MRC Members
About the MRC Members
The Snohomish County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) is made up of eleven volunteer members representing: a) local governments; b) affected economic interests; c) recreational, conservation or environmental interests; and d) local tribal governments. Each term is three years in length. Our committee members are:
Thomas Hoban, Chair
Economic interests: Mr. Hoban has spent the last three decades as a commercial real estate broker and spent the previous two decades in sales and marketing with national companies. He is a graduate of the National Association of Realtors Institute (GRI) and is a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). His family has a generational history of living on the Puget Sound waterfront in Snohomish County. He and his wife are WSU Beach Watchers. Mr. Hoban is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Communications. He has experience working for the Fish & Game Dept. in Alaska, was a Red Cross lifesaving instructor and a rescue swimmer while on active duty in the Coast Guard.
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Simon Geerlofs, Vice-Chair
Conservation/Environmental Interests: Mr. Geerlofs is a Marine Science and Policy Analyst for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and specializes in science and policy for management of marine resources. Mr. Geerlofs' work in Snohomish County includes research into the environmental effects of tidal energy as well as restoration and watershed planning and analysis. Prior to his employment with PNNL, Mr. Geerlofs worked as the Marine Program Coordinator for the Northwest Straits Commission. Before that, he served as a Legislative Assistant for ocean policy to Senator Maria Cantwell, working closely with Congress, constituents, agencies, and others to enact effective marine policy. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving, photography, and videography and hopes to combine these skills to assist the MRC in website content development and outreach activities.
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Jared Bond, Former Chair
Local Governments: Mr. Bond is the City of Lynnwood's Environmental and Surface Water Manager and has worked in the City's Engineering Department since 1998. He authored and currently administers their Critical Areas Regulations, Tree Regulations, and Surface Water Management Program (including NPDES Phase II response, and Swamp Creek TMDL). Mr. Bond is a 3rd generation Washingtonian, descending from one of the original mining families of Monte Cristo in Snohomish County. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Policy and Planning from Western Washington University, and a Masters of Public Administration from Seattle University. He has been a recreational SCUBA diver for over 10 years, is an avid kayaker, crabber and fisherman, and hopes to ensure beneficial uses of our marine resources for generations to come.
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Keeley O'Connell
Conservation/Environmental Interests: Ms. O’Connell is a restoration ecologist with People For Puget Sound. She has over six years of professional experience developing and coordinating habitat restoration projects and education programs in the nearshore environment of Puget Sound. She currently manages the North Sound Invasive Spartina Program and the Snohomish County Sound Stewardship Program. Both programs engage citizens in restoration actions along Puget Sound shorelines. Ms. O’Connell has also worked on developing socio-economic modeling elements in Puget Sound nearshore-based conservation and restoration prioritization models. Ms. O’Connell received her M.S. in Marine and Estuarine Science from Western Washington University in 2002. Her thesis work researched the effects of expanding invasive Spartina meadows on native benthic macroinvertebrate populations in the mudflats of Willapa Bay, WA.
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Brent Hackney
Economic Interests: Mr. Hackney is a licensed On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Designer. He has owned his own septic design business for 15 years and worked on projects throughout Western Washington. In addition to his position on the MRC, Mr. Hackney is the chairperson of the Snohomish County Health District’s Septic Issues Committee and serves as a member of the Snohomish County Public Health Advisory Council. Mr. Hackney has lived in Snohomish County his entire life and grew up on one of the first organic farms in the area. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys spending time crabbing, fishing, and working in his vegetable garden. Mr. Hackney has a strong interest in the health of Puget Sound and preserving fishing, crabbing, and other recreational opportunities the area provides.
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Lincoln Loehr
Conservation/Environmental Interests: Mr. Loehr is an environmental compliance analyst with the law firm Stoel Rives, where he focuses on Clean Water Act related issues as they relate to industries and municipalities in Washington State and Alaska. He has previous research experience as an oceanographer within Puget Sound and has been involved with regulatory developments related to water quality and wastewater discharges for over 20 years. Mr. Loehr is an avid photographer and enjoys observing marine shorelines, nearshore processes, and wildlife. These observations are often facilitated by his daily commute by train between Mukilteo and Seattle.
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Franchesca Perez
Local Tribal Governments: In 2003 Miss Perez launched the Stillaguamish Tribal Natural Resources Outreach Program, which now provides supplemental education or field trips to over 500 students annually and multiple volunteer opportunities for the general public. Franchesca also coordinates the Annual Stillaguamish Festival of the River, and serves as Tribal liason for regional advisory groups working to improve the health of Puget Sound. Franchesca holds a Master of Science degree from Western Washington University and has a broad base of science experience from ocean plankton research to larval crab ecology to molecular biology. In her free time she hangs out on or next to the saltwater as much as possible, and makes more noise at home than her kids with rhythm tap dancing.
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Cathy Stanley
Local Tribal Governments: Ms. Stanley is a shellfish biologist with the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resource Department where she works with harvest management of shellfish including geoduck, Dungeness crab and shrimp. Cathy has been with the Tulalip Tribes for eight years and is involved with the coordination, survey work and GIS mapping for SCUBA population surveys of geoduck tracts, crab shell condition tests, shrimp ovigery tests and intertidal clam population surveys. She also coordinates with WA DOH for water quality sampling in shellfish growing areas. Cathy has a B.S in Biology from the University of Kansas and moved west soon after graduating. She has previous experience working on studies involving stream habitat surveys, salmon spawning ground surveys and fisheries observer work in Alaska. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and backpacking, SCUBA diving, skiing and gardening.
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