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.

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.

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.

Delores Porch, Secretary

Delores grew up in Chicago, but spent many summers on the family farm in Tennessee. When she graduated from Western Illinois University with a BS in Science Education she took off for Oregon, by herself, to live. Among the many careers she has had, her favorite was that of a Cartographic Technician with the USFS, making all those recreation maps for visitors to region 6 forests. During that time, she was fortunate to spend one month on the John Day National Forest trying to decide if she wanted to be a wildlife biologist. That was when she ventured to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge for the first time. She didn’t become a biologist but got hooked on birds.  She is semi-retired and currently works part-time in the office at Central Linn High School in Halsey. For the past 9 years she has volunteered at the Wild Goose Nature Store and recently became a Master Naturalist. Besides promoting wildlife refuges, she can be found at the Oregon coast educating the public about Gray Whales.

Spencer Mair, Vice-President

Spencer Mair grew up in California and started bird watching at a young age. Every winter his parents would take him to see the ducks and geese at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. His passion for birds grew from there. He has helped on several bird related research projects including banding birds at the Big Sur Ornithology Lab in Big Sur California, he has been a part of conducting Long-billed Curlew nesting surveys around the Malheur Wildlife area, he has conducted point count surveys on century old farms and was involved with Project 2020 conducting bird surveys all over Oregon. He has participated in Winter Wildlife Field Days, several bird-a-thons, Christmas Bird Counts, bird festivals, and bird conferences throughout the years. He was the idea maker behind the OSU Bird Nerds. He owns his own bird watching business here in the Willamette Valley.

Maiya Montgomery, Board Member

Maiya was born and raised in the Willamette Valley where she fell in love with Oregons native flora and fauna. She recently completed her Bachelors Degree in Biodiversity and Conservation at BYU and is now pursuing a Professional Masters in Wildlife and Fisheries Administration from OSU. When Maiya isn’t studying she loves bug collection, trail running, and watercolor.