Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Eastern Michigan University – Student Center
Discussion Panel
Dave Dempsey. Policy Advisor, International Joint Commission. Dave has served as
environmental advisor to Michigan Governor James J. Blanchard, as executive director for the
Michigan Environmental Council, as a Presidential appointee to the Great Lakes Fishery
Commission and as Communications Director for Conservation Minnesota. He is the author or
co-author of four books on subjects related to the Great Lakes and he has served as an adjunct
instructor at MSU in environmental policy and law. Dave has a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Western Michigan University and a Master’s degree in resource development from Michigan State University.
Patrick Doran. Assistant State Director and Conservation Director, The Nature Conservancy.
Patrick leads investigations of conservation priorities in Michigan and the Great Lakes. This
includes the identification and prioritization of important conservation areas, as well as the
development and implementation of conservation strategies and measures of success. Prior
to work with the Conservancy, Patrick held positions as a habitat biologist with the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and was a senior ecologist/GIS analyst with The
Wildlands Project. Patrick earned his doctorate from Dartmouth College and received dual
master’s degrees in ecology and environmental science from Indiana University.
Sandra Kok. Senior Remedial Action Plan Program Engineer, Environment and Climate
Change Canada; Great Lakes AOC Unit. For the past 21 years, Sandra has worked on all facets
of the Canadian Areas of Concern program, addressing local Remedial Action Plan
coordination, science and monitoring, planning and restoration. Her current role is focused
on restoring and delisting the Detroit River and St. Clair River Areas of Concern in partnership
with municipal, provincial and federal stakeholders, First Nations, and non-government
organization. Sandra has a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University
of Alberta and a Chemical Engineering degree University of Toronto.
Russ Kreis, US EPA Research and Development. For the last 20 of Russ’s 30 years with EPA, he
has served as the Station Director and Branch Chief of the Large Lakes Research Station in
Grosse Ile, MI. Russ has authored or co-authored over 75 publications and reports. He has been
involved with numerous activities in the Detroit River and Lake Erie including: project manager
and project officer for EPA programs in the Detroit River; the Detroit River Stage I RAP data and
writing team; Stage II Sediment Workgroup; the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup Committee
Monitoring and Research Workgroup; the 4-Party Agreement Monitoring Committee and Delisting Criteria
Workgroup; the GLWQA Lake Erie Annex 4 Nutrient Task Team; numerous interactions with the Lake Erie
LAMP committees; and is a Lake Erie Millennium Network Co-Director. Russ received both his BS and MS
degrees from Eastern Michigan University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
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Coordinating Conservation in the St. Clair-Detroit River System
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Eastern Michigan University – Student Center
Heather Stirratt. Great Lakes Regional Lead (Acting), NOAA's Office for Coastal
Management. Heather works to better integrate NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management
programs and enhance programmatic connections with Great Lakes partners. She is currently
focused on Great Lakes place-based conservation, community resilience, and strategic
partnership development. Heather serves on the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Annex
2 (LAMP) and Annex 9 (Climate Impacts) Subcommittees, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape
Conservation Cooperative Executive Steering Committee, USGS Climate Science Center Advisory Board, Lake
Superior LAMP Working Group, and NOAA’s St. Louis River Habitat Blueprint Implementation Team (Chair).
Previously Heather chaired NOAA’s Great Lakes Climate Working Group and served for over eight years as the
National Ocean Service’s representative to NOAA’s Great Lakes Regional Team. Heather holds a MS degree in
Marine Affairs, with specialties in fisheries management as well as ocean and coastal law, from the University
of Rhode Island and a B.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Miami.
Panel Moderator: Katie Kahl, Michigan Conservation Policy & Practices Specialist, The
Nature Conservancy. Katie builds partnerships and designs conservation strategies Michigan
and the Great Lakes to achieve regional conservation goals. Her current work focuses on
guiding the Conservancy’s Western Lake Erie Coastal Conservation strategy, engaging
conservation, business and community interests along a 150-mile stretch of Lake Erie coast.
The project team works with partners to implement a suite of local conservation efforts that
will optimally meet multiple conservation goals benefitting people and nature. Previously, Katie worked on
the Conservancy’s Great Lakes Climate team. Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2011, Katie was the Director
of Conservation and Policy Research at Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy. She has also
managed a 7-county green infrastructure initiative in West Michigan. Katie earned her doctorate and master’s
degrees from Michigan State University, with an emphasis in quantitative and landscape ecology.
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