Executive Director

Margaret has been a key part of growing the organization. Margaret has more than 30 years of experience in watershed restoration, including organizational, grant, and program management. In addition to leading the organization, Margaret is also responsible for project development and implementation in the Klickitat, White Salmon and Wind River watersheds. Margaret joined Mid-Columbia Fisheries in 2005

Yakima Basin Program Director

Rebecca joined Mid-Columbia Fisheries in 2008. She is responsible for project development and implementation in the Yakima Basin, which encompasses most of Kittitas, Yakima and Benton counties. Rebecca brings six years of experience as a fisheries biologist with the USDA Forest Service to this position.

Riparian Program Director

Katrina has been with MCF since 2012, and brings over 25 years of ecological restoration experience to the team.  Katrina manages all aspects of riparian restoration projects for MCF.  She has managed ecological restoration projects in numerous habitats, and managed landscape-scale inventories (meadows, forests and shrub-steppe), invasive plant management, native plant propagation, vegetation monitoring and rare plant management. Prior to MCF she worked for the Yakama Nation and the National Park Service.  She has an M.S. in Biology and Community Ecology from California State San Francisco

Bookkeeper

Sara lives in Ellensburg with her husband, two teenage daughters, and their black lab, Hank. Sara comes to us with a degree in Office Management from Central Washington University and years of experience in bookkeeping for a conservation district and her family business. Outside of work, Sara enjoys the outdoors, cheering on her daughters at sports events, and traveling. She's excited to be part of the MCF team and appreciates working alongside such a passionate, dedicated group.

Outreach and Communications Director

Merritt joined the MCF team in 2016 as the Outreach and Communications Manager. In this role, she leads the organization’s educational programs, with a deep passion for telling stories that foster meaningful connections to the natural world. Merritt has spent her career creatively leveraging community resources and partnerships to develop impactful programs that inspire action and create positive change for both people and the environment. She holds a B.S. from the University of South Florida and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Education from Lesley College in Massachusetts. Her diverse career includes being part of the opening team at The Florida Aquarium, where she developed, marketed, and implemented educational outreach programs, managed volunteers, and served as the External Affairs Manager/Ombudsman for the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Upper Yakima Project Manager

Mike is a dedicated naturalist working in the Upper Yakima Basin, where he applies his lifelong passion for studying and restoring streams. With degrees in Biology and Computer Science, along with certifications in GIS and Teaching, he focuses on low-tech, process-based restoration of deeply incised tributaries using beaver dam analogs, post-assisted log structures, and small wood placements. He is also developing the Upper Yakima Beaver Program, which promotes public education, habitat restoration, and coexistence strategies, with a trap-and-relocation component for cases where coexistence isn’t feasible. His work aims to enhance habitat conditions and support natural stream processes throughout the basin.

Operations and Grant Coordinator

Emily first joined the team as an intern in 2016, and after graduating from Central Washington University with a Environmental Biology. Since this time Emily has held many hats at MCF. After a brief departure, Emily is excited to be back at Mid Columbia Fisheries because she is passionate about natural resources, habitat restoration, and operational organization. In her free time she loves being outside, baking, and spending time with her family.

Fish Biologist

Aimee Taylor is a fishbiologist and the Bull Trout Recovery Coordinator for Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group. She has been working on salmon, steelhead and native trout recovery in California and Washington for the past seven years. Aimee completed her undergraduate studies in 2016 at University of California, Davis with a degree in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. In 2022, she completed a Master of Science degree in Biology at Central Washington University. Aimee originally joined MCF as a crew lead for the Bull Trout Task Force in 2019, and has been working with Bull Trout ever since. She now coordinates the Yakima Basin Bull Trout Working Group and continues to lead the Bull Trout Task Force during the field season.

Project Manager

Carson graduated from Central Washington University in 2018 with a B.S. degree in Environmental science with a specialization in geography. Carson has been apart of the team since 2019 and is an enthusiast of everything outdoors especially hunting, dirt biking, and fishing.

Education and Outreach Coordinator

 Tori joined Mid-Columbia Fisheries in 2022 after completing a Masters of Science in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University. Her work experience includes a combination of organizing and leading volunteer events to improve wildlife habitat and teaching community members of all ages about the ecology of the Pacific Northwest.  Tori spent two seasons as an intern with our partner organization, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, where she developed a passion for connecting people with the natural world and empowering people to be better stewards of salmonids and their habitat.

Restoration Crew Supervisor and Volunteer

Aaron joined the MCF team in 2018 after graduating from CWU with a bachelors in Biology. In his free time he enjoys lifting weights and cooking (and eating) delicious food. He always looks forward to his upcoming field seasons at Mid Columbia and to continuing on working to improve and restore habitats around Washington!

Riparian Project Manager

Steven joined MCF in 2022 after receiving his B.S. from Central Washington University and finishing two field seasons with WDFW. His professional interests lie within stream and wildfire ecology, ecological succession, and statistics. In his free time, he enjoys many activities- including fly fishing, bird hunting, and chess.

Project Technician

Justin graduated from Central Washington university in the spring of 2023 with a B.S. degree in Environmental Science with a specialization in geology and a minor in sustainability. Prior to his current position, he spent 3 seasons on the MCF restoration crew and is passionate about doing hard work to restore salmonid habitat. Justin feels lucky to be able to work in the places in which he grew up recreating and is looking forward to continuing his service with MCF as a project technician. In his free time, Justin enjoys taking pictures of birds, skiing, playing board games, cooking, and camping. 

Education & Outreach Assistant

Though she has always loved being outdoors, Emerson learned while volunteering at a summer camp as a teenager that she has an equal passion for sharing her love of nature with others. She graduated from the University of Montana Western in 2020 with B.S. degrees in Environmental Science and Environmental Interpretation and has taught environmental and outdoor education across Montana, Minnesota, and Washington. She particularly likes introducing kids to new things in science and nature so that they can have a better understanding of and feel more connected to the world around them. 

Middle and Lower River Project Manager

Moving from the heart of the Appalachian Mountains (West Virginia), Zac joins the MCF team with a diverse background. Zac has both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the West Virginia University and has spent time studying Panax quinquefolus (American Ginseng) along its entire native range during his B.S, and spending a decade of winters as a snowboard coach, countless whitewater trips, to completing a M.S in Fisheries Biology where his project sought to address habitat stability in headwater systems and how temporal pool availability impacts fish population dynamics.