Water Policy Study Committee Members

Committee Co-Chairs

Dianne Krizan
 Dianne Krizan has held positions of increasing leadership scope in the for profit sector for eighteen years, including director of Research and Development for General Mills. In these positions, she was responsible for leading divisions of over sixty people and managing budgets of $8 million. Four years ago she transitioned into the nonprofit sector. As senior administrative director of the Development division at Minnesota Public Radio, she leads a staff of 30 people in raising more than $20 million annually. Dianne holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree in public affairs.

Gene Merriam
 Gene Merriam is currently the President of the Freshwater Society. Merriam is former chief financial officer of ECM Publishers, Inc. Most recently, Merriam served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources from 2003 to 2007. He previously had served 22 years in the Minnesota Senate, representing the Coon Rapids area. He was chair of the successful coalition that helped dedicate state lottery funds to the Environmental Trust Fund. During his years in the Senate, Merriam chaired the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Legislative Commission on Waste Management. Merriam was also a Coon Rapids city council member.

Committee Members

Jonathan Abram

Larry Baker
 Larry Baker is a Senior Fellow in the Minnesota Water Resources Center and an independent environmental consultant. His research examines human ecosystems, at scales from households to urban regions, with the goal of developing novel approaches for reducing pollution that are more effective, cheaper and fairer than conventional approaches. The ultimate goal of this research is to examine underlying behavioral motivations that drive consumption choices. He has published about 100 technical papers and one edited one book, Environmental Chemistry of Lakes and Reservoirs and has served on several key science assessment task groups. His second edited book, The Water Environment of Cities, will be published in late 2008. In addition to technical articles, he also writes occasionally for practitioner magazines (such as LakeLine and Stormwater) and for public audiences (such as the Minnesota Journal and the Minneapolis Star Tribune), and edits a newsletter, the Sunrise River Currents. He also is a frequent speaker or panelist at various events ranging from university extension workshops to Audubon Club meetings. He is currently doing research for his first "trade" book, The End of Pollution.

Alex Bakkum
 Alex Bakkum is currently employed with Wells Fargo's Wealth Management Group as a Private Client Associate. In this capacity, he administers a range of investment management and trust accounts. He is also in the Master's in Public Administration Program at Hamline University's Graduate School of Business and will graduate in 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from St. John's University in Collegeville, MN (2006). Previously, Alex conducted research for the River Keepers, a non-profit that promotes the sustainable use of the Red River of the North. The project detailed future opportunities, challenges, and directions the River Keepers will face in the future. Alex grew up in Moorhead, MN and vividly remembers sandbagging for days on end during the 1997 flood.

Leah Bartizal
 Leah Bartizal is an artist and Hip Hop activist from the Twin Cities. She has worked with multicultural students of all ages teaching recycling and musical arts. She is an environmental activist in the making. She will be finishing her degree at the University of Minnesota with a double major in Urban Studies and Natural Resources. Mother to 5-year-old Eli, she is a concerned citizen who demands we protect our water resources. She also works as a canvasser for Clean Water Action.

Janna Caywood
 Janna is new to water issues, though now she feels thoroughly "immersed" in them. Through her involvement with the Citizens League, she was offered the opportunity to do research on water management and policy in Minnesota. She now has chosen citizen-led water stewardship as her new found passion! With a BA in Sociology from Augsburg College, Janna brings a social science perspective to water management and policy and is most interested in the social dimension of the human/water relationship. She is a part-time graduate student at the University of Minnesota, studying water, policy and citizenship. While working on her BA, she studied environmental degradation as a social problem and what social conditions are necessary to support human behavior changes towards the environment. In her former life, she worked as Program Coordinator for a graduate Social Work program, where she learned the importance of community building for social change. She lives with her husband in St. Paul's Como Park neighborhood and is working with her watershed district to improve neighborhood stormwater stewardship.

Karen Chesebrough
 Karen is an active community volunteer. She is now retired. Before retirement, she was a buyer for Pillsbury and a materials management consultant for several companies. Since retirement, she has served on the board of her homeowners association and for six years has been a court and community mediator for Community Mediation Services. She served for six years as a commissioner for the City of Plymouth Environmental Quality Committee, where water quality was a major focus. As part of that committee, she helped develop a 5-year water quality management plan for Medicine Lake and interacted with the Bassett Creek Water Management Commission and other water management bodies. Separately, she helped take wetland plant inventories for two summers for WHEP (Water Health Evaluation Program).

Sherry Enzler
 Sherry has had an extensive career in the environment and natural resource field at the federal and state level and in the private sector. Prior to commencing her legal career, Sherry spent time at the U.S. Department of Interior, the California Department of Water Resources and the Minnesota Legislative Auditor's Office. Sherry has extensive experience as an environmental litigator. Prior to entering into the private practice of law, Sherry spent 13 years at the Minnesota Attorney General's Office where she served as the State's lead attorney for environmental defense matters. Most recently, Sherry was appointed the Executive Director of the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance by the Ventura Administration where she worked on non-regulatory solutions to pressing environmental issues. Sherry has also served as a member of Minnesota Environmental Quality Board where she chaired the task force charged with evaluating Minnesota's Environmental Review Process. Sherry is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota where she has taught Natural Resource Law, Environmental Policy, Law and Society and Sustainable Land Use Planning. Sherry holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California where she studied intergovernmental relationships among environment and natural resource agencies at the federal, state and local level. Sherry also holds a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law, where she is an adjunct professor and teaches Natural Resource Law and Policy and is a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota where she is studying social and political change and its relationship to protecting ecosystems within wetlands.

Janne Flisrand
 Janne Flisrand provides consulting on land use planning, sustainability, affordable housing, and transportation issues through Flisrand Consulting. Through that position, she has served as program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities for over three years, working to ensure all the affordable housing built in Minnesota is healthier and more energy efficient (and protects water resources). In her daily work, she provides training on protecting water resources through alternative stormwater capture methods, increasing infiltration and reducing water consumption. At her home, she has built her own rain garden, installed rainwater barrels, and replaced fixtures throughout the four-unit apartment building with low-flow fixtures.

Lea Foushee

Annette Jacob
 Annette is an independent clinical social worker who has a psychotherapy practice with the Midwest Center for Personal and Family Development in Saint Paul. Previously, she was practicing as an adult psychotherapist at HealthPartners from 1999 to 2007. She has over 20 years of clinical experience working with individuals, families and groups. Two areas of special interest are in evaluating and treating depression and anxiety disorders. She has been mentored by Dr. Michael D. Yapko and has used some of his materials as a foundation for materials she developed herself for use in a clinical intervention program for individuals suffering from depression and anxiety. Annette is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Kelsey Johnson
 Kelsey Johnson currently works for ADP as a consultant. Kelsey's name literally means one who dwells near water. She has been involved with many different groups over the years including the League of Women Voters, the Minnesota Lakes Association, and the Schultz Lake Property Owners Association. Over the years she has been to many different presentations on lake and sustainable eco-systems. Currently as a concerned citizen she is representing her rural community and focusing on attainable goals for multiple communities for long term water conditions within this committee.

Sherri Knuth
 Sherri L. Knuth obtained a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Humphrey Institute in 2008. Sherri is an attorney with past experience in environmental and employment law and more recently, she has worked as a writer for Minnesota Lawyer. In the 1990s, Sherri was co-chair of the St. Paul District 10 Environmental Committee that recognized the declining water quality of Como Lake and worked with citizens, government staff and elected officials to address the issue. Ultimately, the committee successfully petitioned for formation of the Capitol Region Watershed District. Sherri has continued to be involved in natural resource, energy and youth issues with several organizations. She loves to canoe, kayak and hike in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Tony Kwilas
 Tony Kwilas is on contract as the Director of Environmental Policy for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. From 1988 to 1995, he served as Committee Administrator for the Senate Environment and Natural Resources policy committee. In 1995, he founded TK & Associates, a public relations/government affairs firm that specializes in business, natural resources, and environment issues. He just finished serving on the stormwater steering committee for the Pollution Control Agency and is currently on the Statewide External Advisory committee for the DNR's shoreland rules update project.

Bruce Leslie
 Bruce Leslie was born in St. Paul, and raised in Mendota Heights. He attended Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Science in 1984. Bruce joined Cargill Incorporated in 1985 and has held several positions within the company. Throughout his career with Cargill Bruce has lived and traveled extensively, including assignments in Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Brazil. Today, Bruce is Vice President for Corporate Development within Cargill's global Food Ingredients business. Bruce has lived in Edina for the past 13 years; he's married with 3 children ranging from 6 to 12 years old. He and his family are active in the local community, principally through the United Way, Edina public schools and local youth sporting associations. Bruce and his wife Carolyn were also founding members of the Community Capital Alliance, which operates today as an affiliated program of the Minneapolis Community Foundation.

Joseph Mansky
 Joseph Mansky is a former staff member of the Missouri River Basin Commission in Omaha, Nebraska and previously served on the staff of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District in Lincoln, Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a degree in biology and did two years of graduate work in water resources planning and management at the University of Nebraska. He has been a volunteer DNR state park naturalist for the past eight years.

Nicole Moen
 Nicole Moen is a lawyer with Fredrikson & Byron. She litigates business and commercial disputes and represents clients in regulatory and white collar crime matters. A native of Minneapolis, Nicole graduated from Minneapolis South High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her law degree from the Harvard Law School in 2003. Nicole completed a clerkship with Federal Court Judge John R. Tunheim. An amateur triathlete and cross-country skier, Nicole spends most of her spare time running or walking around, swimming in, paddling on, or skiing across the Minneapolis lakes, usually in the company of her dog Artemis, a one-year-old Airedale.

Wallace Neal
 Wallace Neal has had a long interest in water issues. He helped form the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and serves on its Citizen's Advisory Committee. He served as an appointed manager of the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District for two terms and was its representative on the MAC airport deicing task force. He has researched the effects of construction erosion on water pollution and written articles on this for Construction Specifier and Freshwater Journal. Wallace is a journalism graduate of the University of Minnesota and is a writer and consultant, former newspaper reporter, author of magazine articles and former owner/president of W.E. Neal Slate Company. He has volunteered for many organizations, and recently completed serving on the state Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. Wallace is a long-time member of the Freshwater Society and the Citizens League.

Randy Neprash
 Randy Neprash is a professional engineer (civil) working as a water resources engineer and stormwater regulatory specialist for Bonestroo, a consulting firm based in St. Paul. He has worked with more than 20 Minnesota cities and the MnDOT Metro District in preparing their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit applications and pollution prevention programs. He is currently the technical consultant for the Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition, an organization of 100 Minnesota cities that are regulated under the MS4 program. Randy is a founding member of the Minnesota Stormwater Steering Committee and recently worked on the LCCMR Statewide Conservation & Prevention Plan.

Jack Ray
 Jack Ray was a founder of Urban Boatbuilders in St. Paul and served on the Board of Directors for ten years before taking the helm as Executive Director. His involvement in water issues began in high school when he and a group of friends raised the alarm about industrial pollution in Chattanooga Creek in Tennessee. He served on the Minneapolis Citizens Water Quality Advisory Committee as the city was undertaking sewer separation in the 90's. Jack and his wife and kids boat and swim in the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers throughout Minnesota's regrettably short boating season.

Shelley Shreffler
 Shelley Shreffler is the Assistant Director of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Previously, Shreffler was Director of Environmental Projects at the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, where she was responsible for the Policy Forum Series, its policy work on land and water issues, the Business and Environment series that focuses on how businesses can deal with emerging environmental issues, and stakeholder process that developed a biofuels clean energy program. Prior to joining MEI, Shelley was a program officer at The McKnight Foundation responsible for grantmaking related to the Mississippi River in Minnesota, open space protection, transportation reform, and renewable energy. Previously, she was able to put her interests in urban habitat and water quality to good use as the Natural Resources Program Manager at the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium and as a founding board member and chair of Friends of the Mississippi River. Before that she was a staff member in the biology department at Macalester College, and taught science in Mexico and India.

Erika Sitz
 Erika Sitz has been active as a volunteer for several environmental organizations, primarily the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, for which she coordinated the grassroots lobbying effort to assist in passing the 1978 BWCAW Act, and the Izaak Walton League of America. She was state president of the Minnesota Division of the IWLA in the 1980s and served as the Division's volunteer lobbyist at the State Legislature. She currently works with her local IWLA chapter. Erika was a member of the MN Water Resources Board, a precursor to the Board of Water and Soil Resources. She served on the Advisory Commission to assist the National Park Service in preparing the Management Plan for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA). She has also assisted in political campaigns to help elect several environmentalists to the MN Legislature. Erika has a BA in chemistry and mathematics and an MA in chemistry, and she taught secondary school math in Missouri and in Chicago.

Jay Sjostrom
 Jay Sjostrom in an executive search consultant with LarsonAllen Search, a division of LarsonAllen, LLP. Jay began his search career with a large global recruiting firm and has managed a Minneapolis service division of an international search firm. Prior to beginning his career in executive search, Jay practiced law and was a principal in a company advising owners of residential and commercial real estate. Jay has served on advisory and executive board for professional and community-based non-profit organizations in the Minneapolis area. With no prior hands-on experience in water policy, Jay's interest in serving on this committee stems from long-term home ownership in Hennepin County, the enjoyment of lake frontage in the Brainerd area, and a general appreciation of water as a resource in Minnesota.

Joel Spoonheim
 Joel Spoonheim is Vice President of Development for Bellisio Foods, an international frozen food manufacturer. He leads strategic projects pertaining to company growth. The company uses water to produce food and is continually working to reduce consumption as well as improve the quality of waste water. Joel spent nearly 10 years in city government as an urban planner and economic development director. In this capacity, he dealt with water issues including the quality of water for business needs, pollution mitigation and stormwater runoff impacts. Joel is also cofounder of Civics Connection, a civic leadership training program for emerging leaders in their 20's and 30's.

Kaitlin Steiger-Meister
 Kaitlin Steiger-Meister is currently working on her Ph.D. in Natural Resources Science and Management, with a second major in Non-Profit Management, at the University of Minnesota. Her research centers on the role of stakeholder engagement in freshwater resource policy and management. A large component of Kaitlin's research involved interviewing stakeholder representatives from over half of the state's Lake Improvement Districts. As a University of Minnesota Consortium Student Scholar, she is in the process of expanding her research into Wisconsin. Before coming to the University of Minnesota to pursue her Ph.D., Kaitlin earned a M.A. in Marine Affairs Policy and Management from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. While completing her M.A., Kaitlin was a Naturalist at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Nature Center on Key Biscayne, FL, and later an intern at the Alaska Marine Conservation Council in Anchorage, AK. Prior to that, Kaitlin earned a B.A. from the University of Miami in Marine Science Affairs.

Nena Street
 Nena is an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP practicing in the areas of Land Use and Development, Environmental Law, Public Finance, Municipal Law and Campaign Finance. Nena serves on the Citizens League Board of Directors and as Co-Chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association's Civic Education Committee. Nena is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School where she teaches "Local Economic Development." A lifelong Minnesotan, Nena has lived in rural, suburban and urban areas throughout the state, and currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Aaron.

Michael Troemel
 Mike Troemel is an Executive Director at Seagate Technology, responsible for Product Launch activities. He holds a BS, MS, and MBA, all from the University of Minnesota. He has spent extensive time living overseas on assignments with his company, including positions in Singapore and Northern Ireland.

Becca Vargo Daggett
 Becca Vargo Daggett is a Financial Advisor with UBS Financial Services, where she specializes in holistic financial planning and sustainable investment strategies. Previously, she worked on telecommunications policy at the New Rules Project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. She holds an M.S. in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy from the Humphrey Institute, and a B.A in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Recent public service includes the City of Saint Paul Broadband Advisory Committee and the City of Minneapolis Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee.

Danielle Waldschmidt
 Danielle Waldschmidt works with Rice Soil and Water Conservation District. She serves as a stormwater technician inspecting construction sites for compliance with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) in a partnership with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. She has a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Minnesota. Danielle is currently serving on the energy and environment youth action group with the Citizens League. With the action group, she is working with schools to install rain gardens.