Watershed Restoration - Staff Directory

Laura Hewitt, Director
222 S. Hamilton St. Ste. 3
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 250-3534

Laura Hewitt was hired by TU in 1996 to manage the Kickapoo project, the second Home Rivers Initiative project in the country. She now supervises most of the project managers for the numerous Home Rivers Initiative watershed restoration projects currently underway.  Laura has a M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. in Biology from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  She also served in the Peace Corps in Liberia and the Dominican Republic.  

Warren Colyer is TU's Project Coordinator for the Bear River Native Trout Program. Warren received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington and a M.S. in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State University. He began working for TU in 2002 as the Field Coordinator for TU's Strategies for Restoring Native Trout Program, and moved to the Bear River in 2004. As a fisheries biologist, Warren enjoys using applied research to implement restoration projects that benefit native trout.

Kirk Dahle began working for TU in 2007. He is involved with the Bear River Native trout program and is currently working to expand this project into Utah portions of the watershed.  Kirk received a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Utah State University in 2000 and is currently finishing a M.S. in Fisheries Biology at USU.  He comes to TU with experience on various projects concerned with western native fish conservation gained while working for private, state, and academic organizations during the past 7 years.

Jeff Hastings joined Trout Unlimited in the spring of 2006 as Project Manager for the Driftless Area Restoration Effort. Jeff attended the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where he majored in Wildlife Management and Biology.  Prior to working for TU Jeff managed county conservation departments for 25 years.  For the past 15 years the designing and installation of trout habitat work has been an increasingly important element of his job, along with pursuing grants and partners to implement projects. 

Bruce Rehwinkel was hired in April, 2001 to manage the Jefferson River project in southwest Montana.  He was raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  He graduated from Wartburg College with a BA in biology in 1969.  In April 1969 he married and in August was drafted into the U.S. Army.  After returning from Vietnam, Bruce attended Montana State University.  He received a BS and MS in Fish and Wildlife Management from MSU.  He was employed by the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks from 1975 through 1997.  During those years, he held fisheries biologist positions in Dillon, Miles City and on the Jefferson River.  In 1990, his FWP career moved to Helena where he worked in the Fishing Access and Future Fisheries Improvement Program. 

Rob Roberts lives in Missoula, Montana and organizes stream restoration projects in historic mining areas.  His work is focused on improving habitat and connectivity for bull trout and westslope cutthroat, mostly in the Middle Clark Fork River sub-basin.  Before coming to Trout Unlimited, he spent more than two years with the Peace Corps at the end of a dirt road in Madagascar and graduated with a degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University.  He is currently saving money to learn how to paraglide. 

Elizabeth Russell is the Mine Restoration Project Manager for Colorado, based in Boulder.  Previously, Elizabeth worked as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for TU’s Colorado Water Project.  She recently earned an M.A. in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and holds a B.A. in Geography from San Francisco State University.  Before coming to TU, she worked for eight years doing fundraising and political organizing for various non-profit organizations.  Her time off is spent enjoying Colorado’s great outdoors with her family.

Pam Smolczynski joined Trout Unlimited in the spring of 2006 to manage the Boise River project.  Numerous abandoned mine lands sites in the Boise drainage provide plenty of opportunity for restoration projects.  She and her partners are working on the only large tributary to the main Boise River, Mores Creek.  No stranger to Idaho’s water issues, before coming to TU, Pam spent 13 years working at the Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality.  Pam has a B.S. in Environmental Health and learned to fly fish on the Au Sable River in Michigan in the early '80s.

Matt Woodard was hired in the fall of 2001 to manage the South Fork Snake River Home Rivers Initiative Project for Trout Unlimited. He graduated from Idaho State University with a BS in Economics in 1976. After that he was a managing partner in J.D. Woodard&Sons farm partnership until 1992. The family farm grew hard red winter wheat and malting barley, he is a third generation dry land Idaho farmer.  From 1992 to 2001 he worked for Demott Tractor Company and the Imon Corporation / Bonneville County Implement both John Deere Dealers. He is currently the chairman of the East Side Soil Conservation District and the chairman of the Upper Snake River Basin Advisory Group. He was also one of the founding members of the South Fork Coalition and is a past president of the local Trout Unlimited chapter the “Snake River Cutthroats."