Jill Scofield, Treasurer and Interim President

Jill recently retired from a 28 year career with the Oregon Department of Transportation, where she managed the budget, finances, and federal grants for the Technical Services Branch.  She has recently become an Oregon Master Naturalist, with an emphasis in the Willamette Valley ecoregion.  She is also an Oregon Master Gardener and a Marion County Master Recycler.  Jill holds a BS in Art from Oregon State University and a BS in Psychology from Portland State University.  She is an animal lover and has a Beagle named Toby and a tabby cat named Kiki.  Jill is a born and bred Oregonian who loves to travel, read, and paint in oils.  She relishes hiking, exploring Oregon’s varied and vast territory, and studying the region’s geology.

Ron Forrester, Secretary

Ron attended 7th-9th grade (1977-1980) in the heart of the Willamette Valley in Amity, Oregon, and enjoyed those idyllic years fishing and exploring the oak prairies and forests as a teenager. Life then took him to Phoenix, AZ, where he counted the years before he could return to that beautiful land of his childhood in 1997. Ron now works as a leader in software technology, but loves to spend his free time continuing to explore the wild spaces of Oregon. He recently became serious about bird photography, which led him to discover the wonderful wildlife refuges of the central Willamette Valley and the incredible diversity of birds, insects, and mammals these wild-spaces provide for. When he’s not working or behind a camera, Ron and his wife explore and manage their 40-acre forest land outside Vernonia, OR, and tend to their wonderful certified native-habitat backyard in SW Portland. They love camping, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and generally just being in the wild. They’re also kept busy by their two teenaged children, dog, three cats, two guinea pigs, and bearded dragon!

Diane Young, Membership Coordinator

Diane has been a resident of Benton County since 1978. Purchasing and managing 26 acres of Douglas Firs in 1992 has made her realize the joyful yet hard work that goes into maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Prior experiences of living on 40 acres without the benefit of electricity or running water for many years has given Diane a love of silence which she now finds at Finley Wildlife Refuge. Diane lives in South Corvallis with her husband, and knowing that silence is just a short ride away, has prompted her to join this board.

Jennifer Butler, Newsletter Editor

Jennifer was born and raised in the Willamette Valley.  She has been a Biology lab educator and stockroom manager at Willamette University for the last 20 years.  She’s led students on natural history hikes through Baskett Slough and coordinated a science outreach program.  Jennifer has research experience in conservation genetics of rare plant populations, pollination biology and restoration ecology.  After completing her MS in Ecology from UConn, she volunteered and worked as a park naturalist and in native land restoration through the Student Conservation Association and at Olympic National Park.  She has led student groups on trips to Ecuador’s Tropical Rainforest and the Galapagos. Jennifer loves hiking, camping and wildlife watching, especially in the Pacific Northwest.

Steve Suckow, Website Manager

Steve is a lifelong lover of nature and wildlife as well as an amateur wildlife photographer and birder. In 2016, he retired from a 33 year career at Boeing where he designed control electronics for satellites and other spacecraft.  After his retirement, Steve moved to Corvallis so that he could be closer to the natural areas that he loves.  He has spent countless hours roaming Finley, Ankeny, and Baskett Slough, enjoying the scenery and taking photos.  He joined the Friends organization so that he could help protect and improve these wonderful natural places, both for the wildlife and for the people that visit.  Along with photography and birding, Steve enjoys cycling and hiking in the many beautiful locations that Oregon has to offer.

Erin Forrester, Board Member

Erin is a practiced Willamette Valley gardener and naturalist with a strong affinity for pnw native plants and critters of all shapes and sizes. She is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist through Oregon State University, with a focus on the Willamette Valley ecoregion. When not at home, she and her husband, Ron, spend their time exploring Oregon, with a keen eye for dragonflies, birds, herps, lichen and native plants. Erin and Ron have a large home garden and Certified Backyard Habitat through Portland Audubon’s Backyard Habitat Certification Program, where Erin also volunteers as a site certifier for other habitats. They have 40 acres of land in Vernonia, Oregon that they preserve and explore and are thrilled to house a thriving population of the protected Northern Red-Legged Frog, and countless other native species. She’s crazy about dragonflies and working to find and photograph all species in Oregon! At home, Ron and Erin look after their two teenagers, dog, cats, guinea pigs and spoiled bearded dragon. Erin holds a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and works as a Director of Technology Program Management. She is delighted to apply these skills and her passion to help the Friends Board support our beautiful refuges!

Kris Ebbe, Outreach Co-coordinator

Bobbie Allaire, Outreach Co-coordinator

What’s that? What’s this? Bobbie loves questions! When she doesn’t have the answer to a visitor’s question, she encourages them to find the answer. At the same time, the question may send her down a rabbit hole to get answers herself, whatever the subject – a flower, a tree, a bird, a mammal, or something else! Everything in nature holds an element of wonder and Bobbie loves to share that wonder with others through activities filled with discovery. Bobbie has a master’s degree that emphasizes learning and workplace productivity. Bobbie taught and helped develop teachers and leaders in for-profit, non-profit, and volunteer settings.

She and her husband Pat moved to Oregon in 2002. They are life-time supporters and volunteers for programs that feed, house, and educate communities. In 2015 they both became Oregon Master Naturalists (now Oregon Naturalists) through Oregon State University. They trained on the coast, East Cascades and Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregions and helped organize the 2023 Willamette Valley ecoregion field sessions for naturalist certification. They’ve volunteered for the Willamette Valley NWR Complex in various capacities since the 2017 solar eclipse and were Co-Volunteer Coordinators at the Ankeny Hill Nature Center on the Ankeny NWR for more than 3 years from 2021-2024.