Gillian Barber is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Watershed Protection Fellow. She assists Watershed Protection Specialist Jordan Yu with maintaining CRK’s in-stream litter removal devices and Technical Programs Specialist Ashley Desensi with water quality monitoring in the Middle Chattahoochee region. Additionally, Gillian monitors microplastic contamination in several Atlanta tributaries.

Gillian, a Newnan, GA native, earned a BS in Biology from University of West Georgia and an MS in Biology from University of West Florida. While performing graduate research on the effects of increased rainfall on phytoplankton communities and water quality, Gillian found a passion for water quality improvement and ecosystem health, leading her to join Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in their goal of restoring and conserving the ecological health of the Chattahoochee River watershed.

Gillian currently resides in Newnan, GA. In her spare time, Gillian enjoys painting, crafting, kayaking, and spending time with her corgi, Pippin, and her elderly cat, Misty.

Candace Baumann is the Executive Assistant for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and brings a wealth of experience and a passion for the environment to her role. Born and raised in Alabama, Candace made Atlanta her home in 2010 after relocating from Florida. A graduate of the University of Alabama, she holds a degree in Marketing Analysis with a minor in Computing Technology Applications.

Candace’s early years were marked by a love for dance and the outdoors. Whether exploring the woods behind her childhood home or spending summers camping, spin fishing at the lake, and hiking the Smoky Mountains, she developed a deep appreciation for nature. Her 20-year career in customer service, with notable stints at Sony in Miami, First Service in Fort Lauderdale, and Orvis in Atlanta, reflects her commitment to excellence and a client-centric approach.

In addition to her professional achievements, Candace is a licensed RYT-200 Yoga instructor. Residing in Buckhead, she embraces an active lifestyle, practicing yoga daily and exploring the great outdoors through walks and hikes in the state parks.

Chris Manganiello is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Water Policy Director. He leads the organization’s water supply program and tracks regional water planning in the Chattahoochee River basin. Additionally, Chris works on legislative initiatives to ensure there is enough clean water for healthy communities, environments, and economies.
Chris is the author of a book, titled Southern Water, Southern Power: How the Politics of Cheap Energy and Water Scarcity Shaped a Region (The University of North Carolina Press, 2015). The book moves beyond the well-known accounts of flooding in the Mississippi Valley and irrigation in the American West to reveal the contested history of water in region presumed to have plenty.

A native of Maryland, he grew up riding his bike in concrete lined ‘creeks’ and exploring the Potomac River’s recreational paradise in the heart of the Washington, DC metropolitan region. After living on Florida’s coast and in North Carolina’s mountains, Chris received his doctoral degree in environmental history from the University of Georgia in 2010. He was a Smithsonian Institution Fellow, and a University of Georgia and Georgia Gwinnett College faculty member. Chris has published in Journal of the History of Biology, Journal of Southern History and Southern Cultures, and was co-editor, with Paul S. Sutter, of Environmental History and the American South: A Reader (University of Georgia Press, 2009).

From 2012 to 2016, Chris served as the Policy Director at Georgia River Network, where he engaged and empowered citizens, river groups, and other partners to advocate for local, state, and federal river protections.

These days, Chris walks with his wife and two young children in Atlanta’s neighborhood parks. When he can find time, he enjoys mountain biking throughout Georgia and wandering the southern Appalachians’ National Forests.

The daughter of a native Atlantan, Carol grew up in a small South Carolina community on the banks of the Savannah River. Summers in Atlanta with her dad often included shootin’ the Hooch and frequent whitewater rafting trips on the Ocoee and Chattooga rivers.

Carol received her B.A. in Communications from Georgia State University and her A.A.S. in Accounting from Gwinnett Technical College. Before coming to CRK, she held accounting and tax preparation positions in the private sector and with small local corporations. She was also the inaugural Sustainability Coordinator implementing the Zero Waste program at LiveNation’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre.

When not working, Carol can be found volunteering, pet sitting, or spending time with her beloved granddaughter Sophia. She has volunteered with CRK at over eight annual Sweep the Hooch cleanups, the Walk for Water campaign, Back to the Chatt, Down the Hatch film festival, and fundraising for Orvis’ Quality Hooch initiative.

Mike Meyer is CRK’s ever enthusiastic Neighborhood Water Watch Program Director. From working with a team of volunteers and staff to detect and address contamination sources in the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries through North Georgia’s most comprehensive and impactful monitoring and reclamation program Neighborhood Water Watch, to conducting follow up investigations, hotline responses, and education initiatives through Adopt-A-Stream trainings and presentations, Mike can often be found working side-by side with community or chest deep in our local waterways conducting first-hand field inspections.

Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., Mike was first introduced to Atlanta’s water quality issues in 2001 while working with Southeast Waters, an AmeriCorps program. Shortly after graduating from Oglethorpe University with a B.S. in biology, Mike began an internship with CRK, which led to his employment in the Technical Programs Department. An avid environmentalist, trained watershed protection specialist and certified Erosion and Sediment Control Inspector, Mike is interested in working to improve urban waterways and greenspaces.

He supports ever-expanding Atlanta’s enthusiasm for conserving and reclaiming its natural spaces for wildlife and people alike. A long-time resident and supporter of Atlanta’s walkable communities, Mike prefers a neighborhood in which you can get “a popsicle, a taco and a video, all on the same block.”

Rosemary Pitrone is the Communications Manager for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. A Georgia native, she received a degree in literature, media and communications from Georgia Tech and went on to work at Emory University, where she helped develop communications focused on health sciences research.

As Communications Manager, Rosemary’s role includes managing Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s website, social media, and supporting various print and digital publications. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and kicking back in a hammock with a good book.

Jess Sterling is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Technical Programs Director. She manages CRK’s Protecting Streams and Communities from Industrial Pollution (PSCIP) program and other monitoring and research projects. She received her B.S. degree from Ohio University in 2003 and earned her M.S. from the Odum School of Ecology at the University Georgia in 2012. For her master’s thesis, she studied the effects of non-point source pollution on urban stream ecosystems in the upper Oconee River watershed.
Prior to graduate school, Jess conducted research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. She was active in the Athens environmental community, serving as president of the Upper Oconee Watershed Network (UOWN) and on the Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation Committee.

Jess is originally from Toledo, Ohio and developed a love of water during summers spent with her family on Lake Erie. She moved to Georgia in 2003, started paddling with friends, and fell in love with Georgia’s diverse rivers. Jess now lives in Atlanta’s Kirkwood neighborhood with her husband, Ben, and their three young children.

Stephanie Stutts is the Staff Attorney for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. She supports Executive Director Juliet Cohen and Riverkeeper Jason Ulseth in coordinating and implementing CRK’s programs monitoring and protecting water quality on the river and its tributaries. Additionally, Stephanie manages CRK’s general legal affairs, oversees the organization’s litigation efforts in conjunction with outside counsel, and assists the staff in monitoring and ensuring that discharges from industrial operations into the Chattahoochee River watershed comply with state and federal law.

Stephanie earned a BA in Environmental Studies and Psychology from Emory University, and a JD from the University of Georgia, where she continued to pursue her passion for environmental policy and justice. Before joining CRK, Stephanie served as a Staff Attorney for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit.

In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys exploring the great outdoors with her dog, Riley, and foraging for mushrooms along the way.

Christina York is CRK’s Database Manager. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University in 2002, with a major in Philosophy and minor in Political Science.
Christina became fond of the Chattahoochee River after spending a lot of time during high school at Vickery Creek, which was right down the street from her school. In addition to her interests in space and astronomy, she is an avid reader and lover of music, playing the piano for most of her life.

Christina lives in Cumming with her husband, Eric; her children, Xander and Cora.

Jordan is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Watershed Protection Specialist in our Smyrna office. Born in Washington state, Jordan received a B.A. from Reed College for Environmental Studies ­– Chemistry before settling in Atlanta. After working for CRK as a Communications Intern, he joined as a full-time staff member in 2019.

Jordan now manages CRK’s Trash Trap Program as part of our Trash-Free Chattahoochee campaign. He can be found at CRK’s outreach events, giving educational seminars, and hosting rain barrel workshops. In collaboration with our development team Jordan expands CRK’s social media reach with photography and videography. Lastly, he assists in water quality monitoring across the Metro Atlanta area through our BacteriAlert, CASSI, and Neighborhood Water Watch Programs.

A Georgia native, Ashley is a biology graduate of the Natural Sciences Master’s Program at Columbus State University. She is a passionate naturalist with a love for botany and all things wild and has completed environmental surveys and projects in the Bahamas, Tanzania, and the Southeastern United States. She is a member of many environmental groups and serves as board member for the Middle Chattahoochee Sierra Club. She works with local groups on conservation and restoration projects using native plants and is on the committee for Whispering Hills Nature Preserve and Green Cemetery in LaGrange, GA.

Ashley interned with CRK in Fall of 2019, working with water quality sampling in Columbus, and joined as a full-time staff member in January 2020. She is currently the Technical Programs Specialist for CRK and oversees water quality monitoring in the Middle Chattahoochee region as well as construction stormwater monitoring, industrial stormwater permitting, wastewater, GIS mapping, trash trap operations, and more.

Ashley has spent time as an educator through Columbus State University’s graduate teaching assistant program, and now works part-time as an educator in the College of Letters and Sciences at Columbus State. She works to mentor both undergraduate and graduate students of the sciences and serves as committee member for various research projects. She co-founded the Native Plant Coalition, a native plant education non-profit in 2023, which she runs with her wife, Veronica. In her spare time, she and her family enjoy camping, hiking, and botanizing throughout the Southeastern US and beyond.

As Deputy Director, Henry oversees outreach efforts and communications for the organization. He also manages fundraising, donor stewardship and programs specific to the Middle Chattahoochee region.

Henry grew up in Decatur, Georgia, attended LaGrange College and graduated in 2013 with a degree in History. He interned with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper before assuming a full-time role with the organization in August 2013. In 2020, he was named to Georgia Trend Magazine’s Georgia 40 Under 40 list.

Henry and his wife Robin live on twelve acres between LaGrange and Columbus, and along with his work for CRK, pursues photography, documentary filmmaking and music.

A teacher at heart, Anna serves as an instructor for CRK’s West Point Lake Floating Classroom program aboard the Miss Sally while also handling scheduling and programs. She is also a part-time art teacher at Hillside Montessori School of LaGrange.

A Georgia native and lifelong nature explorer, Vanisha Strahota first learned about Chattahoochee Riverkeeper while pursuing a B.S. in biology at Columbus State University (CSU). After graduation, she joined CRK as an intern and later as our first Columbus Technical Programs Fellow at our newly established CSU lab space.

Vanisha’s talents are best described by CSU professor Dr. Mike Newbrey: “She is bright, dedicated, broadly trained, and an excellent problem solver, making her predisposed to diagnose and identify complex environmental problems using science and technology.”

When not investigating water quality issues in Columbus and Phenix City, Vanisha enjoys working as a veterinary assistant and spending quality time with her toddler and her husband Alan.