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Pacific Northwest Chapter Officers
Office |
Name |
|
President | Heather Nielsen |
|
Vice President |
Brandy Rinck |
|
Secretary |
Megan Faust |
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Treasurer |
Theresa Burton |
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Scholarship Committee Chair |
Sarah Dewey |
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Portland Area Contacts |
Megan Scott, Jennifer DiGiulio |
|
Publications |
Shari Silverman |
|
Past President |
Kathy Vanderwal Dube' |
|
Web Editor |
Katie Brower |
|
Pacific Region Alternate Delegate |
Marcia Knadle |
|

AWG-PNW past board members, October 2013, Left to right: Marcia Knadle (Pacific Region Delegate), Theresa Burton (Treasurer), Jenny Saltonstall (Member), Kathy Vanderwal Dube' (Past President), and Shari Silverman (Newsletter).
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Annual Reports
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2004
NOTE: All annual reports are in PDF format.
Officer Bios
President
Heather Nielsen is a Soil Scientist Associate with Clackamas County, located outside of Portland, Oregon. She has been in the public sector since spring 2017. Previously, she was in environmental consulting for 13 years. Heather has a BS degree in Geology from University of Puget Sound and a MS in Geology from Portland State University. She is a licensed geologist in Oregon and Washington. Heather has been President of AWG-PNW for the past year. In her free time, Heather likes to hike, craft, bake, and spend time with family.
Brandy completed dual undergraduate studies in Anthropology and Geology at SUNY Geneseo in upstate New York, followed by an M.A. in Geoarchaeology at Boston University. In 2007, Brandy moved to the Pacific Northwest to work in the field of Cultural Resources Management for Northwest Archaeological Associates, Inc. based in Seattle. Brandy directed the planning, permitting, and field operations of archaeological investigations in support of government, agency, and private undertakings at NWAA and later at SWCA Environmental Consultants. She applied her knowledge of glacial geomorphology, stratigraphic analysis, and soil characterization to hundreds of archaeology projects in and around Washington State. Brandy recently took a position as the Cultural Resources Coordinator for King County Parks and Recreation and is enjoying her new role. Brandy's geoarchaeological background allows her to combine existing geotechnical data with geoarchaeological information to determine the potential for encountering cultural materials in various project areas around the County. Brandy has served on the AWG-PNW Board for a few years and was elected Vice President in 2015. She has worked to find speakers, set up social events, and further relationships with other geology groups in the region. Brandy belongs to several related organizations, such as the Archaeological Geology Division of the Geological Society of America [GSA-AGD], the Geoarchaeology Interest Group of the Society for American Archaeology [SAA-GIG], the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists [AEG], the Northwest Geological Society [NWGS], the Association for Washington Archaeology [AWA], the Pacific Northwest Archaeological Society [PNWAS], and the Puget Lobe Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute [IAFI]. She lead a 2017 field trip on Geoarchaeology of the central and southern Puget Lowland during the national GSA conference in Seattle. Please let Brandy know if you would like to facilitate a joint meeting or are interested in presenting to AWG-PNW.
Megan Faust is a geology and environmental science instructor at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Teaching has always been a passion for Megan, and the field courses to the Oregon Coast, Mount St. Helens, and Lava Beds National Monument are some of Megan's favorites at PCC. This summer Megan has been working on a project with a team of geology faculty to develop open source course materials for a new course on Volcanoes and Earthquakes. Megan also has a couple geology projects outside of teaching, including a field study of Fifes Peaks volcano in Yakima County, Washington. Megan graduated with a Bachelor's degree in geology from University of Illinois and a Master's degree in geology from University of Vermont. When not doing geology Megan enjoys cycling, camping, gardening, cooking, and crafting.
Theresa Burton earned her Bachelor's degree in Geology from Central Washington University. Although she is currently not employed in her chosen field, she maintains an active interest in geology by being a member of AWG and joining in on the field trips. Theresa is an avid amateur astronomer recently participating in a star party held by the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility in Ellensburg, WA.
Sarah Dewey is a doctoral candidate in Oceanography at the University of Washington, where she participates in Arctic fieldwork through the Polar Science Center at the UW Applied Physics Lab. She holds an MS in Oceanography from the University of Washington and a BS in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University. Besides her passion for fieldwork, a background in journalism and environmental education has fed Sarah’s interest in science education, outreach, and policy. She volunteers regularly at Seattle-wide events to share the work of the Polar Science Center with the local community, and is thrilled to be able to contribute to AWG's mission by serving as the PNW Chapter's scholarship committee chair.
Shari Silverman is a geoarchaeologist. She examines the landscape to discern archaeological potential and studies how geology and environment affects humans and other life, and vice versa. She aims to do so in areas with stunning vistas. She also does straight-up archaeology. She currently works for the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, but has worked for private, state and federal organizations all over the American West, plus Wisconsin. She holds an M.A. in anthropology and an M.S. in geological engineering, both from the University of Idaho. Her Master's theses examined canoe distribution in relation to environment and culture in the Plateau Culture Area (inland northwest [M.A.]) and rockfall hazards in Idaho (M.S.). She attended University of Oregon also, where she earned a B.S. in anthropology with a minor in mathematics.
Kathy Dube', geomorphologist, specializes in the dynamics and movement of water, sediment and large wood in managed and unmanaged watersheds, the effects on aquatic habitat conditions, and habitat restoration. She is owner of Watershed GeoDynamics and has 30 years experience working in watersheds in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, northern California, and Alaska. Kathy's expertise includes evaluating chanel response to changes in hydrology, sediment, and wood inputs on large and small rivers, hillslope, stream, and shoreline erosion, sediment budgets, and aquatic habitat. She has a BS degree in Environmental Sciences from Lehigh University, a MS in Geology from the University of Washington and is a licensed geologist or engineering geologist in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho. Watershed GeoDynamics is a Washington state-certified woman owned business (WBE).
Katie Brower is a graduate who received her B.S. in Geology from Western Washinton University in June 2018. Her interests include engineering/hydrogeology and she also has a passion for minerals and minerology. This summer, she contributed to a seismic survey/earthquake hazard trenching project on the Olympic Peninsula with the USGS and Western. She is now looking for a full time job in geology, and remains an active member in several geological organizations, including AWG, NWGS as their first ever student board member, where she contributed as a committee member and volunteer for the 2018 NWGS-AEG Geohazards Symposium, and AIPG where she works to facilitate student and professional interaction, organizing speaker meetings and field trips.
Marcia Knadle has been a member of AWG since 1982 and was one of the original members of this chapter. She has served in every office except Treasurer and Scholarship Committee Chair, and has served several years on the AWG Board of Directors, which is partly why she was appointed to fill the last year of a board term after a resignation. In addition, she has been an AWG Field Trip Committee Chair much of that time and has organized at least 10 trips, both in North America and abroad (Scandinavia, Iceland, and Scotland). Marcia was also Chair of AWG's 2003 Convention in Seattle. She's from the Seattle area and holds a BS in Geology from the Univ. of Puget Sound and a MS in Geology from the Univ. of Montana (Missoula). She worked in the private sector for a few years (mostly with Shell Oil in New Orleans), but spent most of her career with the federal government, first at the USGS in Tacoma and then with the EPA in Seattle. After 29 years as a hydrogeologist working on hazardous waste groundwater cleanups, she retired in 2015. She's currently renovating her family home in Maple Valley and preparing to move there and raise goats on 40 acres. She's also still organizing AWG field trips -- Central California Tectonics in 2017 and England in 2018.
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AWG Goals: Encourage the participation of women in the geosciences. Exchange educational, technical, and professional information. Enhance the professional growth and advancement of women in the geosciences.
The Association for Women Geoscientists Foundation, or AWGF for short, is a tax exempt, 501(c)(301) corporation. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.