Bob Shavelson, Executive Director/Cook Inlet Keeper Bob is an attorney with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, and environmental sampling and compliance.  He was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Oregon’s Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, and has considerable experience in toxics, the Clean Water Act, and Right-to-Know issues.  Prior to joining Keeper in 1996, Bob worked in the United States Senate, Oregon’s Senate Majority Office, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, and the University of Oregon’s Ocean & Coastal Law Center.  He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the National Alliance of Water Keepers, Cook Inlet Citizen’s Regional Advisory Council, and Alaska Conservation Alliance.  He holds a BA in Biology from Boston University and a JD from the University of Oregon.

 Lois N. Epstein, P.E., Senior Engineer/Oil and Gas Industry Specialist

Lois has worked for Cook Inlet Keeper since May 2001, after more than 13 years as a Senior Engineer with Environmental Defense in Washington,  D.C.  Previously, Lois worked for two private consulting firms and the U.S. EPA Region 9 Office of Water.  At Keeper, Lois promotes improvements in the performance of the oil and natural gas infrastructure in the Cook Inlet watershed and prevention of new oil and gas development in sensitive areas.  She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the States of Alaska and Maryland and is a member of the federal Office of Pipeline Safety's advisory committee on hazardous liquid pipelines.  Her work even drew the attention of President Clinton, who nominated her to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (Lois' nomination was not voted on by the U.S. Senate, however).  She has an M.S. in environmental engineering and science from Stanford University and undergraduate degrees from Amherst College and MIT. 

Liz holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in policy, and a minor in Education from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she founded the Student Environmental Center.  Prior to her work at Keeper, Liz worked with the Cook Inlet Native villages of Port Graham and Nanwalek on a tribal-based subsistence food ecology project, after working as an environmental educator at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.  Her experiences range from working to fight environmental racism with West County Toxics Coalition in East Richmond, California, to analyzing marine management policy to ensure sustainable livelihoods for fishermen with Speaker Pro Tem of the California State Assembly Fred Keeley.  Liz brings her passion for environmental justice to her work at Keeper, where she works to educate, organize and mobilize the Tribes around Cook Inlet on the issues arising between oil and gas activities and traditional subsistence and cultural resources. 

Marla holds a B.A. in Rural Community Development with an emphasis on Natural Resources Management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she founded the student environmental association.  Prior to joining Keeper, Marla worked for the Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Alaska Greenpeace, and as naturalist for the Pratt Museum and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.  Marla currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Pratt Museum.

Joel joined Keeper in 1998 to promote citizen-based water quality monitoring throughout the Cook Inlet watershed.  Joel holds a B.S. degree in environmental studies focusing on forestry, plant and soil sciences from Southern Illinois University.  He has considerable sampling and monitoring experience with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Kachemak Bay Conservation Society.

Sue heads Keeper's efforts to study nonpoint source pollution impacts in wild salmon streams on the Kenai Peninsula.  Sue joined Keeper in Summer 2000, and has considerable experience in water chemistry, water quality monitoring and macroinvertebrate assessment.  Sue holds a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University and a M.S. in Fisheries Science from Oregon State University.

Yvonne Prucha, Finance Officer:

Yvonne is a 15-year Homer resident who has been active in the area’s conservation community since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, including as a participant in community meetings which led to the creation of Cook Inlet Keeper.  Yvonne brings over 20 years of secretarial and accounting experience to the Keeper, and has worked as financial manager of PAWS Publishing in Homer, operations manager of the Homer Council on the Arts, and as freelance writer, photographer, editorial assistant, and typesetter for Homer’s two newspapers.

Edan Badajos,  Laboratory Analyst:

Edan’s background in forestry, conservation, and water quality make him a valuable asset to the Keeper organization.  He has done stream restoration with the Student Conservation Association on the Plumas National Forest in California and served two years in AmeriCorps Serve Alaska Youth Core in Juneau.  Edan also worked for the U.S. Forest Service Chugach National Forest.  Prior to joining Keeper, Edan worked for the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau doing water quality monitoring on the Mendenhall Valley Watershed Project.  Edan is currently seeking a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Alaska Southeast.

Ingrid Harrald, Volunteer Coordinator:

Ingrid coordinated Keeper’s Citizens’ Environmental Monitoring Program.  She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.  She worked as a Biology Technician studying seabirds for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 8 years on remote islands throughout Alaska and California.  She also spent time coordinating volunteer programs in California, working with the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary and the National Park Service to manage their citizen science and site stewardship programs.  More recently, Ingrid has worked for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in Homer studying the breeding biology and diet of storm-petrels in Southeast Alaska.

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Last modified 25 October 2005