.C. and Ohio.
Jacqueline Talbot, River Steward, Connecticut. Contact Jacqueline
Jacqueline Talbot serves as River Steward for the Connecticut portion of the watershed. Jacqueline has previously worked with Rivers Alliance of Connecticut and the Shepaug River Watershed Coalition, and has built grassroots support for climate change initiatives and fostering environmental leadership among youth. A long-time Connecticut resident, Jacqueline has also lived in South Africa. She works in our office in Middletown, CT.
Jacqueline is a graduate of Fordham University in New York, where she studied International Relations and graduated Magna cum Laude, specializing in politics and sociology. She has worked on watershed initiatives with several Connecticut coalitions, and has compiled data on toxic metals and radionuclides in public water supplies, and monitored discharges and water quality contaminants in surface and groundwater in her home state. Jacqueline enjoys writing, kayaking, hiking, and photography and is currently learning the musical saw.
Staff
Richard Ewald, Director of Planning and Development. Contact Richard
Richard Ewald joined CRWC in July 2008. As the organization’s first Planning & Development Director, he focuses on all aspects of fundraising to support the CRWC and its many programs. His work will keep him in touch with members, donors, foundations, and government funders, and will draw on his background in municipal community development, non-profit downtown revitalization, and historic resource protection.
Richard’s relationship with the CRWC goes back to the mid-1990s when he helped nominate the Connecticut to the American Heritage River Program and wrote the text for the CRWC’s poster, “The River That Connects Us.” Richard has a Masters in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont and is the author of Proud to Live Here in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, an illustrated history of the natural and cultural landscape of the upper river. He and his wife Gaelen have lived in Westminster West, Vermont, since 1978.
Pat LaMountain, Finance Director. Contact Pat
Pat works to keep CRWC’s finances orderly and up-to-date – from daily bill paying, depositing receipts, payroll, and investment record keeping, to internal and external financial statements. She is a self-taught accountant who started out in high school helping do the books for her father’s apple and peach farm. During her career Pat has enjoyed developing “reporting systems” that enable managers to understand their businesses. She has a particular fondness for environmental organizations.
Pat has a BA in American Civilization from Brown University, during the time it was called Pembroke College. She later attended Boston University School of Law for two years, before deciding an artist’s life was more her calling. She’s been a sing-songwriter for many years, and has managed concerts and musical events. Pat is a former executive director of the Shea Theater in Turners Falls and was in a political/folk band with her singer-songwriter husband, Tex, for many years. Today, both are anchors in the folk band “Root Cellar”. Pat and Tex now live in Greenfield, where she brags that she can walk to work.
Alan Morgan, Regional Office Manager. Contact Alan
Alan has coordinated the office in our historic headquarters building since 2005, taking care of day-to-day details so the rest of CRWC’s staff can focus on the River and our programs. He also maintains our website as it grows into a more inclusive and interactive part of CRWC’s work. Alan went to Haverford College.
After discovering that his B.A. in Philosophy did not offer a solid career path, Alan focused his efforts on nonprofit enterprises in the US and Asia that promote cultural, educational and environmental goals. A resident of Western Massachusetts since 1975, Alan is glad to be involved in local work that directly benefits his home town of Warwick, the river he crosses every day, and the community of concerned folks that make this region special.
Marion Griswold, Membership Assistant. Contact Marion
Marion Griswold joined the CRWC in August 2010 as Membership Assistant. She recently moved to Greenfield from the Pomperaug River Watershed in western Connecticut, where she worked in non-profit administration in a variety of capacities, including fund-raising, bookkeeping, and general administration, in settings ranging from academic institutions to small, local non-profits.
Marion graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa with a B.A. in American Studies. She has two daughters, both of whom live in the Pioneer Valley. She has been a zealous organic gardener of both vegetables and flowers for many years, and aspires to ownership of a farmette in the Valley. In addition to growing things, her enthusiasms and interests include American folk music, historic preservation, and issues of land use, farmland preservation, and food policy.
Angela Mrozinski, Community Outreach Coordinator. Contact Angie
If you have attended a rain barrel workshop, pulled invasive species with us, or perused CRWC’s Facebook page then you have seen Angie’s work as CRWC’s Outreach Coordinator. Angie began working with the watershed council in 2010 as an AmeriCorps member and now joins us as staff.
Angie graduated with an MS from Antioch University New England’s Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program. During her time there, she worked on a variety of water-focused projects including groundwater monitoring and public education & outreach in the Ossipee Lake watershed as well as public outreach & engagement on stormwater infrastructure issues for a NOAA funded project in the Lake Sunapee watershed in NH. Angie is from the “Great Lakes State” and got her BS in Natural Resources Management from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, where she also worked as an environmental educator. Outside of the office, you can probably find her cooking, baking, or gardening.
Phil Tomlinson, CRWC Librarian.
Phil Tomlinson began volunteering at the Watershed Council in 2004, just after CRWC moved its headquarters from Easthampton to Greenfield, MA. He completed organizing, sorting and cataloguing more than 5,000 books, documents and audio-visual materials in the Council’s extensive library collection, and brought the electronic data base up to date.
Phil holds an MS in plant physiology from North Carolina State, and an MA and Ph.D. in physiology and molecular and cell biology from Maharishi University of Management in Iowa. Phil lives in Greenfield, and enjoys bicycling and taking to the courts for pickleball.
Peggy Savage Brownell, Laboratory Manager
Peggy Savage Brownell has enjoyed managing the CRWC Water Testing Lab since it began accepting water quality samples in June 2010. She tests samples collected from rivers, streams, storm drains, and flowing pipes for the presence and abundance of E. Coli bacteria to determine whether those water bodies meet or exceed the State Water Quality Standard. Peggy has also established quality control processes to ensure accurate results.
Peggy has her M.S. in Geology from the University of Georgia and her B.A. in Geology from Lafayette College. After working as a Geophysicist in New Orleans, Peggy “saw the light” and switched to nonprofit work, eventually finding her calling focusing on water quality issues at watershed associations. She worked at the Charles River Watershed Association in the Boston area and at Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association in New Jersey where she designed and managed water quality sampling programs, wrote Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), managed a River-Friendly program working with landowners, conducted a streamflow restoration project, and initiated a dam removal project. Peggy and her husband Ken live in Amherst, MA.
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Photo credits (above): CRWC Staff, Dan Rous
Image Credits at Right - Illustrations: Bill Singleton; Photos: Elizabeth Leong, Megan Hearne, Ron Bouley www.ronbouleyphoto.com, Nancy Rich, Boating Guide cover photo © McConnell/McNamara, CRWC Archive.
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