Missouri River Relief

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Meet the Team

Missouri River Relief Staff

Jeff Barrow, Director

Jeff has been involved in clean water issues for years, from being a founding member of Show-Me Clean Streams and Missouri River Relief to his work at Greenbelt Land Trust. Through the years, he has served as a coordinator and board member of MRR. He is co-author of "From the Bottom Up - One Man's Crusade to Clean Up America's Rivers", the story of Chad Pregracke's Living Lands & Waters barge clean-up crew. Jeff has a deep love of the Missouri River, and is a two-time veteran of the Missouri River 340 Paddler's Race.

Vicki Richmond, Middle Reach Manager

Vicki Richmond is our “West Coast” Coordinator, working with Kansas City and communities further upstream. She became involved in river clean-ups in the early 90’s with her work as a volunteer, then coordinator, on the Blue River Rescue in Kansas City. Her water and ecological restoration projects have earned many awards, including the Missouri Department of Conservation “Master Conservationist Award”, Conservation Federation of Missouri “Water Conservationist of 2006”, Missouri Stream Team “Adult Stewardship Award” for the Blue River Rescue and more. Vicki lives in the Brookside area of Kansas City with her husband, two sons and a small menagerie of well loved pets.

Steve Schnarr, Lower Reach Manager

Steve Schnarr lives near Easley, Mo, a stone’s throw from the Missouri River. His love for the river developed from years of exploring its waters by canoe. He was drawn to Missouri River Relief as a volunteer at local clean-ups, later serving as event coordinator, MegaScout coordinator, MRR board member and currently program manager. Steve has cultivated a diverse career, working as a small town journalist, carpenter, organic vegetable and flower farmer, park ranger and forest restoration worker.

Jan Thompson, Office Manager

Jan Thompson is a semi-retired CPA and has done public accounting for 20 years. She spends her free time with her grandchildren, as well as gardening, hiking and biking, especially along the Katy Trail. She has always enjoyed lending her accounting expertise to non-profit causes and now serves on the board of First Chance for Children. In the past, she served as campaign treasurer for local Green Party elections. This is her sixth year managing the finances of Missouri River Relief.

Melanie Cheney, Administrative Assistant

Melanie has been a volunteer crewmember with Missouri River Relief since 2002, working on clean-ups, special projects, and educational events. As an Americorps Stream Team Assistant she networked with Stream Teams in the area, developed education programs and helped coordinate events. She continues to do all of those things, as well as tighten up things in the office.

“Racin” Dave Stevens, Fleet Manager

Dave Stevens, a.k.a Racin’ Dave has been River Relief’s equipment and logistics coordinator, operator and mechanic, as well as one of the “hard core” volunteers of every cleanup since 2001. He gets his name from road racing motorcycles across the country for 11 years and the name has stuck. With at least 25 years of working on boats and jet ski’s under his belt, and a PhD in Harley Davidson mechanics, Dave can operate and work on anything from tractors to boats to motorcycles, and the man runs a mean chop-saw.

Missouri River Relief Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Missouri River Relief brings together diverse skills in a group of people dedicated to the Missouri River.

Officers

• President: Dave Stous - Chief Water Supply Hydrogeologist, Burns and McDonnell Engineering Company
• Secretary: Kathy Love - Coordinator of Constituent Communications, University of Missouri, Columbia; former editor of Missouri Conservationist magazine
• Treasurer: David Richter - Founder and president, Intellectual Property Management Group, Inc.

Board

• John Brady - HVAC Technician, Fisher Controls. Former big river barge pilot. One of River Relief’s founding crewmembers and fleet Quartermaster.
• Mike Crist - Executive Director, Enterprise Development Corp., Managing Member of Tatanka Resources. Works in project finance, business lending, and alternate
  energy projects.
• Dr. David Diamond - Landscape ecologist. Director of the Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership (MoRAP), University of Missouri
• Bill Fessler - Conservation Corps supervisor with Kansas City Parks and Recreation Dept. Leads volunteer and staff crews in KC park restoration and education.
  
• Jim Karpowicz - Founder of Missouri River Relief; founder and owner of the Documentary Group film production company.
• Steve Mahfood - Climate change and environmental consultant. President of Mahfood Associates and Partner with Tatanka Resources. Former Director of Missouri. Dept. of Natural Resources.
• Tim Nigh - Resource Scientist, Missouri Dept. of Conservation. One of River Relief ’s founding crewmembers. Coordinates River Relief mapping services.
  
• Jan Weaver - Director of Environmental Studies, University of Missouri

Missouri River Relief Core Crew

We would be nothing without our homegrown, grassroots crew of volunteers. From motorcycle mechanics and chefs to ecologists and government officials, this growing group of clean-up “addicts” loves to work hard and play hard. What binds them together is a shared love for the Missouri River.

Our crew puts in countless hours each year planning, training and putting on events across five states of the Missouri River.

The Missouri River Relief crew travelled up to help at a clean-up in Yankton, S.D.