Board of Directors

Andrew Brown (2016) – Jurisdictional Representative; Conservation Program Supervisor, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District

Andrew joined EMSWCD as the Conservation Program Supervisor in August 2015. He oversees EMSWCD’s Land Legacy Program, Grants Program and Headwaters Farm Incubator Program, and serves as the District-wide planner. Andrew’s planning and conservation experience is mainly in South Africa, where he worked in the public, non-profit and private sectors. He worked as a program manager in the Park Planning and Development Department of South African National Parks where he coordinated a regional landscape conservation initiative, and has managed various conservation planning, land conservation, stewardship and restoration projects.

Marianne Colgrove (2017) – Deputy IT Director, Reed College; Founder, Friends of Tideman Johnson; Committees: Facilities, Fundraising

I’ve been involved with JCWC since 2007 when I helped found the Friends of Tideman Johnson and the Council sponsored our first Community Watershed Stewardship Grant.

Tim Crawley (2015) – Board Chair; Attorney at Law, Preg, O’Donnell & Gillett; Committees: Executive, Facilities

Timothy Crawley has been a volunteer with Johnson Creek since 2013 and joined its Board in 2015. He currently serves on the Executive Committee and as the Board Secretary. He is an advocate for the environment and is passionate about habitat restoration for our local species, particularly the salmon that populate our rivers and creeks.

Svetlana Hedin (2020) – Jurisdictional Representative, City of Portland

Svetlana Hedin is an Environmental Technician II at Bureau of Environmental Services on the Community Engagement Team where she focuses or managing the Green Street Stewards program, supervising an AmeriCorps member and stakeholder engagement

Katie Holzer (2015) – Jurisdictional Representative, City of Gresham; Committees: Interjurisdictional

Katie is a Watershed Scientist for the City of Gresham. She has a PhD in ecology and spends her time studying the interactions between the stormwater, soils, streams, and wildlife. She has volunteered with the Council since 2008, has been serving on the Board since 2015, and is the Chair of the Johnson Creek Inter-Jurisdictional Committee.

Melanie Klym (2013) – Past Chair; Water Resources Engineer, GeoEngineers; Committees: Executive, Land Use

Melanie Klym has been volunteering with the watershed council since 2009 when she co-founded the annual Creek Clean-Up through Green Lents. She has been serving on the Board since 2013 and is currently the Chair and participates in the Executive and Land Use committees. Outside of the Council, she works as a water resources engineer at GeoEngineers to restore and enhance fish passage, floodplain connectivity, and in-stream complexity throughout the Pacific Northwest. Melanie enjoys watching the birds in her backyard wildlife habitat with her cats from the safety of the catio.

Denise López (2021)

Denise López is an environmental and social justice advocate passionate about serving and motivating communities to protect their local environments. She has worked with communities of color on a variety of projects like equitable access to green spaces in Portland, Chicago, and Hanoi. 

Growing up in Gresham, Oregon, Denise loved showing her family from Los Ángeles and Mexico the gorgeous landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining Friends of the Columbia Gorge in 2021, Denise worked for the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, and the Nature Conservancy in Markham, Illinois. She’s driven to be a part of change in her community by encouraging others to join, dream, and accomplish more together. Denise holds a bachelor’s in environmental sociology and public health from Northwestern University. In her her free time she enjoys baking, paddling, chasing after her well-loved cats.

John Nagy (1995) – Jurisdictional Representative, Clackamas County; Committees: Governance, Interjurisdictional

John is a Technical Services Specialist for Water Environment Services, Clackamas County. With over thirty years’ experience in the water quality field, he brings a focus on storm water and riparian issues that can impact the watershed. His first involvement with Johnson Creek started over 25 years ago with the Johnson Creek Corridor Committee (which later became the JCWC) and has continued ever since. For much of that time, he has also been a member of the Johnson Creek Inter-jurisdictional Committee. In addition, he has served on the North Clackamas Urban Watersheds Council and the Clackamas River Basin Council. In his off time he can usually be found working on restoring and operating vintage trolleys for a local non-profit museum.

Bruce Newton (2014) – Board Treasurer; Former Director, West National Technology Support Center, Natural Resources Conservation Service (retired); Committees: Executive, Governance, Interjurisdictional;

Bruce Newton is a retired Federal scientist.  He previously held positions with the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture.  Upon retiring in 2013 Bruce began volunteering at the Council and in 2014 joined the Board.