In addition to oversight of all organizational operations and fund-raising, Tonya has taken a lead role in developing the ClimateWise® nonprofit consulting firm, and leading the organization’s ongoing strategic planning processes and communications efforts. Tonya has received training through the Institute for Conservation Leadership, Training Resources for the Environmental Community, Community Strategic Training Initiative, Rockwood Leadership Program, Lorman Educational Services, and Technical Assistance for Community Services.  Tonya holds a B.S. in Biophysical Environmental Studies from Northland College and a M.A. in Community Development from Goddard College.

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Ken Margolis started his conservation work at The Nature Conservancy where he served for fifteen years as Northwest Regional Director and Director of Program Development for the International Program. Ken later helped found Conservation International and Ecotrust. In 1991 Ken moved to Kitamaat Village in British Columbia where he worked with the leadership of the Haisla Nation to create the Nanakila Institute and helped protect 960,000 acres of old growth temperate rainforest in the heart of Haisla territory. Ken was later adopted as a member of the Haisla Nation Eagle Clan. After returning from Canada, Ken became President of River Network, where he served for seven years. Since then Ken has worked as a consultant for many conservation and Indian Rights organizations, and several tribal governments. As Development Director, Ken is responsible for organizing and leading the Geos Institute’s development program.

Marni takes a lead role in developing and executing ClimateWise® projects to help local communities and federal land managers prepare for a changing climate. She brings communities the science they need to make informed decisions and walks them through a process that results in climate change strategies that are integrated across both natural and human communities.  Marni has also worked on developing climate-informed conservation blueprints for the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion and the Colorado Plateau.  Marni joined the Geos Institute's staff after completing postdoctoral research with the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. That research investigated the effects of climate change on wildlife and wildlife habitat by working with a team to model climate stress and assess the level of state planning for climate change in the State Wildlife Action Plans. Marni has expertise in climate change effects on wildlife, ornithology, metapopulation ecology, conservation genetics, and invasive species.  Marni holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a M.S. in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Wyoming.

Brian Barr is an aquatic ecologist with over 16 years of experience on trout and salmon restoration in the Pacific and intermountain west. He holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Miami University and a master’s degree in fisheries and wildlife science from Virginia Tech. Over the past nine years, Brian has focused his attention on improving fish passage conditions in the Rogue and Klamath Rivers of southern Oregon and northern California, restoring river, floodplain, and streambank conditions,  and assessing the effects of livestock grazing on creeks and springs in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Recently, he has turned his attention to the emerging impacts of climate change, how those impacts are likely to affect communities and natural resources, and what we can do to prepare ourselves and the resources we depend upon to withstand these effects. In his off time, Brian fishes, watches his daughter ride horses, and bites his fingernails during Virginia Tech football games.

Julie has been engaged in many different roles with nonprofit organizations in Southwest Oregon for the last 27 years. She served as a panelist at President Clinton's 1993 Forest Conference and was named Conservationist of the Year by Oregon Wild (1992) and Environmental Hero by the Wilderness Society (1998). In her current position at the the Geos Institute, Julie supports the development, conservation, and communication programs in a variety of capacities. She holds an M.A. degree from the University of Texas in Computer Science and Educational Psychology.

Jessica directs our Spatial Analysis Program, with an emphasis on preparing local climate change projections for communities and agencies planning for climate change. She has a wide range of GIS and cartographic experience at the municipal, planning, and scientific levels. Jessica also assists with the mapping needs of the rest of the programs at the Geos Institute.  She holds a B.A. in Geography from Augustana College in Illinois and a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Portland State University.

John brings to the Geos Institute 25 years of experience working for non-profit organizations in a variety of administrative and financial positions. He has served on the staff of other conservation and cultural heritage organizations and was instrumental in the formation of Rogue Environmental Inc., a group of supporters that provides office space to the Geos Institute at very reasonable rates. His broad range of administrative and accounting skills, along with his commitment to making the world a better place, make him a perfect complement to the rest of the staff. John received a B.A. in Political Science from Hanover College in Indiana, and furthered his post-graduate studies in accounting and non-profit administration at Southern Oregon University.

A fisheries biologist by training, Cindy currently facilitates ClimateWise®, workshops to help communities prepare for a changing climate. She also assists the Geos Institute in writing articles for publications in scientific journals. She has over 25 years of experience as a policy analyst and field biologist working with conservation organizations, governmental agencies, and the California legislature. Cindy helped write natural resource laws in California and Washington, D.C. to protect endangered species, water resources, and wetlands, and assisted the Bureau of Land Management and USDA Forest Service in development of regional federal land management plans for the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River Basin. She is the co-author of an essay to be published in the upcoming book Moral Ground. Cindy holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Oregon State University and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from California State University at Sacramento.