Meet the Board of Directors

Officers

A retired Business Analyst, dawn worked for the State of Oregon for 28 years. She moved with her husband from the Willamette Valley to Lincoln City in 2009. In Salem, she had adapted her backyard to be wildlife friendly, keeping daily notes of the birds that came to her pond and feeders. Lacking much of a backyard in Lincoln City, she has spent hours exploring area parks, beaches, and open spaces.
Dawn joined SCBA in 2011 and became a board member in 2014. She also volunteers with the Oregon Birding Association as membership coordinator and bookkeeper, and enjoys a variety of citizen science opportunities such as the northwest Winter Raptor Survey, Black Oystercatcher monitoring, and documenting area wildlife for US Fish and Wildlife.

Dennis is now retired having worked on health reform in government, consulting, and non-profit roles for over 40 years. He now volunteers for several non-profit organizations on the Oregon coast, most notably Friends of Otter Rock Marine Reserve (Friends) which he co-founded. Friends works on coastal advocacy focusing on interpretive programming designed to engage the community and its visitors in conservation and stewardship.

Dennis has served on our SCBA Rocky Habitat core team for the past four years, actively advocating for our two successful Marine Conservation Area proposals at Cape Foulweather (adjacent to Otter Rock) and Cape Lookout.

Directors

Steve worked for the Sierra Club for thirty years (twenty-eight years at national headquarters in San Francisco and two at the Hawaii Chapter in Honolulu) before retiring to the Oregon Coast in 2009. He has served on Lincoln City’s Planning Commission and is active in Theatre West. He is an avid hiker and kayaker.

Steve joined the board in 2016. He served as Vice-president from 2018 to 2020, and he has served as the SCBA Conservation Action Team (CAT) chair since 2018.

Nora is a nature artist and science illustrator living in Lincoln City who has always loved birds. She connected with Seven Capes Bird Alliance after taking the Birding Basics class in 2014 and joins the groups on outings as often as she can. She has painted many local birds for gallery shows, as well as for commissioned work.

She changed careers after many years in high-tech (geographic information systems) after she obtained her certificate in science illustration from the University of Washington in Seattle. She and her husband live steps from the beach and right next to one of Lincoln City’s designated open spaces; the birding is great right out her front door.

Growing up on the Oregon coast and life-long resident of Netarts for 72 years, Jim has developed a personal relationship with the ocean from his front door. His experience as a commercial fisherman off of the Oregon, Washington and Alaska coasts has given him an intimate understanding of our ocean and the need for conservation and study of our Pacific Coast.

As a conservationist and nonprofit volunteer, Jim was asked to help move the idea of marine reserves along our coast. In his role as a community organizer for Oregon’s central and north coast, he was instrumental in the establishment of 5 marine reserve sites and is still involved with these protected areas. After 10 plus years of active participation in Oregon’s coastal conservation planning, Jim is honored to help Seven Capes Bird Alliance board of directors contribute to the health of our coastal waters.

Evan was born and raised in Western Washington and has spent his entire career dedicated to restoring natural systems in the Pacific Northwest. After completing his undergraduate at Santa Clara University, Evan returned to Washington for two AmeriCorps terms with the Washington Conservation Corps. He received a Master’s of Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College, and has worked in various ecosystems at Joint Base Lewis McChord, and spent 3 seasons growing plants for sub-alpine meadow restoration at Mt. Rainier.

Since 2016, Evan has been the Council Coordinator for the MidCoast Watersheds Council, working with partners to complete major restoration projects in the Council’s nearly one-million-acre footprint on the coast. When he isn’t working at MCWC, you will likely find him tending to his backyard veggie garden, birding, or walking with his wife and dog on the beach. Or you may not be able to find him at all, as he spends as much time as possible backpacking and camping in remote locations all around the world.

Joseph Youren is a retired teacher and principal from Idaho who was drawn to the ocean in retirement moving to Lincoln City with his wife in 2013. He was introduced to birding by his seventh grade life science teacher who drilled his students on bird identification whenever there was down time in his class.

He has been a member of SCBA since 2015 after taking the Birding Basic class at the community college. He is a passionate advocate for the protection of our public lands and waters as well as the flora and fauna that call these places home. Joseph served as our Vice-president for two years and now serves on both the Conservation and Education teams.

Jim is a recent addition to the Oregon Coast from Colorado, having bought a house in Yachats 6 years ago. He is retired, and has a background in Renewable Energy and has been active in environmental issues over the years. When he moved to Yachats, he started building bird boxes for his subdivision and soon met other birders who had boxes and were interested in expanding our efforts in particular with Swallows.  

Hence the genesis of SWIFTY. We now have over 200 boxes in our network and are now partners with SCBA. This summer we will be doing a survey of the Purple Martin population in Lincoln County with a plan for next year to replace old boxes and add new ones to grow the population.

Other Volunteer Leaders

SCBA’s field trip guide, Mark Elliott, has been birding for 35 years. He has been active in the Bird Alliance for 20 years and served on the board for 10 years before stepping down in 2019. He teaches raptor identification and basic birding at Oregon Coast Community College. Mark also leads field trips for Yaquina Birders and Naturalists in Newport, Oregon and at the Birding and Blues Festival in Pacific City. 
Mark stays active in citizen science by participating in annual Christmas Bird Counts and has been recording data for COASST (Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team) for 9 years. He lives on the Oregon coast.

Moving to Lincoln City from Cornish, Maine in 2005, Ernie joined SCBA from 2009-2017. As a board member during that time, he designed and maintained our newsletters and website. In essence, he brought over 35+ years of graphic design experience to the organization. He also contributed many photos of the monthly bird walks as well as the birds and other wildlife that were sighted during those events.

In 2016, Ernie retired from the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology yet stays busy with his graphic design and photography business, Rose Designs. Ernie retired from the SCBA board in 2021 but continues to volunteer and assist with our graphics.

Caren is a retired elementary school teacher and has lived in Lincoln City since 1974. Birding was something she wanted to learn more about and that eventually led to an opportunity to get back into schools and pass on that birding knowledge to children and then adults through Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC).

Caren joined the SCBA board in 2008 and continues to serve as our education coordinator, teaching “Wild About Birds” in Tillamook and Lincoln County 5th grade classrooms, "Our Neighbor the Osprey" for Lincoln City kindergarten and 3rd graders, and “Birding Basics” for adults at Oregon Coast Community College. She retired from the Board in 2022 but continues to serve as our field trip coordinator, education mentor, and instructor.

Rick has been keeping an eye on the birds for about 40 years, dating back to when he learned about raptors on Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, where he lived until the early ‘90s. It was in Pennsylvania where he started his 30-year newspaper career. He spent eight years in Southern Indiana, where his interest in nature continued, culminating in a website he created for identifying wildflowers at a local nature preserve. Rick moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2000 and to Lincoln City in 2012. He is semi-retired, but he does work as a paralegal for a couple of local lawyers (including wife Britt). He serves as a Lincoln City city councilor and is co-leads our Senior Programs for our Education team.

Tom worked as a dealer personnel training facilitator for Chrysler for nearly 20 years until his retirement in 2016.  An Oregon native, he moved last year with his wife Cheri to a home on Devils Lake that his family originally purchased in 1970. Over his 50 years of involvement with the lake and Lincoln City, Tom developed a deep appreciation for the birds of the area, particularly the waterfowl on the lake. He is active with the Devils Lake Water Improvement District as well as the Devils Lake Neighborhood Association. Tom served on the SCBA board of directors for a few years until stepping down. He now serves on the Education Team. 

Janet Patrice Bleck is a Retired Hospitality Entrepreneur, having opened or acquired and sold five very successful restaurant and catering operations in both Florida and Oregon. Janet was born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan and has lived in Valencia, Venezuela; Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida; McMinnville, Oregon; and now on Siletz Bay in Cutler City which offers her an excellent opportunity for birdwatching.

A self-professed bird geek, albeit a novice and continually learning, it was a passion she developed years ago when she erected her first Purple Martin house on her property in Florida. Janet is looking forward to the opportunity to work with incredibly knowledgeable birders and to offer her experience in working in various service organizations to contribute to Seven Capes Bird Alliance.

Staff

Kent worked for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as a stream ecologist prior to retiring to the Oregon coast in 2020. As the SCBA Coastal Conservation Coordinator, he is inspired through working with others in the Bird Alliance who share his passion for conservation. He lives at the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge where he is the volunteer caretaker. Being immersed in the natural world with geese and other wildlife for neighbors, gives him a deeper connection with nature. Backpacking in Oregon’s wilderness areas and steelhead fishing on Oregon's coastal rivers are his favorite activities.

After graduating from Beloit College in 2018, Nissa worked on environmental justice and financial assurance as an Environmental Specialist at Washington State’s Department of Ecology. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they switched gears to focus on their art and created a small business with their partner, moving to Lincoln City in 2021. Now, in addition to running their business and vending at the local markets, they serve as SCBA’s Digital Media Coordinator sharing our story and mission across digital platforms. While new to the world of birds, Nissa is a life-long nature lover and can often be found foraging in the woods for wild food and art supplies.

Ruth Shelly has spent a lifetime working in museums, and retired as Executive Director of Portland Children's Museum in 2020. She and her husband Kevin live on Devils Lake. They enjoy getting to know the local birding spots and fellow birders through SCBA field trips. Having worked in natural history museums and an aquarium, Ruth is committed to engaging children in science, community science programs, and conservation.

She considers herself a novice birder and intermediate photographer, with passion for both and great respect for how much more there is to learn!

After completing her Associates degree in Natural Resource Technology: Wildlife Resources, in 2022 Heather has been an active volunteer for many different wildlife organizations including the Bird Alliance of Oregon. She moved to Lincoln City with her husband in April of 2023 to work for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Biological Port Sampler in Newport, then as a Biological Science Assistant on the Salmon river. She is now the Ceramics Director at Lincoln City Cultural Center in addition to being SCBA’s Volunteer Coordinator. She enjoys getting outside as often as possible to spend time in the mountains or on the water; always taking a nature guide on hand to identify the sights and sounds of the environment.