Leslie learned to fly fish on the Truckee River. Growing up across from the street from the river, much of her free time was spent swimming and fishing. While at college in the Bay Area at St. Mary’s College of California, she discovered steelhead fishing. After graduation, she followed her passion for steelhead fishing and pursued a career in guiding. Within 2 years of starting her guide career, it was apparent that all she wanted to do was swing flies for steelhead. She converted her guide business to swing only, due to swinging having the least amount of impact on the resource while still participating.

She has enjoyed guiding throughout the Pacific Northwest; some of her favorite venues have been the Olympic Peninsula, the Grande Ronde, and the Southern Oregon Coast. Leslie decided to join the NFS Board after seeing the political and environmental impacts on her favorite fisheries and aims to move the needle in the right direction for the health of our fisheries and our wild fish.

You can catch Leslie, her husband Dax Messett, and their dog Marlee on the rivers of Southern Oregon. They call Medford, OR home, and chase winter steelhead from Gold Beach in the winter months.

Jeremy is a Law Partner at Annala, Carey, & Hull in Hood River, Oregon, where he advises closely-held businesses in the Gorge. Prior to returning to his hometown, Jeremy spent 10 years at Nike, working in Finance, Real Estate and Strategy. After earning a JD and MBA at the University of Oregon, Jeremy worked at Obsidian Finance Group in Portland, developing utility-scale solar facilities across Oregon. He is also member of the Hood River Crag Rats, the oldest Search and Rescue group in the US, and sits on the ODFW Recreational Fishing Advisory Board. Jeremy is most happy watching water moving around him, and when not in the office you can find him trying to achieve his personal "Triple Double” - double digit days flyfishing, skiing and kiteboarding in the Gorge.

Kyan Bartel is a project manager and safety director for a construction firm specializing in general and specialty commercial construction. Growing up on the Molalla River as an outdoor enthusiast, Kyan immersed himself in nature through skiing, hiking, biking, rafting, and fly fishing. He continues to love the outdoors and combines that with a goal to preserve the wild as much as possible for future generations, especially his daughter. He received his bachelors of science degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University in 2010. Kyan enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, fly fishing, and drifting the rivers of the Pacific Northwest.

Born outside of Toronto, Canada, CL moved to Portland with his family at age four. For the past two decades, he has worked in corporate finance in the Portland area, serving as a consulting CFO for small to mid-sized private companies. He earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Oregon and later an MBA in Finance and Corporate Accounting from the University of Rochester in upstate New York.

A lifelong angler, CL has been fortunate to have fished in many parts of the world, but has found his greatest satisfaction in fishing the beautiful rivers of Oregon. Before joining the Native Fish Society board of directors, he previously served as President and Board Member of the Fly Fishers Club of Oregon. CL has a son attending his alma mater, the University of Oregon, and when not in Portland, he and his wife enjoy spending much of their time on the Oregon Coast.

Gus Bergsma is a retired civil infrastructure software industry executive. He received a BS and MS from the University of California, Berkeley, in Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics. He became licensed as a Registered Civil Engineer in California in 1991. He co-founded a structural engineering software company in the late 80s, and in 2005 sold that company to Bentley Systems. At Bentley, he rose to Chief Revenue Officer and helped grow the company to over $1B in revenue; Gus continued in that role after the company became public and until his retirement at the end of 2022. Gus enjoys being outside, from the ocean to rivers to mountains. Gus is married with four children and lives in Bigfork, Montana.

Michael is an advertising executive with 20 years of marketing and branding experience. He spent 12 years at Wieden+Kennedy building strategies and integrated campaigns for some of the most iconic and beloved brands in the world, including Nike, Coca-Cola and Old Spice. He is currently the Director of Client Services at Opinionated, a start-up advertising agency in Portland. Michael is an avid outdoorsman and loves to share his passion for fly fishing with anyone who will listen. He enjoys exposing new people to fishing and feels there is an inherent and authentic connection you make with people when out on the river.

Jeff taught himself to fly fish and tie flies when he was 10. Growing up in a lodge on Mt Hood that he helped his mom manage, he saved up his housekeeping wages to buy his first Spey rod at 12. Hitchhiking to the river before and after school, he was doomed to a life of fishing addiction. The strong addiction lead to fly shop employment, guiding in Oregon and Alaska and even management at a bonefishing lodge in the Bahamas. Jeff started his own guiding service, Fish The Swing in '11, to show his commitment to "swing only" and now owns and operates three well respected and sought after fishing/guiding programs in Oregon as well as Kimsquit Bay Lodge on the Dean River in British Columbia. Through Jeff’s decades on the water he has become a dedicated advocate for the wild, native fish and free flowing rivers. Before joining the Native Fish Society board of directors he served for years as a River Steward volunteer on the Nehalem and Clackamas rivers.

Paul received his B.B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1967 and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame School of Law in 1975. Paul served in the U.S. Navy from 1967-1980. In 1983 Paul opened the Perkins Coie law office in Portland, where he worked for 30 years until his retirement in 2013. Paul served as a Director at Oregon Trout and continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the Freshwater Trust. He joins the NFS Board of Directors looking forward to the opportunity to get closer to wild fish and wild fish issues.

Warner is a fourth generation Oregonian who is on the board of his family foundation, The Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund. After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1987 he took to the road less traveled to see the world with his trusted backpack. Over the years he's adventured to all seven continents and traveled to over 100 countries. His passion for the great outdoors and his love for fly-fishing fuels his desire for the preservation of wild fish for eternity. Long live the adipose fin!

Doug is a public interest environmental lawyer and owner of Portal Food Co. He recently worked as the Wild Fish Advocate for Advocates for the West, in Portland, Oregon. Before joining Advocates, Doug completed a two-year legal fellowship at Earthrise Law Center, also in Portland. Doug received a B.S. in Conservation & Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008 and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2016. In law school, Doug earned a Certificate in Environmental & Natural Resources Law and focused on salmon and steelhead issues. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing, fly tying, and cooking.

About:

Ivan’s interests encompass stream ecology, limnology, hydrology, forestry, and watershed-level processes. In particular, he is interested in the consequences of climate change on freshwater ecosystems, biological invasions in freshwaters, and terrestrial-aquatic food webs. In addition, Ivan is interested in issues related to diversity and inclusion in sciences. Ivan is an Associate Professor at Oregon State University. 

Education:

Post-Doctoral Scholar, 2010-2012
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS)
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

Doctorate in Forest Sciences, 2010
Universidad Austral, Valdivia, Chile

About:

Cathy is an ecohydrologist exploring human dependencies and effects on freshwater systems. She collaborates on multiple research efforts, as well as teaches and advises for Western Washington University's College of the Environment.

Her global research focuses on sustaining freshwater goods and services under an ever-increasing human demand, in particular examining the roles of dams and inland fishing. Cathy is interested in the intersection of freshwater conservation and WASH science and policies within the international aid arena. More locally, her efforts have centered on instream flows, including hydrologic classification, climate change modeling, and applied water conservation planning.

Education:

PhD, Umeå University; MS, University of Washington; BMusic, Boston University

About:

Mark is an applied ecologist who integrates different data sources and analytical methods to study a variety of problems related to the conservation and management of aquatic resources, particularly along the west coast of North America. He collaborates closely with partners from tribal, government, and academic institutions in identifying and conducting research projects. He is also dedicated to conducting open, reproducible science.

Much of his research is focused on the development and application of statistical methods for analyzing temporal and spatial data. Examples of recent projects include integrated population models for Pacific salmon, evaluation of the risks and rewards of ecological portfolios, and assessing the effects of large-scale disturbances from natural and anthropogenic causes.

Education:

Ph.D., Zoology, University of Washington (2002) M.S., Fishery and Aquatic Science, Cornell University (1995) B.S., Zoology, University of Wisconsin (1991)