Board Members

 Laura Noland- President

Laura joined the AWC Board of Directors in the fall of 2008. She has a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from the University of Alaska - Fairbanks, and has lived and worked in the state for more than 30 years. Laura is an Environmental Scientist with over 18 years of professional environmental consulting experience, including project and business management. Formerly Laura worked for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in the Contaminated Sites and Solid Waste programs. Laura currently serves as the Environmental Business Unit Leader for MACTEC Engineering and Consulting.

 Pete Pritchard-Vice President

Pete has a background in the U.S. Coast Guard, and while enlisted received his BS in Liberal Studies by Regents College (now Excelsior).  He grew up in coastal Maine, and has a love of deep water sailing.  A PADI Divemaster and NOAA Trained Working Diver, he now works as the response supervisor at Chadux Corporation, a Not-For-Profit Co-op that responds to emergency oil spills throughout Alaska and beyond.  Perhaps his best known attribute is having been awarded the General Certificate of Brewing by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. 

 Molly Welker - Secretary

Molly Welker is a senior project manager at Bristol Environmental Remediation Services, LLC and works on environmental remediation projects throughout Alaska.  She has been involved with the AWC over the last five years as an interim part-time monitoring director,  president of the board, and now serves as the secretary of the board.  She lives in South Anchorage with her family,dogs, and enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and skiing.

 Bob Shipley -

Bob Shipley has lived in Anchorage for 34 years. He has a degree in biology from Colorado State University. Bob worked for agencies in both Colorado and Alaska in applied environmental sciences until he retired in 1993. His lifetime interest in ecosystem biology led to his joining the AWC Board in 1998 and has stayed for nine years as a board member and issues committee chair.

 Sydney Treuer - Youth Board Member

I have been interested in the environment and its preservation for several years. I joined Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) in 8th grade and a year later I became a member of West High school’s Green team. I was introduced to the Anchorage Waterways Council at the 2008 creek cleanup. I was impressed by its organization and effectiveness. I am glad to be a member of AWC not only because I am concerned about our deteriorating environment but also because I use the anchorage waterways for recreation practically every day and I want to do my part to help preserve them. As a youth member I can bring a new perspective and help bring the council’s message to teachers and students throughout Anchorage.

 Anna Boslough-Youth Board Member

Anna attends West High School and has lived in Anchorage all her life.  She doesn't plan on leaving except for college for Med School where she intends on becoming a surgeon.  She loves the outdoors, and works to keep Alaska clean and wild.  Anna enjoys windsurfing and hiking during the summer, skiing in the winter, and running year round.  She also has a fuzzy lop rabbit named Sitka and plays the flute. 

 Elizabeth Rocha-

Ms. Rocha is an Environmental Scientist who has been a AWC Board member since February, 2009. She obtained her degree 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. She currently performs groundwater monitoring at various locations throughout Anchorage and is very excited about contributing to the mission of Anchorage Waterways Council. She and her two nephews moved to Anchorage in January of 2008.

 Craig Valentine-

Craig has a B.S. in Civil Engineering and Geology.  Much of his professional career has been with the Alaskan Air Command, where he visited Air Force stations all over the state.  His focus was on trouble shooting building and systems maintenance failures--many of which impacted the environment.  After a stint in Okinawa, he joined the AWC as a Stream Watcher and later became a stream monitor.  He has been on the board since 2007, and has served in the capacity of treasurer. 

 Dave Trudgen- 

Dave has over 33 years of experience working as a biologist in the State of Alaska. His work, primarily in fisheries science, has been in both in the public and private sectors. Dave is currently Vice President and Principal Scientist for OASIS Environmental, Inc. an Alaska based environmental consulting firm. Dave joined the board of the AWC to use his fisheries and science background to help AWC conduct scientifically credible programs that aim to inform and educate the public about the importance of maintaining healthy river systems within the anchorage bowl. “Healthy creeks lead to clean water, which leads to good fish habitat, which leads to good fishing now and for future generations, all within the largest city in the state.”

 Scott McKim-

Scott has lived in Alaska since 2005 when he moved to town to work as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.  Scott holds a BS in Meteorology, a MS in Watershed Science and recently earned a Teaching degree from the University of Alaska.  He is currently a middle school science teacher in Anchorage where he enjoys teaching environmental stewardship, getting students engaged in local environmental issues as well as teaching a Freshwater Science class that has formally adopted Chester Creek as a classroom outside the classroom. 

 Birgit Hagedorn-

Birgit is a geochemist who came to Alaska in August 2006 to manage an environmental research and teaching laboratory at the University of Alaska Anchorage and to do research in the Arctic.  She has 15 years of research experience in the Arctic where she investigates water and soil geochemistry and how they are affected by climate change.  Recently she became more involved with man-made contaminants in the Arctic environment and joined the AWC to help protected the unique nature of Anchorage's creeks.

 Kelly Findlay-

Kelly is a Technical Writer/Editor for Chugach Alaska Corporation who came to Alaska in 2008 to fulfill her dream of living in the state.  She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she studied Computer Science and received her B.S. in Information Sciences from Robert Morris University.  Kelly has ten years experience working in a variety of technical and administrative fields for Fortune 500 companies.  After participating in her first Creek Cleanup last year, she became interested in becoming more involved with the organization because of the "real" impact AWC has on the Anchorage environment.  Kelly hopes to contribute to AWC's mission by offering her writing, editing, marketing, and technology services. 

 Isaac Watkins-

Isaac came to Alaska in 2000 after working for a volunteer monitoring organization in Illinois for 2 years.  He also came to attend Alaska Pacific University (APU) to work on his Master's degree, and has been here since.  After graduating from APU, he went to work for HDR Alaska, Inc., and has worked on projects throughout the state.  He is an Aquatic Ecologist specializing in benthic macroinvertebrates.  He lives near the Campbell Creek Science Center with his family and enjoys hiking, camping, running, and playing soccer.