About Us

The PNW-SETAC Board is an all-volunteer group of scientists from all walks of the organization, including academia, students, agency staff, and industry. We serve for a 2-year term. You may contact any of the officers or board members below by clicking on their titles.

Officers

Past President
Fran Solomon
The Evergreen State College, Tacoma
Fran enjoys bringing her 25 years of environmental agency work experience to the classroom.  She is an environmental science professor at The Evergreen State College, Tacoma and at Western Washington University, Huxley College of the Environment on the Peninsulas.  She also teaches short courses to environmental and health care professionals in Washington, Alaska, British Columbia, and Yukon about the toxicity of metals and persistent organic pollutants.  She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Rochester, and a master's degree in environmental health and Ph.D. in fisheries from the University of Washington.  Fran is keenly interested in the impacts of endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDCs) on human health and the aquatic environment, and devotes volunteer time to EDCs projects for the Washington Toxics Coalition.  Outside of professional and mentoring activities, she is an enthusiastic hiker, bicyclist, and international traveler.

President
Vicki Marlatt
University of the Fraser Valley
Vicki Marlatt obtained an M.Sc. in Zoology+Toxicology at the University of Guelph and a Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Ottawa with a research focus on endocrine disruption in vertebrate models.  Subsequent to her graduate studies she was an NSERC Industrial Research and Development Fellow and Environmental Toxicologist with Nautilus Environmental in Burnaby, BC specializing in implementing, advancing and developing standardised guidelines in the commercial sector relevant to a variety of environmental assessment scenarios.  Currently she is a faculty member in the Department of Biology at the University of the Fraser Valley where she teaches and continues her research examining the impacts of environmental contaminants, including endocrine disruptors, on wildlife and humans.

VicePresident
Heather Henson-Ramsey
Lewis-Clark State College
Heather has a DVM and Ph.D from North Carolina State University where she did her doctoral work in epidemiology and toxicology. She is currently on the faculty of Lewis-Clark State College in the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Her research interests include biomarkers of environmental health and the use of models to reduce the number of animal subjects needed in toxicological studies.

Treasurer
Ryan Loveridge
CH2M Hill
Ryan is an ecological risk assessment consultant with CH2M Hill. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biology from Simon Fraser University. Ryan is also an R.P. Bio in British Columbia. Ryan has supported CH2M Hill’s operations in California and New England, focusing primarily on contaminated sediments investigations. Currently, his primary interests are PCB and methyl mercury fate and toxicity. His personal interests include spending time with family, playing soccer, and enjoying the Pacific Northwest, especially since returning to live here in 2011.

Secretary
April Markiewicz
Western Washington University
April is the Associate Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology at Western Washington University (WWU).  She received her B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University and M.S. in Aquatic Toxicology/Aquatic Ecology from WWU.  April directs, manages, and supervises the day-to-day operations of the Institute.  She also serves as a technical and informational resource for students, staff, faculty and the general public, teaches classes in environmental toxicology, writes grant proposals, and co-authors publications.  Research interests include aquatic and stream ecology with emphasis in ecotoxicological effects on community- and ecosystem-level interactions, as well as chemical partitioning to water and sediments, effects on nutrient cycling, and microbial degradative processes.

Elections

Elections for Board members and Directors are typically held in the fall.

Board of Directors

At-Large (Industry)
Kara Warner
Golder Associates, Inc.
Kara is an Environmental Scientist in the Portland, Oregon office of Golder Associates, an international environmental services company.  Her consulting experience includes ecological risk assessments modeling contamination of aquatic habitats from industrial, landfill, or municipal wastewater discharge sources.  Kara was a student member of PNW-SETAC while obtaining her PhD in Toxicology from Oregon State University, and her research at OSU on the physiological effects of pharmaceuticals on fish has translated into a professional interest in applications of reclaimed/reused water and other resource conservation projects.  Her personal interests include traveling, spending time with her family, and enjoying the outdoors in the Pacific Northwest.

At-Large (Government)
Patrick Moran
US Geological Survey

At-Large (Academia)
Ruth Sofield
Western Washington University
Ruth is an Aquatic Toxicologist with a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.  She has been a professor in the Environmental Sciences Department at Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University since 2003.  Her primary research interests are at the intersection of environmental chemistry and toxicology, with an emphasis on metals.  Ruth recently completed her sabbatical with the Environmental Toxicology research group at Eawag in Switzerland, where she worked on nanoparticle toxicity and fate and transport.

At-Large (Student)
Lesley Shelley
Simon Fraser University

Lesley is a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at SFU, working under the supervision of Dr. Chris Kennedy.  Her current research investigates the effects of current-use pesticides on the immune system of salmonids.   Previously, she obtained a BSc in Biology from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) and a BASc in Public Health and Safety from Ryerson University (Toronto, ON) before working as an environmental health officer for 5 years.  She enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, hiking and swimming.

Volunteers

Webmaster
Teresa Michelsen
Washington Department of Ecology

Newsletter Editor
April Markiewicz
Western Washington University