International Team
STAFF
Scott Highleyman, International Director, has led conservation initiatives in Alaska and Canada for 25 years. In Alaska, Scott was the first executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, working with coastal communities, Alaska Natives and small boat commercial fishermen toward sustainable management of U.S. North Pacific fisheries. His experience also includes working as staff attorney for Trustees for Alaska, executive director of the Alaska Environmental Lobby and Congressional lobbyist for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. As founder of Wildhavens Consulting, Scott specialized in community-based and cross-border conservation initiatives, providing advice to the Canadian Boreal Initiative, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, The Pew Charitable Trusts and many charitable foundations. Scott holds a B.A. from Williams College and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School at Madison. He lives in Bellingham, Washington.
Henry Huntington, Ph.D., Science Director, is an Arctic scientist specializing in human-environment interactions including research on traditional knowledge. He is the author or co-author of more than three dozen scientific papers and many other publications ranging from the conduct of social science research in indigenous communities to the impacts of climate change on marine mammals. He has worked among and in collaboration with the Yupik, Inupiat, Inuvialuit and Inuit and other Arctic indigenous peoples. His research has involved many Arctic indigenous organizations and international institutions including the Arctic Council, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, the North Slope Borough and the Hamlet of Clyde River. He has also worked with government agencies such as the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and Environment Canada. He lives in Eagle River, Alaska.
Jeremy Davies, Marine Spatial Analysis Manager, is an ecologist and geographic information system (GIS) specialist. He previously worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Seattle, Washington. For the past 18 years, his work has focused on studying species-habitat relationships and applying geospatial analyses to marine and coastal science. His past research projects include: modeling the distribution of bowhead and beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea, analysis of whale distributions in the North Pacific, mapping benthic changes in the Bering Sea related to commercial fishing practices, delineating salmon habitats and populations in the Pacific Northwest, conducting biological risk analyses, developing predictive models for marine habitats and commercial fishing impacts, and developing GIS-based assessment tools for marine and coastal management. He lives in Bellingham, WA.
Ruth Teichroeb, Communications Manager, was an award-winning investigative journalist for two decades at newspapers, including the Winnipeg Free Press and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She is also the author of the 1997 book Flowers On My Grave published by HarperCollins Canada about the life and death of a 13-year-old Ojibwa boy and Manitoba’s struggling aboriginal foster-care system. Ruth attended Stanford University on a prestigious John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship in 2007-08 and is a graduate of Carleton University in Ottawa and the University of Waterloo. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Olga Romanenko, Science and Russian Policy Manager, is a biologist and conservation consultant who has worked for over fifteen years with NGOs and government agencies on US-Russian conservation initiatives in the Arctic and North Pacific. She studied zoological geography at Moscow State University, did field research in the boreal forests of Siberia, and worked in Russian protected area management. She has coordinated the feasibility study for the International Beringia Heritage Park, led “Important Bird Areas of the Bering Sea” project for Audubon Alaska, facilitated US-Russian partnerships between protected areas, and helped launch the “Strengthening the Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Russia” project for the UNDP. Olga is a fluent English and Russian speaker, facilitator, interpreter, and translator focusing on natural science and environmental conservation. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska.
David Henry, Manager, directed outreach to communities, tribes and government agencies for Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Washington State for 18 years. He was a North Pacific high seas fisheries observer, commercial sea cucumber diver/fisherman, biological researcher, and environmental educator. He lives in Bellingham, Washington.
Patricia Chambers, Associate, is a publications, web, and outreach specialist with two decades of experience. Her work has focused on communicating environmental science and conservation for non-profits, government agencies, Tribes and First Nations including numerous web and print collateral for Coast Salish co-management initiatives. She previously worked for Shared Salmon Strategy, the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan as communications associate, and for San Francisco Estuary Institute as communications manager. She is a former research diver, watershed master, and marine steward. She lives in Bellingham, Washington.
CONSULTANTS
Daniel P. Beard, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, has more than three decades of experience as a leader on natural resource policy affairs working in the U.S. federal government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. His government service includes executive positions with the House of Representatives, Senate, White House, Department of the Interior and Library of Congress. He also served in executive positions with the National Audubon Society and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. A native of Bellingham, Washington, Dr. Beard earned degrees from Western Washington University (B.A.) and the University of Washington (Ph.D.).
Terry Fenge, Ph.D., Senior Policy Advisor, is an Ottawa-based consultant who has been research director and executive director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, research director and senior negotiator for Inuit in the Nunavut land claims negotiations, and strategic counsel to Sheila Watt-Cloutier, International Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Wales, an M.A. from the University of Victoria, and a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, and has authored or co-authored six books and more than 70 papers.
