BOARD MEMBERS
BOARD Members
President: Cailin Phillips | Vice President: Shanna Saarela-Schultz
Treasurer: Alyssa Core | Secretary: Maddie Maurer
Event & Speaker Coordinator: Kelsey White
Website Editor: Reed Fox
Audio/Visual Coordinator: Curt Kleist
Bookkeeper and Knower of Everything: Jane Zirbes
BWSR Liaison: Ben Meyer
Board Bios
President
Cailin Phillips
Contact: cphillips@netechnical.com
Employer/Position: Northeast Technical Services (NTS), Wetland Scientist/ Environmental Field Scientist
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I am an avid outdoors woman and have been involved with archery since I was 6 years old.
Favorite Memory Related to Wetlands: Watching a beautiful 200lb, 10 point buck leap over a stream I was working in, just 10 yards away.
Vice-President
Shanna Saarela-Schultz
Contact: Shanna.Saarela-Schultz@amiengineers.com
Employer/Position: AMI Consulting Engineers/Senior Environmental Specialist
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I am a huge bird nerd and love bird watching. Sometimes I even get distracted by birds when I’m supposed to be doing other field work. I have four small pet parrots, three chickens, and my tattoo is even bird-related!
Favorite Memory/Experience Related to Wetlands: Being followed by an entire herd of very friendly and curious cows while delineating wetlands in the farm fields of central Wisconsin. They kept trying to eat my backpack while I worked. It was like having my very own wetland delineation entourage!
Secretary
Madeline Maurer
Contact: maddie.maurer@bolton-menk.com
Employer/Position: Bolton & Menk Inc./ Natural Resources Technician
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I am a hobbyist orchard & vineyard fruit farmer and beekeeper located in Bay City, Wisconsin.
Favorite memory/experience related to wetlands: Hiking around the Adirondacks, finding a patch of Twinflowers (Linnaea borealis) on the edge of a wetland.
Treasurer
Alyssa Core
Contact: alyssa.core@state.mn.us
Employer/Position: MN Board of Water and Soils Resources/ Wetland Specialist
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I saw my first wild wolf on a hike back from the Sea Caves in northern Wisconsin. It was dusk, so there were only 3 of us still out on the ice and we were in awe of seeing it.
Favorite Memory Related to Wetlands: Paddling with my cousin in the Bark Bay Slough SNA in Wisconsin and nerding out on bog plants and bird watching.
Event & Speaker Coordinator
Kelsey White
Contact: kwhite@ricecreek.org
Employer/Position: Rice Creek Watershed District, Permit Review Technician
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I have taken multiple river trips and a Boundary Waters trip using a stand-up paddle board.
Favorite Memory Related to Wetlands: Assisting with Floristic Quality Assessments in the Red Lake Peatland and Pine Island State Forest areas.
Audio & Visual Coordinator
Curt Kleist
Contact: Curt.Kleist@CKWetlands.com
Employer/Position: CK Wetland Services, Inc., Principal Wetland Scientist/CEO
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: Nicknamed the “swamp goat”, due to intense field pace.
Favorite Memory Related to Wetlands: Conducting weekly aerial wetland classifications along the gulf coast from 500’ above.
Website Editor
Reed Fox
Contact: reed.fox100@gmail.com
Employer/Position: Northeast Technical Services (NTS), Programmer/Environmental Field Scientist
Personal Quirk/Fun Fact: I ride the line between outdoors enthusiast and indoors computer geek very closely.
Favorite memory/experience related to wetlands: Being able to finally find and identify native Minnesotan sundew and pitcher plants with my own eyes for the first time.