SC2 Board
The Skagit Climate Science Consortium (SC2) Board of Directors is elected by the SC2 members for 3‑year terms. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected annually by the Board.
Dr. Ronda Strauch is the Climate Change Research and Adaptation Advisor for Seattle City Light, where she helps the utility increase climate resilience. Prior to this position, she was a postdoctoral fellow with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center hosted by University of Washington (UW) Climate Impacts Group. Her Ph.D. research with UW Civil and Environmental Engineering focused on landslide modeling in the Skagit River watershed. Additionally, she researched the vulnerability of transportation to climate change on federal lands in the North Cascades, building on her past experience as a supervising engineer at King County Department of Transportation. Prior to that position, Ronda worked as an ecologist for consulting firms and federal agencies in the Pacific Northwest, specializing in environmental and biological assessments. She has an MS from UW College of Forest Resources, where she studied the effects of climate and other factors on high elevation tree establishment following fire. detailed biography here
Mr. Larry Wasserman, Vice-Chair of SC2, is a fisheries biologist and the environmental services director for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Research topics have included investigations of salmon survival following the eruption of Mount St. Helens; spring Chinook life history strategies and consequences for hatchery practices; and riparian vegetation studies related to salmon habitat. For the past thirty years he has served as an environmental policy manager, first for the Yakama Indian Nation from 1982 to 1991, and then for the Skagit System Cooperative and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community from 1991 to present. detailed biography here >
Dr. Dave Peterson is a Professor at the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. He works with the Adaptation Partners team to develop climate change assessments and adaptation strategies in national forests and other lands throughout the western United States.
Dr. Jon Riedel, SC2 Chair, brings decades of experience and expertise including geomorphology, glacial history, and glacial mass balance. He has been engaged in research on climate science in the Skagit region since the1980s. Dr. Riedel’s primary focus of research is the glacial history of climate change, including the response of glaciers to modern climate change and the implications of that response for water resources.
Mr. Roger Fuller is the Natural Resource and Restoration Stewardship Coordinator at Padilla Bay Reserve. He has expertise in estuarine ecology, restoration ecology, climate change impacts, climate change adaptation, and decision-support tools. He has been working on climate science issues specific to the Skagit since 2010 and on other issues in the Skagit since 2002.