About Us
Organization
Photo by Jay Mock
Founded in March of 2009, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper works in the public interest to minimize water pollution in Lake Pend Oreille and related water bodies. Our area of focus includes the lake, the Pend Oreille River down to Albeni Falls Dam, the Clark Fork up to Cabinet Gorge Dam, and all the tributaries that flow into the lake.
Through education, partnership and advocacy, LPOW works to protect the water quality of Lake Pend Oreille, as well as to improve the health and viability of people and ecosystems that rely upon or live close to Lake Pend Oreille. Our mission is founded in the belief that every person has a fundamental right to clean water. We advocate for this right in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law.
Through education, partnership and advocacy, LPOW works to protect the water quality of Lake Pend Oreille, as well as to improve the health and viability of people and ecosystems that rely upon or live close to Lake Pend Oreille. Our mission is founded in the belief that every person has a fundamental right to clean water. We advocate for this right in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law.
LPOW is a proud member of the WATERKEEPER® Alliance, which is a global movement of on-the-water advocates that protect their local waterways. Founded by environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a culmination of decades of citizen-based enforcement, the WATERKEEPER® Alliance is a unifying body for nearly 200 local Waterkeeper organizations worldwide. Waterkeepers combine firsthand knowledge of their waterbodies with an unwavering commitment to the rights of their communities and to the rule of law. Waterkeepers defend their communities against anyone who threatens our fundamental right to clean water.
Staff
Shannon Williamson – Waterkeeper and Executive Director
Shannon was born and raised on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in West Chester. There, Shannon developed a love for the great outdoors, taking full advantage of all four seasons through a variety of outdoor and indoor sports. Shannon’s love of all things water-related began at a young age through frequent trips to the New Jersey shore and deep-sea fishing excursions on her grandfather’s boat.
Shannon earned her bachelor’s degree in marine biology (studying dolphin communication) from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington in 1996 and her Ph.D. in marine science (studying virus-host interactions) from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg in 2003. Shannon performed postdoctoral research in deep-sea hydrothermal vent microbial ecology at the University of Delaware. Upon completion of her postdoctoral work in 2005, she was appointed the Director of Environmental Virology and an Assistant Professor at the (not for profit) J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, California.
As an aquatic microbial ecologist and program director, Shannon gained extensive experience merging ecological principles with cutting edge research as well as program management, fundraising, and award administration. Shannon has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles in addition to chapters for three graduate-level textbooks. Shannon eagerly joined the Sandpoint community in June, 2011 and is actively integrating her scientific expertise with public awareness and advocacy to continue our work protecting Lake Pend Oreille and its watershed.
Shannon was born and raised on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in West Chester. There, Shannon developed a love for the great outdoors, taking full advantage of all four seasons through a variety of outdoor and indoor sports. Shannon’s love of all things water-related began at a young age through frequent trips to the New Jersey shore and deep-sea fishing excursions on her grandfather’s boat.
Shannon earned her bachelor’s degree in marine biology (studying dolphin communication) from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington in 1996 and her Ph.D. in marine science (studying virus-host interactions) from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg in 2003. Shannon performed postdoctoral research in deep-sea hydrothermal vent microbial ecology at the University of Delaware. Upon completion of her postdoctoral work in 2005, she was appointed the Director of Environmental Virology and an Assistant Professor at the (not for profit) J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, California.
As an aquatic microbial ecologist and program director, Shannon gained extensive experience merging ecological principles with cutting edge research as well as program management, fundraising, and award administration. Shannon has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles in addition to chapters for three graduate-level textbooks. Shannon eagerly joined the Sandpoint community in June, 2011 and is actively integrating her scientific expertise with public awareness and advocacy to continue our work protecting Lake Pend Oreille and its watershed.
Kelsey Brasseur - Program Director
Kelsey hails from the South Shore of Lake Superior, where she lived and played during her undergraduate studies and the years that followed. She grew up with a love for bugs, forests, lakes, and animals and spent much of her youth exploring the wilds of Wisconsin with her family. Now an avid climber and adventurer, she spends much of her free time in the mountains and local crags of the Inland Northwest. Kelsey received her Bachelor of Science in biology from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, in December of 2009. Since then her work has been focused on Kittlitz’s murrelets, a rare seabird nesting in Southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Kelsey spent two summers living on a raft in the backcountry of GBNPP, where she collected time activity budgets on this rare species for a vessel disturbance study run by Oregon State University and the NPS. After moving to Sandpoint in the fall of 2011, Kelsey accepted the position of Program Coordinator for the Rare Forest Carnivore study run by Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness in cooperation with IDFG and the Idaho Conservation League. This position showed her the incredible enthusiasm of this region for community involvement in natural resource issues. As Program Director for Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper, she seeks to encourage this enthusiasm and promote a greater awareness around the issues affecting our lake.
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Steve Holt – President
Chris Hecht – Vice President |
Dave Hussey – Secretary
Ken Larson - Director |
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