About Us

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.

Cherie Northon - Executive Director

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).  She oversaw the development and construction of the AWC fish refuge on Little Campbell Creek at 68th and Meadow, began the Adopt-A-Stream program in local schools, and is now the Executive Director.

Liz Rocha- Water Quality QA/QC Associate
Liz@anchoragecreeks.org

 Ms. Rocha is an Environmental Scientist with degrees in Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  She has an avid interest in protecting the precious river and creek ecosystems of Anchorage. 

 Thom Eley - Research Associate
 Thom@anchoragecreeks.org

Thom has M.S. degrees in wildlife ecology and oceanography and a Ph.D. in resource geography from the University of California Berkeley.  During his 30+ years in Alaska, he has worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Part of his experience involves management lands and waters of several Interior watersheds.  Included among his duties were dealing with the impacts of arsenic, mercury, and petroleum products, particularly those involved with mining operations. 

Marcus Welker- Intern
Marcus@anchoragecreeks.org

In May 2009, Marcus graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in Natural Sciences.  He then enrolled in a one-year Masters of Science in Aquatic Resource Management at King's College London in the UK.  For his Masters Thesis, Marcus will be collecing baseline data and developing a toolkit for the Anchorage Waterways Council's "Adopt-A-Reach" program.  In the fall of 2010, he will start his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with Dr. Anne Kapuscinski at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.  In his dwindling free time, Marcus spends the most time possible in nature.

Current Board Members