Staff
Mackenzie Kleiva
Program Director
After graduating from The Evergreen State College in 2019 with a dual BA/BS in Environmental Chemistry and Science Communication, Mack went on to found a small non-profit working toward grassroots bioremediation solutions. Over the last 5 years, she has focused on Environmental Health & Water Quality issues through grassroots efforts and tribal partnerships. Mack is also a current Master of Environmental Studies student at TESC completing thesis work in urban environmental decision-making processes and water governance.
Aubrey “Abe” Burt
Operations Director
After co-founding a business in downtown Olympia, Abe’s passions for community, sustainability, and the environment brought her to join DERT as Operations Director in January 2025. She has a combined 15 years of management, operations, fundraising, marketing, and networking experience and a BA/BS in Ecology & Agricultural Science. In addition she helped establish and serves as Treasurer of the Board for a visual arts based nonprofit community events space, DECAY, in the Arts District. Her multifaceted background lends itself to strong implementation of technologically organized, streamlined, flexible, and accessible systems for DERT administration, programming, and events.
Board of Directors
Dave Monthie
President
Dave is a retired Washington attorney, having spent most of his professional career in Washington, working for State and local agencies on water, natural resource, and environmental issues. He was formerly staff to the Washington State Senate, the Washington Department of Health Office of Drinking Water, and the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. He and his wife live in Olympia.
Keith M. Dublanica
Vice President
Keith has nearly three decades of resource management, watershed assessments, and subsequent habitat and cultural restorations. Keith is a graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. He has worked for the Point No Point Treaty Council as a habitat biologist and watershed coordinator, natural resources director for the Skokomish Indian Tribe for 14 years, and science coordinator for the Governors Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) within the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) supporting the Salmon Recovery Funding Board since 2011. Keith has administered state and federal funds for a variety of habitat monitoring efforts in freshwater and estuarine landscapes specific to ESA-listed salmon life histories. While with the GSRO, Keith facilitated an “expert monitoring science panel” to objectively review monitoring proposals from Washington state agencies, American Indian tribes, tribal consortia, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
Ray Willard
Secretary
Ray is a third generation Washington native who graduated from University of Washington and has spent his life exploring and playing in the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest. He and wife Leanne are longtime residents of the South Capitol Neighborhood in Olympia with three grown children currently living in other parts of the country. In professional practice Ray is one of the principal landscape architects for the Washington State Department of Transportation where he oversees the maintenance of roadsides throughout the state highway system and teaches crews to practice sustainable landscape management. He currently also serves on the Washington Invasive Species Council, the National Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on Roadside Maintenance Operations, and the Board of Directors for the Washington Vegetation Management Association.
Katrina Keleher
Treasurer
Katrina got her BS in Geosciences from University of Montana and her Masters in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College. She loves environmental data! In undergrad, she researched air and soil-surface temperature variability of Northern Alaska permafrost, and in grad school she analyzed drivers of riparian microclimates across the Olympic Peninsula. She currently works as the Fish Passage Data Steward for WSDOT. Katrina enjoys making sourdough bread, foraging for food, gardening, and backpacking.
Sue Patnude
Founder & Member
Sue has been working to restore the Deschutes Estuary for over 15 years. She is a co-founder of DERT and a strong advocate for a healthy Puget Sound and Salish Sea. Sue’s career has been focused on protecting and restoring the environment recently through work with DERT and in the past with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Ecology and positions in local and regional government. She lives on a small farm in the Upper Chehalis Watershed with her husband Tom Hyde and works on environmental policy consulting through her own business from home.
Dave Peeler
Founder & Member
[Drafting]
Cole Baldino
Member
Growing up with the dream of working with salmonids, Cole received a degree in coldwater fisheries biology from SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse, NY. He’s worked throughout the east coast restoring eastern brook trout habitat. After a lifetime of chasing wild steelhead, Cole has made his way to WA to restore salmon populations as a project manager for the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group. His passion for implementing large wood structures and removing barriers to fish passage fits with the organization mission and team. Cole is currently the project manager in WRIA 13, which the Deschutes River is within. His real life experience in the watershed brings an expertise to DERT centered around salmon recovery and restoration. When not working towards recovering salmon and trout, Cole is chasing them with his fly rod. Along with angling, Cole is an avid rock climber, mountaineer, hunter, and gardener.
Casey Allen
Member
Casey grew up in the greater Olympia area, going on to receive AAs for both firefighting and EMT-Paramedic and serving multiple regions of the Willamette Valley for more than 7 years. Subsequently, he went on to receive a BS in Biology from Portland State University, and taught and coordinated outdoor education programs for 10 years. While working on his Masters in Environmental Studies at the Evergreen State College (expected graduation 6/25) Casey served as the Operations Manager for the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team, and currently works as a Project Manager for the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group in the Kennedy/Goldsborough Watershed (WRIA 14). In his free time, Casey enjoys spending time with his wife Marena, as well as biking, kayaking, bushcraft, camping, and generally spending time exploring and building relationships with our natural spaces.
Grant Gilmore
Member
Grant has dedicated his career to the intersection of science and engineering since 1996. He spent significant time working in the nonprofit sector focusing on environmental policies and workforce development. Later shifting to environmental consulting for a civil engineering firm where he undertook various responsibilities, including field investigations, data collection, analysis, and reporting to ensure compliance with environmental permitting requirements at the federal, state, and local levels. Currently serving as a Water Resource Specialist for the City of Tumwater’s Water Resources and Sustainability Department g, Grant is now focused within the WRIA 13 Deschutes River Watershed, in the public sector, concentrating on water resource management. He serves as a regional representative for the City within the South Puget Sound, as an advisor for the Washington Stormwater Center, and representing the City with various environmental initiatives, including the WRIA 13 Lead Entity, the Regional Environmental Education Program (REEP), and Stream Team. In addition, he serves as an instructor at the University of Washington in the Wetland Science and Management Certificate Program.
