James Patrick (Jim) Ekins
Extension Faculty at University of Idaho Extension
Jim Ekins is the Area Water Educator for U-Idaho Extension. His faculty role is to develop and deliver nonformal educational programs based on the best science to all parts of the community. Jim runs the IDAH2O Master Water Stewards citizen science volunteer water quality monitoring program, and leads the Cleaner Water Faster bi-state educational project related to stormwater pollution. He has worked with the University of Idaho since the beginning of Fall, 2007.
He earned a bachelor’s in Natural Resource Management from Western Carolina U., and a Masters in Collaborative Natural Resource Management and Volunteerism from U. Oregon. He worked in three National Parks, in Colorado and Oregon’s resort industry, on a research base in Antarctica, and in wetland restoration for watershed councils in Oregon and Idaho. Before moving to Coeur d’Alene, he was the Director for Service-Learning and Internships for over five years. In his spare time, he is pursuing a PhD in Conservation Social Sciences in social-ecological systems resilience and decision science; he also canoes, skis, runs, and backpacks with his dogs.
Kat Hall
The Lands Council’s Conservation Programs Director
Kat Hall, The Lands Council’s Conservation Programs Director, has a B.S. in Natural Resources and a Master’s in Environmental Management, and runs TLC’s Urban Ecology programs. An experienced educator, she helped create and now runs TLC’s outdoor STEM-based environmental education program, Project SUSTAIN; teaches an environmental literacy and green job training program to offenders at the local jail; and is a key player in the organization’s on-the-ground riparian restoration efforts. Kat’s lifelong passion revolves around working with people and the natural environment. She is grateful for the many opportunities she’s had…including serving as an agroforestry extension agent in the U.S. Peace Corps (Cameroon ’94-’98), mentoring at-risk youth through trail maintenance and environmental education in Alaska, and crewing aboard a 50′ sailboat on a trans-Atlantic crossing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. Kat is passionate about teaching, loves recreating in the outdoors, and strives to make a difference in her community…all reasons that she is honored to be part of The Confluence Project. In her free time, Kat can be found playing and coaching sports, making music, spending time with her dogs, and traveling the world with her life partner. Laura Laumatia
Environmental Specialist at Coeur d’Alene Tribe
Marie Pengilly
University of Idaho’s Outreach Coordinator Community Water Resource Center
Marie works as Outreach Coordinator for the Community Water Resource Center at the University of Idaho in Coeur d’Alene. She attended the University of Idaho for a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and loved it so much that she continued on to get a master’s in Environmental Science and Water Resources. After graduating, Marie began working at the University of Idaho Center in Coeur d’Alene with IDAH2O, teaching citizen science volunteers about water quality and stream monitoring. That job led her to her current position where she gets to do all kinds of K-12 water resources outreach, play with aquatic macroinvertebrates, and help out with TCP field trips. When she’s not in the office or in the field teaching students about awesome water science, Marie can likely be found in the mountains with her dog, Juniper.
The Confluence Project 