Our Staff

Sean Bagshaw   Website

As a staff, we are steadfast in our commitment to protect, defend, and restore Oregon’s high desert alongside our members and supporters. Together with the passion and commitment of a community of advocates thousands strong, the skills and experience of our staff make Oregon Natural Desert Association a respected leader in the public lands conversation at the state and federal levels.

Sign up for our e-newsletter, volunteer with us, or follow us on LinkedIn, to be the first to hear when we have job or internship openings. View current openings on our Careers page.

Just looking for an email address or phone number? Find our staff contact list on the bottom of the Contact Us page.

Our Staff

Ryan Houston

Executive Director

Ryan stepped into ONDA’s executive director role in 2018, with 20 years of experience in the conservation sector under his belt. While…

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Caelin Weiss

Development Associate

Born and raised in Vermont, Caelin grew up with a strong connection to the land around her. While attending Colby College in central Maine,…

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Lace Thornberg

Communications Manager

Lace joined ONDA in 2017. She puts ONDA’s communications to work connecting people with the public lands found in Oregon’s high desert.…

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Corinne Handelman

Outreach Coordinator

Corinne joined ONDA in 2016 and works out of our Portland office. Her role is to energize our current members in the Portland metro area and…

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Lisa Foster

Wilderness Stewardship Coordinator

Lisa is a fourth-generation Central Washingtonian with agricultural community roots. She grew up backpacking in the North Central Cascades,…

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Renee Patrick

Oregon Desert Trail Coordinator

Renee joined ONDA in 2015. As the Oregon Desert Trail coordinator, she is responsible for establishing the Oregon Desert Trail, shaping its…

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Jefferson Jacobs

Riparian Restoration Coordinator

Jefferson joined ONDA in 2008 as our wilderness stewardship coordinator, and he handles all of our riparian restoration activities.…

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Jeremy Austin

Hart-Sheldon Coordinator

Jeremy joined ONDA in 2012 to survey for invasive plant species and conduct aspen inventories at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.…

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Corie Harlan

Owyhee Coordinator

A native Oregonian, Corie’s lifelong passion for ensuring our state’s environment is a healthy, diverse place for future…

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Gena Goodman-Campbell

Public Lands Coordinator

Gena joined ONDA as the Badlands Wilderness Coordinator in 2007. After the Badlands Wilderness Act passed in 2009, her role grew to cover…

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Mac Lacy

Senior Attorney

Mac became ONDA’s staff attorney in 2001, after serving as student law clerk starting in 1999. Mac’s cases focus on wilderness,…

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Dan Morse

Conservation Director

Dan assumed the leadership of ONDA’s conservation program in 2012, coming to us from Crested Butte, Colorado where he served as the…

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Ben Gordon

Stewardship Director; John Day River Basin Coordinator

Ben joined ONDA in 2012 to serve as our John Day Basin Program Coordinator. He assumed the additional role of Stewardship Director in 2015…

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Barksdale Brown

General Manager

Bark joined ONDA in 2006, and, as general manager, he is responsible for our financials, bookkeeping, contracts, and general operations.…

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Allison Crotty

Development Director

When this Massachusetts native decided to head West to explore a few National Parks, she had no idea it would lead to a new direction in her…

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voices

Jane Heisler, Sage Society Member

Jane Heisler, Sage Society Member

I love to travel and I love the desert! Supporting ONDA monthly allows me to hit the road without forgetting Oregon’s high desert—even when I’m not there.

listen

Great Basin Spadefoot Toads – a sleepy chorus

Great Basin Spadefoot Toads – a sleepy chorus

watch

Stewardship Fence Building Timelapse

Stewardship Fence Building Timelapse

Our Seasonal Staff and Interns

Each year, bright students and professionals from Oregon and beyond join ONDA in our office and in the field to gain career-building skills.

Our 2018 Crew

  • Anne White, Habitat Monitoring Technician
  • Emilie Bedard, Habitat Monitoring Technician
  • Dawn Nolan, Winter Intern, Outreach and Development
  • Kelly Sprague, Winter Intern, Outreach and Development
  • Caelin Weiss, Summer Intern, Outreach and Development
  • Michael Tauriaim, Summer Intern, Wildlands
  • Nick Maithonis, Summer Intern, Wildlands
  • Zane Fields, Summer Intern, GIS
  • Brittany Leffel, Winter Intern, Outreach and Development

Our field technicians and field interns help us with our Sage-Grouse Habitat Monitoring Project, which monitors the implementation of the BLM’s Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (ARMPA) and ecological health trends on federal lands in eastern Oregon to assess the degree to which public lands are meeting sage-grouse habitat objectives.

Our outreach and events interns help ONDA to reach community members interested in getting involved in ONDA’s work by managing ONDA event logistics, engaging retail partners for the Wild Desert Calendar, and representing ONDA at community events.

Our wildlands interns spend 10 weeks over the summer in the field with ONDA staff and volunteers. In addition to helping lead restoration projects, our 2017 interns worked with the Prineville Bureau of Land Management to monitor Wilderness Study Areas throughout Central Oregon.