Office of Great Waters Staff Contacts
Staff in the DNR’s Office of Great Waters collaborate with federal, state and local agencies; tribes; businesses; citizen-led organizations and community members to protect and improve the environmental quality of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. This includes state involvement in regional and international Great Lakes and Mississippi River management, policy, grants programs, monitoring and restoration and protection efforts.
Key responsibilities include:
- Collaborate with and engage partners to restore and protect healthy waters in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi River Basins.
- Implement the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, including removing impairments from Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
- Implement lake-wide action and management plans to assess, restore, protect and monitor ecosystem health of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
- Implement the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, including long-term resource monitoring and projects to restore fish and wildlife habitats.
- Support Great Lakes beach health monitoring, assessments and advisories.
Central Office contacts
Wade Strickland
Director
Kendra Axness
AOC and LAMP policy coordinator
Lori Buckley
Grants specialist
Vacant
Quality assurance and funding coordinator
Jim Killian
Water and sediment resources management specialist
Melissa Lake
Program specialist
Madeline Magee
Monitoring and resiliency coordinator
Diane Packett
Wisconsin Beach Program manager and OGW data specialist
Susan Tesarik
Communications and outreach specialist
Region contacts
Lake Michigan Basin
Rebecca Fedak
Lake Michigan basin supervisor
Jessica Brandt
Lake Michigan Area of Concern project management specialist
Brennan Dow
Milwaukee Estuary AOC coordinator
Sheboygan River AOC coordinator
Rae-Ann Eifert
Lake Michigan monitoring and sediment coordinator
Kelly Hayden
Lake Michigan Area of Concern project management specialist
Stacy Hron
Lake Michigan Program Coordinator
Brie Kupsky
Green Bay Program Coordinator
Brooke Lotto
Northeast Region AIS Specialist
Mandy Sharkey
Lake Michigan Area of Concern project management specialist
Patrick Siwula
Aquatic invasive species response and pathway specialist for southern Lake Michigan basin
Amanda Smith
Aquatic invasive species response and pathway specialist for northern Lake Michigan basin
Lake Superior Basin
Cherie Hagen
Lake Superior basin supervisor
Matt Boehlke
Lake Superior AIS Specialist
Ellen Coffman
Lake Superior monitoring and sediment coordinator
Dara Fillmore
Lake Superior water resources management specialist
Vacant
St. Louis River wild rice and habitat coordinator
Val Damstra
Lake Superior program coordinator
Binational program coordinator
Vacant
Aquatic invasive species response and pathway specialist for Lake Superior basin
Matt Steiger
St. Louis River AOC coordinator