Board - Tualatin Riverkeepers

Our board of directors is dedicated to ensuring the protection and restoration of the Tualatin River watershed for generations to come. The board guides and supports the work of the Tualatin Riverkeepers staff.

Jill Chomycia

President

Bio

Jill Chomycia grew up in Michigan, where she developed a love of the outdoors and a life-long curiosity about the natural environment. She explored this curiosity in college, earning degrees in geology, hydrology, and soil science. Today Jill works as a consultant with Stantec in the water resources field, with a focus on permitting and environmental compliance in the Portland metropolitan area. Her 15 years of experience in the field has given her a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities for stewarding natural resources within our communities.

Jill lives in Washington County with her family. They enjoy exploring the outdoors throughout the Pacific Northwest, including spending hours on the Tualatin River each summer.

Casey Lay

Vice President

Bio

Growing up just one block from the Tualatin River gave Casey ample opportunity to get her feet wet and foster a close relationship with the Tualatin River and the wealth of plants and animals who depend on it. She recalls many childhood adventures, which have shaped her passion for waterways and the need to help keep them and communities thriving.

For over a decade Casey has worked in the nonprofit sector from animal conservation, environmental education, to her current role in giving a hand up to women through economic independence at Oregon Tradeswomen, as the Fundraising and Events Manager. During her free time, she can be found with her husband and dogs hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and woodworking.

Dave Waffle

Treasurer

Bio

Dave Waffle has represented the cities of Washington County on the Clean Water Advisory Commission and formerly on the Tualatin Watershed Council for more than a decade. He is a long-time city manager in Oregon and Wisconsin. Managing in smaller cities brought many opportunities for involvement in water, wastewater, open space, public finance and community development issues. Presently he serves as chair of the Cornelius Planning Commission. He and his wife live along Council Creek and enjoy birding. Waffle has a bachelor’s degree in Urban Community Policy Problems from Michigan State University and an MPA from the University of Oregon in Public Affairs.

Trisha Swanson

Secretary

Bio

Trisha is the founder and director of the non-profit organization, Reason to Run. Reason to Run provides coaching and 5K running programs for women incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Trisha grew up in a small town in British Columbia, Canada and holds a degree in Computer Science and an MBA. She spent over ten years teaching for various universities, including the University of Victoria and the University of Minnesota before transitioning to work with non-profit organizations in 5K/10K race planning and directing. Race planning and directing eventually led her to start her own non-profit in 2015.

Trisha enjoys running, cycling and of course, paddling on the Tualatin River with her husband, college age children and her friends. The Tualatin River Paddle Challenge is the brainchild of Trisha.

Mickie Harshman

Member

Bio

Mickie spent most of her life in the arid deserts of the SW. When her children migrated to the PNW, she was right behind them!

Mickie is a Purchasing Analyst at Consumer Cellular. Conservation and sustainable city planning are passions of hers. She is a certified Sustainable Building Advisor, participant in the Backyard Habitat Program, citizen science and advocate volunteer with Portland Audubon and safety boat volunteer with Tualatin Riverkeepers.

In her free time Mickie enjoys birdwatching, gardening, making pottery, remodeling houses and playing with her grandbabies.

Brett Laney

Member

Bio

Brett Laney grew up locally and has lived in Tualatin for the last 10 years. He studied at Clackamas Community College and Colorado State University. Brett’s career began in 2002 as an operator at Clean Water Services’ Durham Water Resource Recovery Facility (where he often worked with TRK’s co-founder Rob Baur). He is currently an Operations Analyst II assigned to the phosphorus recovery facilities at the Durham and Rock Creek treatment plants, and has graciously led many tours of the plants for Tualatin Riverkeepers. He’s been an active volunteer for several tree plantings events in the watershed. Brett spends much of his free time volunteering for TRK as a paddle trip leader, guiding paddlers while educating them about the current state of the river.

Rob Gray

Member

Bio

Rob Gray lives in Gaston with his wife and two sons, both eagle scouts and TRK volunteers. He has over 35 years of management and engineering experience in the manufacturing industry. An avid outdoors enthusiast who enjoys hiking, boating and cycling activities though out the Pacific Northwest, Rob has been an active TRK member for 25 years. He is currently a member of the Trips and Tours Committee and the Safety Boat Coordinator for Discovery Day. Rob's other volunteer passions include the Boy Scouts as the Eagle Mentor and High Adventure Coordinator for his home troop in Hillsboro as well as a weekly volunteer at the Forest Grove Library. Rob’s long-time passion for the river will play a vital role as he continues his extended volunteer history as a board member, assisting the Riverkeepers to grow in new and exciting directions.

Ken Barker

Member

Bio

Ken Barker is the founder of NW Discoveries, a small outdoor guide business that he operated for 20 years. He has volunteered on river cleanups, Discovery Day, youth camp paddles, and invasive plant removal during his time as a volunteer at TRK.

In his personal time, Ken has spent years paddling and exploring nearly every stretch of the Tualatin River. He brings valuable knowledge and understanding of how to successfully operate a small business and how to successfully introduce participants to the joy of the outdoors. In addition to Tualatin Riverkeepers, Ken serves on the Tigard Parks and Recreation Advisory board.

Brian Daellenbach

Member

Bio

A native Oregonian and graduate of Oregon State, Brian Daellenbach developed an appreciation of the outdoors hiking, camping, backpacking, canoeing and biking with his family. Brian recently retired after a career as an electrical engineer with a focus on marketing, sales and management and now spends his time giving back to the local community that has been such a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Brian lives in the Cooper Mountain area with his wife and dog, and he's excited to help TRK increase Tualatin River access for everyone. For fun, Brian enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and grown children, playing pickleball, golfing and traveling.

Ting Lu

Member

Bio

Ting Lu serves as the Deputy Director of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services. Possessing a passion for leveraging science and technology to improve water quality and watershed health, Ting previously served in various positions at Clean Water Services. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati, and lives with her family in Washington County.

Join the Board or a Committee

Board and committee service is a great way to contribute your expertise to protect our watershed.

The Tualatin Riverkeepers Board of Directors typically meets every other month, both virtually and in-person. In addition to attending meetings, board members are asked to engage on a committee, participate in select events during the year, and occasionally represent the organization in the community.

Committee meetings are held periodically depending on the committee, and committees consist of board members, staff, and community volunteers.

Active committees include:

Finance
Trips and Tours
Watershed Watch

Visit our Committee page for full descriptions, including upcoming meetings. If you would like to discuss how Tualatin Riverkeepers might be a good fit and focus for your specific interests and expertise, please email our Executive Director. We look forward to hearing from you!

About Us

Meet Our Board

Join the Board or a Committee