Our Staff and Board

Lauren joined Oregon Wild in 2020 and serves as the Climate Forests Program Manager.

She loves hiking across Oregon’s beautiful coasts, forests and mountains, and is obsessed with spotting new birds and wildflowers on the trail.

She previously worked in Washington, D.C. with the National Wildlife Federation on federal energy, climate, and wildlife policy initiatives, including those related to natural climate solutions. In DC Lauren gained experience in policy development, campaign planning, coalition building, and other advocacy tools.

She received a Master of Public Policy from Oregon State University where her work focused on energy and environmental policy. Before beginning a policy-focused career, Lauren worked on applied ecology studies for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research doing native seed collections and vegetation restoration projects. She also completed an AmeriCorps internship for the Great Basin Institute and the Bureau of Land Management doing land health assessments in Nevada. Lauren received a B.S. in Biology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Anne joined the staff of Oregon Wild in 2022. She grew up hiking and camping in the forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Maryland.

As a teenager, she traveled to the West to study and perform as a concert cellist and fell in love with its wilderness. She was drawn to move to the Pacific Northwest, where she had the privilege of living off the grid in a second-growth forest for many years. For over two decades, Anne has been an advocate for forests, watersheds and threatened and endangered species by serving on the boards of several wilderness advocacy organizations and volunteering in a wide range of capacities from taking stream turbidity samples during winter storms to testifying before Forestry and Water Quality Boards.

Anne brings over 20 years of professional Finance and Administration experience to Oregon Wild. She loves hiking and spending contemplative time in nature communing with animals, birds, plants and trees with her husband Anthony, and is active as a collaborative artist with a focus on enlivening folkloric traditions.

A winner of the Skidmore Award for his important work to protect Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge as federally designated Wilderness, our Wilderness Program Manager Erik Fernandez started with Oregon Wild in the late 1990s.

He started out doing GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping that is crucial to Oregon Wild’s work. Erik now works with congressional offices, local elected officials, press, and conservation partners to protect Oregon’s natural treasures as Wilderness and Wild & Scenic. Erik has lead or been involved in successful campaigns to protect natural areas throughout Oregon including Mount Hood, the Columbia River Gorge, Copper Salmon, and Soda Mountain. Erik is our point person working on the River Democracy Act. 

Always active, Erik enjoys football, tennis, skiing, and exploring the world; his past adventures include hiking in Patagonia and the Amazon.

When he’s not developing maps or talking to politicians, Erik is out in the field, leading Oregon Wild members and the public on nature hikes through the special places he seeks to protect.

Sami joined Oregon Wild in early 2023 as the Central Oregon Field Associate. Born and raised in Bend, Oregon, Sami is looking forward to advocating for the rivers, forests, mountains, and wildlife that inspired him throughout his childhood.

After high school, Sami left Bend to attend The College of Idaho, where he received a B.S. in Environmental Studies with a special focus in Conservation Biology. He then pursued his many outdoor interests around the globe, which included trekking through Nepal’s Annapurna range, farming in Thailand, and working ski seasons in New Zealand and Japan.

Prior to joining Oregon Wild, Sami obtained a Master of Studies in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law from Lewis and Clark Law School. He hopes to use this education to help protect Oregon’s wildlife and wild places. When he’s not in the office, you can find him skiing in the Central Cascades, fly fishing at the Metolius River, or mountain biking Bend’s vast trail network.

With an education and work history in energy and natural resources policy and environmental law, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator Doug Heiken is a great asset to Oregon Wild.

He started volunteering for us in 1990, and in 1995, he joined the staff. Working out of our Eugene office, Doug watchdogs federal land management activities like timber sales that threaten old-growth forests, roadless areas, and imperiled species. In addition to meeting with reporters, scientists, government representatives, and Oregon Wild members to educate them on forest policy, Doug evaluates threatened places, comments on proposed timber sales, and coordinates litigation with other conservation groups to protect our forests, watersheds, and endangered species.

With Doug’s help, 150 timber sales were recently stopped with a survey-and-manage lawsuit that will force the government to look for and protect rare species before logging.

Doug is also our resident global-warming expert. He compiled and co-wrote “Climate Control: How Northwest Old-Growth Forests Can Help Fight Global Warming,” a publication that dispels a number of myths associated with global warming.

Making use of all that expertise is enough to keep anyone busy, but Doug still finds time for other interests, including current affairs, Internet culture, and music.

Jonathan Jelen first joined Oregon Wild in January 2008 as the organization’s Old-Growth Campaign Coordinator. 

After working as a counselor with a homeless services organization in his hometown of Chicago, Jonathan found himself reading everything he could get his hands on about the effort to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling. He knew he had to be part of it and decided to switch careers.

So in 2001, he took his first job in the environmental field with AkPIRG (Alaska Public Interest Research Group). After then directing canvass offices for New Mexico PIRG and OSPIRG, he moved to Portland to direct fundraising efforts for over 20 environmental groups nationally. He then served as Environment Oregon’s Field Director where he worked on a variety of issues including the Mount Hood Wilderness bill and the passage of Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.

With experience working on a wide variety of issues, it became apparent to Jonathan that conservation and wildlife issues were really what most pulled at his heartstrings. As the Old-Growth Campaign Coordinator, Jonathan worked toward permanent protections for old growth and was a co-author of the global-warming report “Climate Control: How Northwest Old-Growth Forests Can Help Fight Global Warming.” Now, as Oregon Wild’s Development Director, he directs his passions toward building the critical financial resources and community support Oregon Wild needs to protect and restore our state’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters.

Always drawn to the outdoors, Jonathan particularly enjoys the dry forests and deserts of central and eastern Oregon. He spends as much of his free time as possible exploring Oregon’s wildlands – including completing the 50 Wilderness Hikes Challenge to hike in every proposed and existing Wilderness in the state. Jonathan also loves writing, playing basketball, reading up on wolves, being an unapologetic beer snob, and seeing live music.

Northeast Oregon Field Coordinator Robert Klavins joined the Oregon Wild team in 2008. After growing up hiking, fishing, and exploring the upper Midwest, Rob was moved to action by seeing the destruction of once intact landscapes.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in biology and ecology from Lawrence University, he was drawn to the big, wild places of the Pacific Northwest and took a job teaching outdoor education with OMSI. He then spent a year traveling the country working on local environmental campaigns as a community organizer with Green Corps.

After spending two years teaching young people about Oregon’s environment and a year organizing on environmental issues in other places, Rob wanted to start fighting for the things he cared most about – preserving our wildlife and wild places for future generations in the place he cared most about – Oregon.

Rob has worked on a number of issues including roadless area protections, wolf and wildlife recovery, and public lands policy, protections, and project implementation. He also coordinated Oregon Wild’s outdoor program for 5 years. Rob represented the organization on several National Forest Collaborative groups, and continues to work with tribal, conservation, and other partners.

Rob’s work has been featured in media outlets across the country, and in 2012, his work at Oregon Wild was recognized with a Skidmore Prize.

Outside of work, Rob and his wife own and operate Barking Mad Farm Bed & Breakfast – a working farm and bed & breakfast in rural Wallowa County. He has dual citizenship with Australia, is an avid hiker, wildlife watcher, paddler, theater geek, and is a rabid fan of the Portland Timbers and 13-time World Champion Green Bay Packers.

Anastasia joined the Oregon Wild team in 2021 as the Brand and Marketing Manager. Growing up as a little girl in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, her favorite movie was Homeward Bound, which forever set her expectations for what the outdoors is supposed to look like.

Even though it made for some very disappointing picnic outings with her family, Anastasia always knew that the wild landscapes of her dreams were somewhere out there. Imagine her surprise when she recognized the wild valleys of Homeward Bound while backpacking in the Wallowas. You could say it was meant to be.

Anastasia joins the team after spending the majority of her career working for early-stage startups. As things go in the startup world, she has worn many different hats helping companies build and establish their brands. When it comes to storytelling, communications, social media, and brand building, Anastasia has seen it all. She is excited to bring her varied experience to help Oregon Wild connect with new supporters and spread our mission.

Anastasia has a B.S. in Biology from Simmons University and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University. In her free time, she loves discovering off-the-beaten-path places in Oregon, road-tripping with her husband, identifying plants, and listening to live music. When at home, she enjoys reading, sewing, and cuddling her pet bunny, Basil.

Casey joined Oregon Wild in 2022, after serving a term as Yamhill County Commissioner. Born and raised on the Oregon Coast, Casey spent many hours among the towering Sitka spruce of the Coast Range public lands and in the cold saltwater, surfing among the seals.

These early years in the magnificent wild taught Casey the power of our wild places and the need for human connection to the bigger world. Casey lived in Bellingham, Washington with his wife Katie for seven years while in undergraduate and graduate school, earning a BS in Biochemistry and a Masters in Forest Ecology. While in school and between schools, Katie and Casey lived at Holden Village in the snowy remote North Cascades of Washington, a former mining town turned retreat center. Casey ran saws, drove trucks, and served as plumber. His graduate research asked the question “what is happening in the glacier-fed watershed for Holden, and will climate change alter the timing of hydroelectric power and drinking water?”

Immediately after graduate school, Katie and Casey started Oakhill Organics in the Willamette Valley, a year-round, certified organic, diverse farm operation. Farming on Grand Island, a river island in the Willamette, is amazing but comes with major floods, and underlying all that topsoil is sand and gravel. Katie and Casey organized the community to oppose a major gravel quarry that sought to eliminate hundreds of acres of farmland and disrupt both surface and groundwater cycles.

In 2018, Casey ran for Yamhill County Commissioner on a platform of local climate action, fixing bridges, and supporting marginalized community members like trans youth. Casey worked with state agencies, Congressional staff, tribal council, local elected officials, and groups from Oregon Wild to the Street Trust on forestry, conservation, transportation, and economic justice issues. Casey joined Oregon Wild as the State Forest Policy Coordinator because he knows that healthy conifer forests are key to water, wild animals, and our healthy existence in this place.

Casey and his family spend a lot of time riding bikes, foraging for mushrooms, and swimming and surfing in the wild places of Oregon.

Senior Conservation Advocate Chandra LeGue knows the importance of teamwork. Since November of 2003, Chandra has been collaborating with conservation groups, federal land managers, and local stakeholders to promote Oregon Wild’s vision for Oregon’s public forest lands.

Utilizing her two decades of experience engaging in public forest management, working with partner organizations, leading hikes, and otherwise engaging the public in Oregon Wild’s work, Chandra helps support our major campaigns and development by connecting people to the places Oregon Wild works to protect and conserve .

Working from Oregon Wild’s Eugene office, Chandra is especially proud of her work to save Oregon’s remaining old-growth forests. “These forests provide clean water and air, places for wildlife and fish, the scenic beauty that attracted me to the area, and my favorite places to hike and explore. We’ve destroyed enough of these amazing forests, and I’m very proud of our vision for restoring the forests that have already been damaged.” In fact, she’s written a book for Oregon Wild on hiking Oregon’s Ancient Forests!

In her personal life, Chandra enjoys cooking, snuggling with her cats, spending time with her family, and exploring Oregon.

Rachel Started working for Oregon Wild Starting in the Spring of 2023 however she started her career in environmentalism with the Fund for the Public Interest working from the ground up as a door-to-door canvasser.

She soon became a director and took over the Eugene canvass office where she had the pleasure of working with an amazing group of environmentalists dedicated to progress. Her passion for the Environment has always come from her passion for people. Having lived through her formative years in New Mexico, adolescence in the Netherlands, and teenage years and young adulthood in Oregon, she has developed the ability to find community with all different kinds of people. Outside of the office you can find her swing dancing barefoot in Portland or hula hooping with the waves on the coast.

Danielle is a lifelong conservationist, having dedicated her entire professional career to being an advocate for nature and wildlife.

While attending Michigan State University for a degree in political science, she helped organize and lobby the Board of Trustees to build one of the most comprehensive and sustainable recycling facilities on any college campus. This first successful environmental campaign sparked the fire for organizing, advocacy, and action.

After several years of working for various conservation organizations, she decided to serve in the Peace Corps, getting placed in Tanzania. In a rural village with limited access to clean water, she worked with community leaders to build new water tanks for the school and health clinic, coordinate a tree planting project to better protect water sources, and create a girls empowerment club. Her time in Tanzania was a life-changing experience, to say the least.  

In Oregon since 2014, she feels a deep sense of gratitude for getting to advocate for the state’s wildlife and habitat. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons hiking, camping, gardening, doing jigsaw puzzles, and taking in Oregon’s unmatched beauty.

Formerly an outreach director for WaterWatch of Oregon and a lobbyist/communications specialist with the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., Oregon Wild Conservation Director Steve Pedery already had extensive environmental experience when he joined us in 2004.

His background in global-warming concerns, energy policy, water issues, and communications serves him well here, where his time is dedicated to coordinating the strategic direction of our conservation staff’s work. He also communicates with Oregon’s congressional delegation and other decision makers about our campaigns and works to spread Oregon Wild’s message to the general public. Steve describes his time as, “Lots of meetings, lots of conference calls, and not enough time in the day to cover everything.”

Admittedly, Steve has a lot on his plate. He’s working to lay the groundwork for Oregon Wild’s strategic plan, working with the forest team on legislation to permanently protect old-growth forests, developing an Oregon strategy to win support for the partially repealed 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and working with the development department to raise the money needed to support our important conservation work.

Steve is proud to have been a part of hiring fantastic staff and seeing Oregon Wild’s conservation campaigns blossom and gain momentum because of their work has been highly rewarding. He says, “Oregon Wild has a 30-year history of major conservation victories because we’ve always been a nimble organization with a great staff that focuses on the important issues and sets realistic goals. I see my job as making sure we stick to that tradition.”

When not leading the conservation staff, Steve is likely to be found fly fishing, whitewater rafting, or backpacking.

John Persell grew up in Northern Minnesota, where he spent most of his time outside exploring the surrounding woods and wetlands.

He completed his J.D. at Southern Illinois University School of Law, and then pursued an LL.M. in environmental and natural resources law at Lewis and Clark Law School, which brought him to Oregon. Like many who grew up in the relatively flat Midwest, John quickly became enamored with the scope, scale, and variety of terrain found here in Oregon.

Since earning his LL.M., John has worked for several groups, including Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Wyoming and Pacific Rivers Council in Oregon. John also served as a staff attorney for Western Watersheds Project, where he litigated claims under the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and public lands management statutes. John is excited to use his litigation experience to help protect wildlands, wildlife, and waters here in Oregon, where he has made his home for over a decade.

In his free time, John has climbed many Cascade peaks and explored many of Oregon’s wilderness and roadless areas. He looks forward to seeing even more of the state’s diverse landscapes and ecosystems as part of the Oregon Wild team.

Arran (he/him) grew up in rural Oregon and spent summers moving irrigation pipe and working in agricultural research.

Since joining the Oregon Wild team in 2014, Arran Robertson has worked to provide a voice for the wildlands, wildlife, and waters that don’t routinely go about hiring their own PR firms, giving interviews, or posting to social media accounts.

Arran came to Oregon Wild from the political world having spent six years as a congressional staffer. Before that, he was a Program Leader for the Multnomah Education School District’s Outdoor School program where he taught children environmental science. Out of college, he spent several years as a Tour Actor/Director with the Missoula Children’s Theater where he made a poor imitation of wildlife, singing and dancing in bear, wolf, and flytrap costumes.

An avid backpacker, Arran continues to be attacked by mosquitoes on hiking trails all across the US, most notably a swarm in the Desolation Wilderness of California that haunts his nightmares to this day.

Victoria joined Oregon Wild in 2022 as a Forests and Climate Campaigner. She graduated with a Bachelors degree in environmental policy from Pacific University with a special focus on grassroots dissent and societal change.

In this program, she conducted a research project spanning 2 years to better understand the language that is most impactful when addressing a variety of audiences with opposing interests related to environmental policy.

She then worked on the Grassroots Outreach team at Columbia Riverkeeper to block proposals for the world’s largest fracked-gas-to-methanol refineries from opening up along one of her most cherished wonders of Oregon, the Columbia River. Her favorite parts of this work were connecting with communities and getting them fired up to take action for a great cause. She takes great joy in acting as a major pain-in-the-butt for industries that prioritize profits over people and the planet. In addition to Oregon Wild, Victoria works with Urban Nature Partners PDX to provide youth of color greater access to the outdoors.

Whenever possible, Victoria spends her time enjoying the outdoors. Some of her favorite ways to explore are rock climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, and white water rafting. She spent 5 months living in a van with her partner and their 2 dogs, fueled by solar-powered lattes and visiting some bucket-list climbing destinations. Now at home in the PNW, she serves on the board of directors of Friends of Rocky Butte to maintain Portland’s most local climbing area. She is thrilled to join Oregon Wild in protecting our old-growth forests.