About Us

The Anchorage Waterways Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit membership organization whose mission is to protect, restore, and enhance the waterways, wetlands, and associated uplands of Anchorage. Our members believe that environmentally healthy watersheds are a vital part of the high quality of life that we enjoy in Anchorage. We also believe that the beautiful creeks of Anchorage need a group specifically dedicated to advocating for their health and well being.

We work with a large and diverse group of partners including federal and state resource agencies, local government, the business community, and individual citizens to improve the watershed environment through planning, advocacy, education, and science.

Holly Kent - Executive Director
Holly@anchoragecreeks.org

Holly has a B.S. in biology from the University of New Hampshire, and has been the Executive Director of AWC since 1999. She has served on many municipal advisory committees and provided technical expertise to the community at large. Formerly Holly was a project manager at ENSR Environmental Consulting in Anchorage. She is assisted by her dog Bowie.

Cherie Northon - Little Campbell Creek Coordinator
Cherie@anchoragecreeks.org

Cherie has a master's and doctorate in geography from the University of California Berkeley, where she taught for 19 years. She is also a cartographer--working in GIS, remote sensing, and GPS-acquired data. Her areas of interest are habitat protection and improvement of the natural environment (flora and fauna), student outreach (K-12), and generating public participation in environmental issues. Much of her work in Anchorage has been on managing human-wildlife conflicts along creeks and in greenbelts (most often beaver).

Kate Malloy - Water Monitoring Director 
Kate@anchoragecreeks.org

Kate joined the AWC team as the new Monitoring Director in February 2008. She has a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, as well as a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida. For the past 5 years Kate has worked as an Environmental Scientist for Janicki Environmental, a consulting company in St. Petersburg, Florida. She specialized in the analysis and interpretation of water quality and biological data, with a focus on ecological relationships and anthropogenic impacts. Kate relocated to Anchorage last summer and is excited to be working to protect the resources that made Alaska such an attractive place to move to in the first place! 

Greg Collen - Environmental Scientist
Greg@anchoragecreeks.org

Greg worked as an intern with the AWC during the summer of 2006 and 2007 and is now a full time employee. He graduated with a degree in environmental science and a certificate in GIS from the University of Idaho. Greg enjoys working outside and being out on our creeks, both for work and recreation.

Mary Simmering - 2007-2008 Intern
Mary@anchoragecreeks.org

Mary comes to us through the Service Adventure program, part of the Mennonite Mission Network.  Mary began volunteering for the AWC in September 2007, and will continue through July 2008.  Mary calls Hesston, Kansas, home, and is taking a year off from her studies in Wildlife Ecology and Creative Writing at Oklahoma State University.  Mary has learned many aspects of the AWC programs quickly, including design and organization of our monthly newsletter Streamline and assistance with the Monitoring Program.

Brita Mjos - 2008 Summer Intern
Brita@anchoragecreeks.org

Brita is an intern with AWC this summer, supported by the Alaska Conservation Foundation. She is a junior at Western Washington University in Bellingham, where she studies environmental science. Brita grew up in Anchorage and enjoys hiking, kayaking, and rafting around the state.

Andrew Udelsman - 2008 Summer Intern
Andrew@anchoragecreeks.org

Andrew was introduced to the AWC through the Yale Alumni Community Service Fellowship. He is from New Haven, Connecticut, and is studying Sociology and Environmental Studies at Yale University. Andrew has always been fascinated by creeks and is happy to be volunteering with the AWC during the summer of 2008.

Pat Athey - Research Associate Pata@anchoragecreeks.org