Our Staff & Board

Kristin Gardner, PhD

Chief Executive and Science Officer 

kristin@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

Kristin has led the Gallatin River Task Force since 2007. Prior to that, she had been working on the Gallatin River for many years, conducting her doctoral research that examined land use impacts on water quality and serving as a Big Sky Institute fellow at Ophir School. Originally from Maine, she moved west with a background in Water Resource Engineering and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and experience working with the Nantucket Land Council and the Nantucket community on ground water quality issues. Kristin has published her work in several scientific journals, including Water Resources Research and Ground Water. Kristin and her husband, JJ, son, Elijah, and yellow lab, Althea, reside in Big Sky and spend as much time as possible exploring the outdoors in and beyond Montana.

Emily O’Connor

Chief Operating Officer

emily@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

Emily brings over a decade of experience in natural resource and nonprofit management to her role as COO. She began her career in conservation in Lake Tahoe, California working for the U.S. Forest Service then found her niche in the non-profit sector as Project Manager for the Big Sky Community Organization. While serving as Director of Park Operations for the Esplanade Association, Emily worked closely with state and community partners to restore, enhance and program the Charles River Esplanade, a historic 64-acre park in Boston. Throughout her career, Emily’s work and passion has been connecting people to the outdoors and preserving the critical land and water that is essential for healthy communities and a vibrant quality of life.

Jessica Olson

Conservation Manager

jessica@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

Jessica grew up in central Massachusetts and got her B.S. in Wildlife and Conservation Biology from the University of New Hampshire in 2018. After college, Jess went to work for North Carolina State Parks teaching environmental education to local elementary students, with a focus on wetland ecology and water quality. Jessica is thrilled to join the Gallatin River Task force to learn about watershed health and become a better environmental steward. Jess served as the Task Force’s Big Sky Watershed Corps member in 2021 and was promoted to a full-time position as Conservation Associate.

Robin Fedock

Communications & Marketing Manager 

robin@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

Robin brings more than a decade of experience working on communications projects in the sustainable development field, from bike advocacy to international climate change negotiations. She has always oriented herself towards bodies of water, having grown up near the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, and takes great joy and responsibility in being able to center her work around the Gallatin. Robin lives in Bozeman with her partner and kiddo, where they keep a small garden and large collection of bicycles.

Jade Allison

Big Sky Watershed Corps Member

waterquality@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

After graduating from UCLA with a BS in Biochemistry and Minor in Society and Genetics, Jade was a drugs chemist and a volunteer with local environmentalist groups in California. Pursuing a career change, she began working as a Stream Surveys Crew Lead with Great Basin Institute across central Nevada. Jade grew up skiing Mt. Rose in Tahoe, Nevada and hiking in southern California. She came to Montana to ski, but since moving here, she has also enjoyed hiking, climbing, rafting, camping, paddle boarding, and skiing and riding, and has also loved seeing moose, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and more in and along the Gallatin River during her commute from Bozeman to Big Sky.’ After volunteering for some of the Task Force’s events last summer, she was inspired by the great team and is excited to pursue her career change to hydrology. Jade is especially excited to further her skills in water quality monitoring and GIS while collaborating with the local community.

Mackenzie Nash

Big Sky Watershed Corps Member

conservation@gallatinrivertaskforce.org

Mackenzie is from Colorado and went to college in Durango, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Geology with a focus on environmental conservation and management. As part of her senior thesis on drought affects on the Dolores River she did field research for DRAMS (Dolores River Adaptive Management Support), monitoring pool persistence for endangered fish habitats. She was also an outdoor leader for Keeping Women Wild, encouraging women and nonbinary folks to feel engaged with the outdoors. The group led an introduction to backpacking course, organized community clean ups, and hosted film nights that highlighted the achievements of other women in the outdoor industry. Mackenzie is looking forward to working for the Task Force to grow a deeper understanding of the role community engagement plays within local conservation efforts. She is also excited to learn more about how local politics affect the overall success of a conservation project. She loves thru hiking, skiing, kayaking, running, and a good craft. She’s so excited to be in Montana to grow her community and play around in the water.

Leslie Nogaret

Board Chair

With an education in environmental earth sciences and hydrogeology, Leslie’s interest in serving on the board is based in finding ways to keep the connection between groundwater and surface water healthy for the benefit of the whole Gallatin River watershed. Leslie and her family first came to Big Sky in 2013, and moved here full-time in 2021.  Being able to bring her science background to the work of keeping the river healthy has driven her passion on the board, with a belief that without a clean and healthy Gallatin, the community and industries that rely on the river will suffer.  The quick-paced growth is of concern for Leslie, who is most interested in water quality issues and how they affect the community’s water resources.  Access restoration is one of the project areas that Leslie finds most interest in – and when she’s not working to find science-based solutions for keeping the Gallatin clean, she might be found hiking, rafting, or taking a quick plunge off of the Green Bridge.

Ennion Williams

Vice Chair 

Ennion Williams moved to Big Sky in 1992 for a summer job, which led him to quickly and permanently call this place home. After years of fly fishing the Gallatin and working as a guide, Ennion recognizes that preservation and stewardship of the Gallatin River is of utmost importance to his daily life and well being. Affected by impacts of a fast-growing town, the Gallatin faces increased pressures, which is what drives Ennion’s interest in being active in the work to maintain a healthy river for generations to come. His passion for serving on the board is fueled by all the Task Force has accomplished for river access and streamside restoration for the Gallatin.  Over the years, the Gallatin has been home to many memories of catching trout and rafting whitewater for many, and Ennion’s hope is that the Gallatin will stay healthy and continue to bring happiness to all who recreate, and live here. 

JeNelle Johnson

Secretary

JeNelle has long history in Big Sky, starting as a visitor in the early 90s and becoming a full-time resident in 2014. In all the places she has lived, JeNelle tries to involve herself in making a positive impact, and being in Big Sky is no different. She does not hide her concerns about the future of the Gallatin, recognizing the impacts from growth and climate change to a fragile ecosystem. She is dedicated to ensuring the health of this community resource in any way she can, and has enjoyed being a part of the annual fundraising event, Hooked on the Gallatin, that brings in critical funding for annual projects in restoration and conservation. JeNelle’s interest goes back many years to a time she was a volunteer in water monitoring, and that passion for understanding the health of the Gallatin is what keeps her serving on the board today. 

Bill Collins

Board Member

Though Bill’s career experience is based in the real estate sales and services industry, his passion for the Gallatin is what leads him to serve on the Task Force board.  Finding himself in the river to fish nearly every evening of the summer, Bill knows that a healthy Gallatin is imperative to this community.  Leading the Sales and Marketing team at Yellowstone Club since late 2009, Bill understands the Gallatin is a treasured resource, and that hard work is necessary to mitigate impacts on it from a quickly growing community. Over the years, Bill also has grown to understand the critical nature of a community’s intentions to keep its assets healthy.  Bill’s energy for finding solutions for the Gallatin is clear in his participation on the board, where his voice is always part of identifying new and innovative ways to care for the river. Bill and his wife, Shannon, and daughter, Elizabeth, live in Big Sky where they keep up their love of all things recreation.

Todd Shaw

Board Member

With a degree in fisheries sciences and a career’s worth of work in the seafood industry, Todd has been involved with sustainably managed fisheries resources for decades.  Growing up in the Puget Sound, Todd witnessed the drastic decline of salmon and steelhead runs on local rivers over a 30-year span. He believes strongly that there is a way to have sustainable growth in and around Big Sky – and, that there are potential threats to the Gallatin’s ecosystem in the face of unrestricted growth.  Angling pressures are of particular interest to Todd, who strives to understand what elements contribute to a declining fish population, but feels that the most pressing issue for the Gallatin today is the availability and quality of water.  He loves meeting and talking with the people he meets on the Gallatin while fishing, always welcoming the chance to learn and share stories that connect people to the river. Todd and his family have called Big Sky home since 2016.  

Mike Wolfe

Board Member

Mike grew up in Southern Colorado, along the banks of the Arkansas River, before moving to Southwest Montana to attend Montana State University, where he earned a degree in geology. His understanding of natural systems and landscapes, combined with over ten years of experience in woodworking and design, brings valuable perspective to his work. As Chief Project Officer for Big Sky Build, Mike brings strategic leadership and project management expertise to the board. He has called Big Sky home for a decade with his wife Ciara and their children, Sawyer and Olive. Mike’s passion for river conservation is rooted in his family’s lifestyle of fly fishing, rafting, skiing, and mountain biking, which connect them deeply to Montana’s watersheds and wild places. He is committed to protecting the Gallatin River as Big Sky and the greater Gallatin County continue to grow, ensuring these vital waterways remain healthy resources for the community and ecosystem.

Bayard Dominick

Board Member

Bayard Dominick has been in Montana since 2001 and Big Sky since 2013. His summers are spent floating and fishing in the rivers and lakes of Montana and chasing live music. Bayard is an experienced development manager with extensive experience in financial analysis, deal structuring, project design, project strategy, and sustainable development. Currently acting as an Advisor in Planning and Development for Lone Mountain Land Company which is managing the development of Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, Moonlight Basin as well as several mixed-used projects in the Town Center which are all located in Big Sky, Montana. Previously, as Project Manager and lead in new business development for Hines Interests, Mr. Dominick was involved in the development Glacier Village at Whitefish Mountain Resort (Northwest Montana) and Aspen Highlands Village (Colorado). He was also a Senior Vice President of Acquisition and Planning for Fidelity National Timber Resources and was project manager for the Rock Creek Cattle Company. Mr. Dominick holds an undergraduate degree from Yale College and an MBA from Stanford University.

Grant Dickson

Board Member

Grant moved to Big Sky in 2014 after years of practicing law in Nashville and Washington, D.C. and coming out to Montana to fish. As Counsel with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in Bozeman, he advises clients on ranch, hotel, resort, and luxury residential real estate transactions as well as mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital matters. The Gallatin River holds a special place in Grant’s heart. When he first arrived, Grant worked in fly shops in Big Sky and Bozeman while studying for the Montana bar. He and his wife, Tabitha, were later married on the banks of the Gallatin. Together with their son, Beau, and their dogs, Merle Haggard and Toby, they spend as much time as possible on the river, fishing, hiking, and exploring the watershed. Grant’s deep connection to the Gallatin and his appreciation for clean and healthy rivers drive his passion for serving on the Task Force to help preserve this vital natural resource for his family and future generations.