Staff

Alex has been the Executive Director of the Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board since 2006. He grew up poking around the woods and coast of New England and has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Williams College in Massachusetts.  He spent four years in Senegal, West Africa as a Peace Corp volunteer and trainer working on agroforestry projects in small villages in the Sahel, before meeting a fellow volunteer (now his wife) who somehow convinced him to move west and away from salt water.

During his five years in Tucson, he worked with and conducted research on collaborative groups addressing rangeland and forest management issues, and received a Master’s of Science in Renewable Natural Resource Studies from the University of Arizona.  He then spent five years running the North Fork John Day Watershed Council in eastern Oregon, where he worked with ranchers and other landowners to design, fund and implement fish habitat and watershed improvement projects.

Alex enjoys learning about complex landscapes and the human livelihoods they support, and strives to bring together technical experts, stakeholders and policy makers to forge sound approaches to managing and restoring the river systems of the Yakima Basin. In his time off, Alex can be found tending to a project house and a few bee hives, reading too many books, or wandering the Cascades and the Blues with his family.

Michael Horner became Lead Entity Coordinator at YBFWRB in time for the 2021 grant round. He earned B.A.s in Geography and Psychology from Central Washington University, a Master of Public Administration with a focus on non-profit management and community development from the University of Washington, and a M.S. in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University. He also holds a certificate from the University of Washington in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Amongst these disciplines, Michael primarily considers himself a geographer with broad interests in human-environment interactions. His graduate thesis assessed the geomorphic effects of reservoir enlargement at Cle Elum Lake on natural and cultural resources. Travels in the United States and abroad during his childhood sparked his lifelong interest in human and physical geography. In 1987, he crossed over the Berlin Wall by train and observed sharp geographic divisions etched in the landscape firsthand. Although he grew up in Seattle, WA, camping trips in Central Washington during his childhood introduced Michael to the fascinating geomorphology of this region including the Columbia River Basalts and the Pleistocene floods. After completing his undergraduate education at Central Washington University, he returned to Seattle and worked in higher education and grant administration at the University of Washington for twenty years. Returning to graduate school in 2015 provided an opportunity to return to the region. He makes his home in the Kittitas Valley with his wife, two children, and in-laws.

Kayla Gallentine joined YBFWRB at the beginning of 2022, as Operations and Outreach Manager. Before joining the Recovery board, Kayla spent the last two years serving as an Americorps volunteer for organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and Evergreen Habitat For Humanity with focuses on volunteer coordination and outreach. They earned their B. A. In Geography with an interest in Natural Resource Management at Central Washington University. Kayla lives with their two dogs, loves hiking and gardening.