Staff
Kelley Beamer Executive Director
(she/her)
Kelley Beamer serves as the Executive Director at the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, and has more than nine years experience developing strategic advocacy campaigns to advance land conservation. Prior to joining the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, Kelley served as the Advocacy and Outreach Manager for the Cascadia Green Building Council, where she implemented stated wide public awareness and advocacy campaigns, and managed a branch network in Portland, Bend, Klamath Falls, and Eugene. Kelley began her conservation work in Oregon in 2006 as the Conservation Organizer for Friends of Columbia Gorge, where she organized public support for protecting the unique values of the Gorge and advocated for Land and Water Conservation funds to support the US Forest Service land acquisition program in the Gorge.
Kelley’s extensive experience forging partnerships with diverse communities earned her recognition as one of Oregon’s “35 Innovators Under 35” by 1,000 Friends of Oregon. Prior to coming to Oregon, Kelley worked as a Policy Assistant for the Wildlife Refuge Program of the Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C. where she helped secure more funding for the national wildlife refuge system. Kelley has an effective history of working on local and national conservation campaigns and a lifelong passion for place-based advocacy. In her free time, you will find Kelley fly fishing or hiking with her husband Paul and their dog Lucy.
Kelley holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Arts in Environmental Policy from American University, School for International Service.
NANCY Duhnkrack Pro Bono Program Manager/Volunteer
(she/her)
Nancy Duhnkrack is a long-term volunteer at COLT, managing our pro bono program. She's a 1985 graduate of Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College.
She retired in 2014 as Staff Attorney/Law Clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit after 20 years at the Court. She was an Adjunct Professor at the law school from 1990-2010 and is a frequent speaker on conservation easement design and enforcement. Nancy coordinates our pro bono program and provides pro bono
legal advice to COLT and our members.
TOREY MILL Program Manager
(she/her)
Torey Mill is the Program Manager for the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts working across programs to support operations, the Pro Bono program, communications, grant management, events and more. She came to Portland from Bozeman, Montana where she worked as a liaison between the Montana Association of Land Trusts (MALT) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), specifically focused on increasing Montana land trusts’ participation in NRCS’ Agricultural Land Easement and Regional Conservation Partnership programs. Prior to working with MALT, Torey served as the Communications and Program Associate for People and Carnivores, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that works with private landowners and community groups to prevent human-carnivore conflicts.
Before entering the world of conservation, Torey worked in the education field, serving as a wilderness therapy guide at a program for youth on the Big Island of Hawaii and as an instructor and Program Coordinator for a high school tutoring company based in Boulder, Colorado. Torey graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Science, Technology and Society—a multidisciplinary study focused on the intersection of political theory, scientific innovation, environmental science, and the cultural values that shape the direction of technological advancements. In her free time, you will most likely find Torey trail-running with Supai, a wild dingo-dog that followed her out of the Grand Canyon.
JEN NEWLIN Communications Director
(she/her)
Jen Newlin serves as COLT’s Communications Director. Before joining our team, she was a director of creative strategy for Metropolitan Group—a strategic consulting firm—supporting the company’s environmental focus area. Her clients included NASA’s Earth Science Division, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Save the Redwoods League and Audubon Society of Portland. Previously, she worked as a senior storyteller for a content strategy firm and, before that, spent seven years as a creative manager with The Nature Conservancy.
Jen found her career in conservation when working for The Cheetah Conservation Fund (yes, ask her about the cats) after serving in the Peace Corps. Now she volunteers for The Circus Project—a nonprofit that strives to provide support for people who face barriers to arts participation—and she’s a board member of CLAWS, a nonprofit working to integrate the needs of predators and local livelihoods worldwide. She's also a science illustrator and amateur aerialist. When she's not in the office or the air, she can be found exploring the wilds of Oregon.
MICHELLE SMITH Water Project Manager
(she/her)
KATIE YOUNG Indigenous Peoples Collaboration Project Manager
(she/her)
Born & raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Katie is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and holds an AS in Biology and BA in Japanese from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Katie has traveled extensively throughout Japan in the homelands of her grandparents and taught English for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. Through immersing in and learning traditional Japanese way of life, she rekindled a desire to reconnect with nature and preserve cultural traditions and lifestyles. This period inspired Katie shift towards environmental protection and advocacy in public and nonprofit sectors. Katie is part-Native Hawaiian and supports efforts in Oregon to perpetuate indigenous wisdom, cultural practices, and traditional lifeways. Katie is a board member for local and regional Hawaiian outrigger canoe organizations, a member of the Ka ’Aha Lāhui O ʻOlekona Hawaiian Civic Club of Oregon and SW Washington, and serves on the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission as a Public Member. Katie’s hobbies include ocean sports, making things for family and friends, and spending time in nature.
Rob Mellinger Legal Extern
(he/him)
Rob grew up in northwestern New Jersey near the Appalachian Mountains and Delaware Water Gap. After backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska at sixteen, he fell in love with the West and moved to the Seattle area in 2011. He is currently a 2021 JD candidate at University of Oregon where he served as a 2020 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference Co-Director and researched natural climate solutions with Professor Mary Wood. Last summer he interned with Our Children's Trust where he assisted with youth climate litigation in the US and around the world. Next year, he will continue his research into natural climate solutions as an ENR Fellow with the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center's Global Environmental Democracy Project and extern with United States District Judge Aiken in the spring.
Partners
If our name wasn’t evidence enough, we’re big believers in the power of partnership.
The work of conservation in Oregon could not be done without a greater community of passionate individuals and organizations who care deeply about our natural world, our culture, our history and our future.
Sincere thank you to these core partner organizations for all you do to help people and nature thrive.
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon
- Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
- Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Oregon Department of Forestry
- Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
- USDA US Forest Service