NALMS 2019 Election Results

The annual election for officers and directors is an important way for NALMS members to provide input in the management of the Society. Our officers and directors are all volunteers who serve without pay. Thank you to all the candidates for their dedication to NALMS and thank you to all NALMS members who participated in this year’s election!

President-elect – Lisa Borre

Lisa Borre has worked for 30 years to conserve and manage lakes and wetlands around the world. She began her career as an assistant state wetlands coordinator, and then from 1990 to 1997, was the Lake Champlain Basin Program coordinator and executive director of the Vermont Citizens Advisory Committee on Lake Champlain’s Future at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. She went on to co-found LakeNet, a world lakes network that was active for 10 years. As vice president for LakeNet, a US-based nonprofit organization, she led international projects to document and share lessons learned in lake basin management and provided technical assistance to lake regions in developing countries. After living overseas for five years, Lisa returned to the US in 2011 and rejoined NALMS, attending her first symposium in 2015. She was elected to the board as Region 3 director in 2016 and currently serves as co-chair of the Development Committee and the Sponsorship Committee for the 2019 symposium. She also serves on the Secchi Dip-In, Government Affairs, and Ethics Committees. Lisa is currently a Senior Research Specialist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and an active member of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON). She was a contributor to National Geographic’s Water Currents blog, from 2012 to 2017. A native of the Great Lakes region, she also volunteers for her local watershed association in Annapolis, Maryland. Lisa has a BA from the University of Vermont and an MES from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Treasurer – Todd Tietjen

Todd Tietjen is the Regional Water Quality Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, overseeing the environmental monitoring of Colorado River Reservoirs that are part of the water supply for the Las Vegas community. Todd is currently the Treasurer for NALMS as well as an Associate Editor for Lake and Reservoir Management and was previously the Region 9 representative. Todd has a Ph.D. focused on Aquatic Ecology from the University of Alabama, a MS in Aquatic Biology from Southwest Texas State University, and a BA in Environmental Studies from Alfred University.

Region 1 Director – Kellie Merrell

Kellie Merrell has worked as an Aquatic Ecologist for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation monitoring the status and trends of Vermont’s inland lakes for compliance with the Clean Water Act for the last 18 years. Data she collected in Vermont and Maine helped lead to the passage of the Vermont Shoreland Protection Act in 2014. She has been collecting littoral macroinvertebrate, sediment diatom and macrophyte data sets with the goal of using them to determine aquatic life use support. Her current interest is in determining how to better utilize the anti-degradation aspects of the Clean Water Act to protect Vermont’s highest quality lakes.

Region 3 Director – John McCoy

John McCoy has worked on water pollution remediation and watershed restoration for more than 30 years. He is currently the Watershed Manager for the Columbia Association in Columbia, Maryland. Previously he served for over a decade at Maryland Department of Natural Resources including serving as the Director of the Ecosystem Restoration Center from 2005 to 2010. John worked on watershed related projects ranging from small reforestation projects to large comprehensive watershed restoration programs. John managed the evaluation of the State’s nonpoint source pollution control programs at Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from 1985 to 1995. John holds degrees in Biology and Agronomy. He is also currently serving on Maryland’s Patuxent River Commission and as a Trustee for the Middle Patuxent Environmental Trust.

Region 5 Director – Dendy Lofton

Dendy Lofton, PhD, CLM, is a limnologist and aquatic ecologist at LimnoTech with over ten years of experience in water resource monitoring, assessment, and management. She holds a PhD in Environmental Science (Limnology) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied carbon and nutrient cycling in shallow Arctic Alaskan lakes. Currently, she leads and supports water resource related projects throughout the US, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and California. Dr. Lofton is the practice lead for LimnoTech’s Lake Restoration and Management service area, and is based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Region 9 Director – Eli Kersh

Eli Kersh is a licensed Pest Control Advisor in California and has worked in the aquatic plant management industry as an applicator, a private consultant, and as a manufacturer’s technical representative. He received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Barbara in 2007 where he majored in Geographic Information Science. He returned to school in 2011 to obtain a master’s degree with an emphasis in Lake Management and published his thesis “Controlling Eutrophication and Managing Vegetation in Emery Reservoir” in 2013. Eli has served as the President of the California Lake Management Society for the last three years and served on the Board of Directors for the California Weed Science Society, the premier authoritative source of information on weed biology and weed management in California.

Student At-large Director – Liz Favot

Liz Favot is a Ph.D. candidate in biology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Her research uses algal, invertebrate, and pigment indicators preserved in lake sediments to establish centuries of environmental history in lakes recently affected by cyanobacterial blooms. The aim of her research is to identify the causes of increasing bloom frequency and to suggest historically informed and evidence-based management targets. Liz is passionate about public outreach regarding science and water quality, demonstrated in her roles as a teacher, coordinator for the Canadian Association for Girls in Science, presenter for cottage, lake, and watershed associations, and “Meet the Researcher” events, and as a co-organizer of a graduate student conference.

At-large Director – Kat Hartwig

Kat Hartwig has been appointed to fill the vacant At-large Director position.

Kat Hartwig grew up on her family ranch in the Southern Rockies of British Columbia. She has been involved in international, national, and regional environmental advocacy issues relating to sustainable tourism, endangered species, corporate social responsibility, and water-based ecosystem health since 1983. Kat continues to advocate for land and water policy and protection mechanisms necessary to support biodiversity, protect source water, and build climate-resilient communities. In addition to serving on the NALMS Board of Directors, Kat is a board member for Keepers of the Water, Columbia Basin Water Stewardship Network, and Global Nature Fund. She facilitates cross-sector corporate, academic, government, and NGO collaborations for water stewardship. Kat lives with her family near the headwaters of the Columbia River.