Our Leadership

We feel fortunate to have a passionate team with deep experience across many fields.

Jane Bacchieri

Executive Director

Jane is excited for the opportunity to serve as the first Executive Director for the Elakha Alliance. She comes with over 25 years of experience in natural resources management, most recently leading the Watershed Services and Integrated Planning groups at the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. Her previous experience includes working with the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State and serving as a natural resources policy advisor for Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, where she worked on watershed and water quality issues and Oregon’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Jane has also worked on coastal, river, and watershed management issues for the Oregon Coastal Management Program, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the National Park Service. She spent two years as an environment volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Kingdom of Tonga. Jane holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of Vermont. You can contact Jane at Jane@ElakhaAlliance.org.

Jane lives in Portland with her husband, Kip, and their dog, Bella, and spends her free time training for marathons, traveling and enjoying the outdoors in Oregon, and torturing her family as she learns to play the piano.

Chanel Hason

Director of Outreach & Community Relations

Chanel has a rich background in marine biology, animal husbandry, environmental education, non-profit management, social media and marketing. She is an otter alum from CSU Monterey Bay, and volunteered with sea and river otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She’s conducted marine science research on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and worked for Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program at the Ritz Carlton Reserve in Puerto Rico. She moved to Oregon in 2016 to obtain her MS in Sustainability Education from Portland State University. She is an avid volunteer with the Surfrider Foundation in Portland. You can contact her directly at Chanel@ElakhaAlliance.org.

Fun fact: She is the former 2013 Miss Scuba USA, where she represented the United States in Malaysia at the Miss Scuba International Pageant.

Kyle Motley

Coastal Community Coordinator

Kyle has an extensive background working with endangered species, threatened ecosystems, stakeholder engagement, and watershed restoration projects on private and public lands. He received his MS in natural resources from the University of Vermont where he focused on forest ecology and has worked on monitoring, restoration, and forestry projects with the USFS, the NPS, and several local government agencies around the country. Since moving to the South Coast 6 years ago, Kyle has worked with local non-profit groups to successfully implement habitat restoration projects focused on coho salmon and oak woodlands. He is extremely excited to be able to use his stakeholder engagement and community outreach skills for the Elakha Alliance. You can reach him at Kyle@ElakhaAlliance.org.

In his spare time, Kyle likes to surf, bike, travel, and read. In 2020 he completed a 2.5 month bike tour from Oregon to Virginia, cycling across the continent for 4,300 miles.

Katie Russell

Development & Administrative Assistant

Katie earned her Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon with a focus on education and nonprofit management. She worked with The Marine Mammal Center to redesign their education volunteer training materials to include a stronger focus on strategies to talk with guests about climate and ocean health. After graduation, Katie worked as the Education and Outreach Manager for Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. She also currently serves as the Communications Committee Director for The National Network of Ocean and Climate Change Interpreters. Katie moved to Oregon in 2020 after spending many summers at her family’s blueberry farm on the McKenzie River. Before moving to Oregon, she graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.S. in Natural Science and worked as a marine mammal trainer and zookeeper in Hawaii for almost ten years. Now that Katie is a permanent Oregonian, she is excited to spend more time exploring the Oregon coast. You can reach her at Katie@ElakhaAlliance.org

Our Board of Directors

Robert Bailey

President

Bob spent nearly 40 years in coastal and ocean planning and management for the State of Oregon. He also served as a City Commissioner for the City of Oregon City, a member of the City of Salem Budget Committee, and chair of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust.

Doug Barrett

Nish-a-nah (hello in Siuslaw), Doug is a Siuslaw from the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. Doug has worked for the Tribe for 24 yrs., holding various positions from Tsalila Coordinator to Prevention Activities Coordinator. It is vitally important to him that we pass our culture and traditions on to our youth so that they may know pride as Native people. Doug’s hope is that our elders will pass on, to the whole Tribe, their knowledge, stories, traditions, expertise and their many talents to keep teaching us all. By teaching our culture and traditions, keeping them alive and passing them on to our youth and adults, we will be giving them many things; a way of life, where they come from, who they are, family values and much more.


Laurabeth Barton

Laurabeth was born at the old hospital in North Bend, Oregon, and spent her early years and many summers on South Slough, where her family has lived for generations. After a period in Alaska, she returned to Oregon in 1956. She later moved back to Alaska, where she raised her children and worked in various roles, including in city, borough, and state government, as well as running her own business. She concluded her career with three years as the governor’s scheduling director.

In 1995, Laurabeth returned to Oregon to join the Coquille Tribe, serving on the Gaming Commission for 18 years. In 2020, she was elected to the Coquille Tribal Council, where she served until the end of October, 2024. Laurabeth has also been involved in numerous boards and commissions, including the Coquille Elders Advisory Council, South Slough Reserve Management Commission, Oregon Association of Indian Gaming Commissions, and many community organizations in Juneau, Alaska.

Brittany Blades

Brittany is the Curator of Marine Mammals at Oregon Coast Aquarium. She has worked with sea otters for 16 years, getting her start with an internship at Oregon Zoo where she was inspired to focus on the conservation of sea otters. She now has experience caring for sea otters as well as collecting Washington sea otter foraging data and participating in the Washington Sea Otter Annual Census. She has always called the Pacific Northwest home growing up in Washington and Oregon as a child and graduating from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s of science in biology.

For fun she enjoys running on coastal trails. She completed the Secret Beach 50k in September 2023 running 31 miles along the Southern Oregon Coast finishing in Gold Beach, OR.

Renee Davis

Treasurer

Renee has worked on conservation issues in Oregon for nearly 25 years. Her career experience  includes marine conservation science and policy issues, change impacts on natural systems, and ecosystem services. Until recently, Renee served as deputy director with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. She recently transitioned her focus to post-wildfire recovery and Klamath Basin issues. During her free time, Renee enjoys hiking, birding, paddling, and being immersed in Oregon’s wild places.

Kevin Campion

Kevin is the founder of Deep Green Wilderness. Believing strongly in a sailboat’s power to inspire and build confidence Kevin founded Deep Green Wilderness and has spent the past decade taking students voyaging on the Salish Sea and North Pacific in search of whales and learning the tools of conservation. Along the way Kevin fell deeply in love with North Pacific right whales and with his shipmates created Save the North Pacific Right Whale to turn passion into protection for the whales. Following the success of the film the Unknown Sea in 2016, Kevin has continued storytelling through film, producing Right Over the Edge to tell the tragic history of the North Pacific right whale and hopefully influence their future. Kevin has deep roots in the Northwest skateboarding and surfing communities and hopes the best parts of these cultures show up in his film and sailing work.

Cameron La Follette

Cameron is Executive Director of Oregon Coast Alliance, a coastal conservation organization. She has worked in coastal protection for fifteen years, including managing the Coastal Futures Project for 1000 Friends of Oregon. She also served on the Salem Planning Commission for three years, and has a law degree from Columbia University.

Jeff Griffin

Jeff is currently the Director of the Port of Bandon since 2017, and serves as the treasurer for the Coquille Watershed Council. Previously, he was the Governor’s Office field representative in SW Oregon for 16 years, and a decade of experience in marine coastal planning in Washington State. His career experience also includes fisheries management in Alaska and commercial diving. Jeff earned his BA in Marine Biology from University of California Santa Cruz, and has been an avid surfer and sport diver since the 1970’s all along the west coast and Canada.

Peter Hatch

Secretary

Peter is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and works in the tribe’s Cultural Resources office. He’s been fishing, clamming and crabbing in Lincoln County his entire life, and wants to ensure that his descendants can always do the same.

Jan Hodder

Jan is an emeritus faculty member of the University of Oregon’s Institute of Marine Biology where she focused on studies of coastal biology and marine birds and mammals. A longtime resident on the southern Oregon coast, she lives on the shore of Coos Bay and is a keen natural historian. She serves on the Science and Technical Advisory Committee for the Ocean Policy Advisory Council and was a contributing author to the Elakha Alliance Feasibility Study.

Robert Kentta

Robert is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, of Shasta and Dakubetede descent. He’s always had a passion for protecting and restoring the species that make our region special. He has managed the tribe’s cultural resources program for more than twenty five years, and proudly serves on the elected member of the Tribal Council. 

Claire Puchy

Vice President

Claire Puchy had a long career in natural resources conservation.  Arriving in Oregon from Ohio in 1978, she was a natural resources specialist with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.  She was Executive Director of the Portland Audubon Society and the Columbia River Gorge Commission, and headed up the State’s Wildlife Diversity (formerly nongame) Program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Before retiring, she worked in the City of Portland’s Science, Fish and Wildlife Program.  Claire has served on boards of many non-profit organizations, including the Oregon Wildlife Foundation.  She was also appointed to the Legislative Task Force on Fish, Wildlife & Outdoor Recreation Funding by Governor Brown.

Paul Sherman

Paul lives on Cape Sebastian, where he enjoys taking in the wonders of Oregon’s incomparable South Coast. He is a professor emeritus of Biology at Cornell University, where he served from 1981 to 2013, producing defining research on animal behavior and behavioral ecology in birds, insects, and mammals.

In Rememberance

Don Ivy

Former Vice President

Don was a founding member of the Elakha Alliance. Sadly on July 19th 2021, Don passed away in Coos Bay. His leadership will be greatly missed by all. He was a lifelong Oregonian and member of the Coquille Indian Tribe (pronounced “ko-kwel”) of Coquille Athapaskan, Miluk Coos and Choctaw-Chickasaw ancestry.

Donations in Don’s memory can be sent to Elakha Alliance via check to: Elakha Alliance, PO Box 704, Siletz, OR 97380 

Donations can also be made online.

Don “Doc” Slyter

Former Board Member

Doc passed away on November 4th, 2023 surrounded by his family . Born in North Bend, Doc was a Hanis Coos Elder. Other than an overseas post in the U.S. Army, Doc had resided in Coos Bay most of his life. Doc was elected Chief of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians in April of 2020.

His early involvement with the Tribes started when he was elected to the Tribal Council prior to restoration. Doc was also a noted flute maker and player. 

Bill Bandon

Bill Bradbury

Former Board Member

Bill Bradbury, who lived in Bandon, Oregon was an ardent champion of the ocean, salmon and the environment in his roles as citizen, state representative, state senator, and Secretary of State. 

He was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Elakha Alliance and a member of our Adivsory Council. Bill passed away on April 14, 2023, while on an around-the world cruise with his wife Katy. We miss him.

Our Advisory Council

The Advisory Council is comprised of a diverse assemblage individuals with expertise and unique perspectives, who provide key guidance to the Elakha Alliance.

  • James Bodkin, Biologist Emeritus, US Geological Survey
  • Doug Deur, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Portland State University
  • David Dreher, Legislative Consultant, Foresight LLC
  • James Estes, Emeritus sea otter ecologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Jean Flemma, Former staff, US House Natural Resources Committee
  • Kathleen Gobush, Wildlife Conservation Biologist
  • Jane Hartline, Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund board member
  • Paul Henson, State Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Marcus Hinz, Exec. Director Oregon Coast Visitor Association
  • Harry Hoogesteger, Retired South Coast Watershed Council Coordinator
  • Ryan Jones, Professor of History, University of Oregon
  • Dave Lacey, Owner, South Coast Tours, LLC.
  • Mark Labhart, retired Tillamook Co. Commissioner, current ODFW Commissioner
  • Shawn Larson, Curator of Conservation Research Seattle Aquarium
  • Trish Mace, Director, Univ of Oregon Marine Life Center
  • Deb Merchant, Consultant, Merchant Nonprofit Consulting
  • Kerry Morgan, Education Director, Oregon Coast Aquarium
  • Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Coordinator, Oregon Wild
  • Michael O’Casey, Oregon Chapter The Wildlife Society Board Member, and Oregon Representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
  • Charlie Plybon, Oregon Policy Manager, Surfrider Foundation
  • Annie Pollard, Co-owner, 7 Devils Brewing
  • Richard Ravalli, Professor of History, Jessup University
  • Arnie Roblan, former State Senator, current Coos Bay School Board Member
  • John Savage, Willamette Valley Chapter Native Plant Society of Oregon
  • Avalyn Taylor, Environmental Lawyer
  • Cathy Tortorici, Retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • Keith Tymchuck, Port of Umpqua Commissioner, former Mayor, Reedsport
  • Chris West, Biologist, Yurok Tribe