TUI Staff
Kathryn Prive
Executive Director
Kathryn grew up in Minnesota but has called the west coast home since 2003. She has a M.S. in population genetics and ecological restoration from Oregon State University and a B.S in Environmental Science from the University of Oregon. Kathryn has expertise in partnership coordination, population genetics, ecological restoration and botany. She is passionate about native plant community restoration and seed production.
Kathryn's role at The Understory Initiative is to guide program development and foster greater support for herbaceous plant community restoration in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Vanessa Robertson-Rojas
Ecologist & Private Lands Stewardship Director
Vanessa’s interests in ecology began as a studio artist, and slowly evolved into her current work as a plant and restoration ecologist through the mentorship of empowering female scientists. She appreciates the complex and nonlinear nature of natural systems and seeks to perform meaningful work in the Rogue Basin.
Vanessa began her ecological study in the Columbia basin, and was involved in both tidal and freshwater restoration work through the Nature Conservancy, the Mount St. Helen’s Institute, the Institute for Natural Resources, and research funded by the National Science Foundation. Her graduate studies explored the effects of fungal symbionts on salt marsh plant competition in restored salt marshes, in hopes of informing current plant stock inoculation practices in coastal wetlands. She also worked with a research collective to explore success perceptions of restoration practitioners and community stakeholders. She has loved the variety of work performed in sagebrush steppe, old growth forest, vernal pool and oak savanna, estuarine, rocky inter-tidal, and tropical rain forests, but remains focused on wetland habitats and developing sustainable restoration practices.
Kyle Poling
Botany Technician & Native Seed Farm Manager
Kyle is a Rogue Valley transplant, moving here in 2012 from Northern Arizona. He has been a lover of plants since he was a child and Southwest Oregon's unique flora captivated him on arrival. His background includes multiple years of study through Southern Oregon University's Certification in Botany, over a decade of work in the field of organic farming/seed saving, laboratory technician training, and the personal experience of cultivating over one hundred and fifty species of Oregon and California native plants in his garden.
Within The Understory Initiative, Kyle works to assist with botanical surveys, seed collection, and seed farming activities.
Morgan Fay
Restoration Ecologist; Umpqua Native Plant Partnership Director
Morgan Fay holds a Professional Science Master’s (PSM) in Environmental Science with a focus on Project Management for Ecological Restoration, along with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Natural Resources and Sustainability from Oregon State University. She brings over five years of experience in ecological restoration, and previously served eight years in the United States Coast Guard, where she specialized in supply chain logistics and contracting. Morgan currently serves as the Director of the Umpqua Native Plant Partnership (UNPP), leading efforts to restore native plant communities and foster collaboration for long-term ecological success in the Umpqua Basin.
In this role, she leads efforts to develop and amplify native plant materials, collaborating with local growers, landowners, and conservation agencies. Under her leadership, UNPP has advanced climate-resilient restoration initiatives, particularly in oak savannas, wetlands, and riparian ecosystems. Morgan is committed to building sustainable native seed production systems and fostering collaboration across the Umpqua Basin for long-term ecological success. Additionally, through her consulting work, she has managed various restoration projects in the Umpqua Basin, contributing to the health and sustainability of local ecosystems.
Sean Prive
Ecologist
Sean holds a M.S. in plant community ecology from Oregon State University in Corvallis and a B.S. in Environmental Science from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He has over a decade experience in natural resource planning, restoration ecology, wetland ecology, and rare plant surveys.
At The Understory Initiative, Sean leads programs in grassland and wetland restoration planning and project management. He also assists with native seed collection and seed production planning.
Maggie Graham
Ecologist
Maggie grew up in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. She first fell in love with Oregon while working as a tidepool naturalist in Charleston, OR and has split her time between Virginia and the Northwest ever since. Maggie holds a M.S. in Water Resources Science from Oregon State University and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia. Over the years she has led projects in plant-pollinator interactions, rare plant monitoring, wetland ecology, and aquatic entomology, to name a few. She is also passionate about environmental justice and the ecological challenges faced by rural and underserved communities.
At The Understory Initiative, Maggie is part of the Research and Monitoring team, where she leads projects in plant and pollinator ecology on Oregon’s South Coast. Additionally, she leads inland projects including the Solar Energy Restoration and Pollinators Initiative and the Rare Plant Monitoring Network.
Stasie Maxwell
Indigenous Partnership Programs Manager
Though she was born in Alaska, Stasie has spent most of her life on the territories of The Confederated Tribes of Siletz, The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Cow Creek Umpqua, The Klamath Tribes, Takelma, and Shasta (known as the Rogue Valley). She credits her reverence for the land and its inhabitants to her upbringing in the intertribal Native community whereas her involvement as a board member for the Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is where she was introduced to environmental advocacy, conservation, restoration, and education.
Stasie has a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Native Studies from Southern Oregon University. Her post-graduate experience is diverse and has ranged from program development and community building to peer recovery facilitation and guest lecturing. Prior to her undergraduate studies, Stasie has a decade of experience in administrative support and inventory and logistics. With her position at TUI, she is excited to weave her experiences together in support of the Vesper Meadow Education Program.
Henry whitridge
Ecologist
Henry grew up on a farm near the Trinity Alps of Northern California, where from an early age he spent many hours wandering the mountains looking at plants. After graduating from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR, he worked in the shipping and finance industries, living and working first on the high seas, then in China, South Korea and Singapore. Missing the mountains of home, Henry returned to the United States after several years in Asia to begin graduate studies in botany at Southern Oregon University. He has since worked as a botanist for the Bureau of Land Management, as a rare plant surveyor across Oregon, and an independent researcher on ecological projects. In addition to plant sciences, Henry is also passionate about education and serves on the board of the Siskiyou School.
Tuula Rebhahn
Program Director
Tuula grew up surrounded by water and wild things on the southern Oregon Coast. Seeking to explore the intersections of human activity at the natural world, she studied Environmental Studies and Journalism at the University of Oregon. Her studies took her to southwest India, where she interned with an NGO focused on traditional agricultural knowledge and banking non-GMO seeds.
Tuula’s passion for habitat restoration brought her to The Understory Initiative in the spring of 2020. As Program Assistant, Tuula co-coordinates the Rogue Native Plant Partnership and offers support to TUI’s seed farming, ecological research and habitat restoration programs. She specializes in technical writing and editing and enjoys writing management plans, strategy documents and technical guides to restoration. Her dog Juju is currently in training to sniff out native and invasive plants alike.
Jeanine Moy
Vesper Meadow Education - Program Director
As a naturalist, educator, creative, activist, and back-country adventurer, Jeanine draws on a diverse background for the foundation of the Vesper Meadow Education Program.
Jeanine has devoted the last two decades to the study of natural ecosystems and serving as an educator. Her range of experiences include managing an agroforestry research and demonstration site in upstate New York, conducting plant field studies in the greater Yellowstone region, guiding rock climbing in Colorado, and teaching outdoor science to youth in Oregon. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Applied Ecology, and from Southern Oregon University with a M.S. in Environmental Education.
After a decade of living in southern Oregon she has found a home among other naturalists, and enjoyment of the intricate landscape and biodiversity. She is grateful for experiences such as working at the Klamath Bird Observatory, the Willow Wind Community Education Center, the Northwest Nature Shop, and founding the Ashland Trail Trekkers summer camp. Most recently she worked as the Outreach Director for the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, and in 2018 was awarded a Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Artist-in-residency.
Susan Elshire
Finance Manager
Susan arrived in Southern Oregon from Vancouver, Washington in 2019. She joined her family in Ashland, bringing her love of gardening and 4-legged sidekick, Bella, along for the ride.
Her decades of accounting experience have focused on environmental and arts non-profit organizations. As The Understory Initiative’s Financial Manager, Susan oversees the organization’s accounting system and acts as it’s grant manager.
