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 white water rafting trips on the Ocoee and Chattooga rivers. After high school she made Atlanta her permanent home. She received her B.A. in Communications from GA State University and her A.A.S. in Accounting from Gwinnett Technical College.

After some time in the food service industry, she began her accounting career at Farmer D Organics, which also fed her love of the outdoors and local urban agriculture. Between FDO and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Carol held accounting and tax preparation positions in the private sector and in small Atlanta area corporations. She also works in local concert venues as an usher/ticket taker/security personnel and, in 2019, was the Sustainability Coordinator in charge of implementing the Zero Waste program at LiveNation’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre.

When not working, Carol can be found digging in the soil at FreeWheel Farm, helping raise awareness and funds for The Giving Kitchen, picking fruit with Concrete Jungle, doing art with kids at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, or serving as Volunteer Chair on the board of Slow Food Atlanta. She also spent nine years giving advice and empowering consumers at Clark Howard’s Consumer Action Center, and jumps in to help at other local non-profits whenever possible. She has volunteered with CRK at five Sweep the Hooches, 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.

An Atlanta native with a passion for strengthening communities, Kyndall received her Master of Social Work degree from University of Georgia in 2014. There, she focused on community empowerment and program development, while also earning a certificate in nonprofit management. Since then, Kyndall has practiced nonprofit management and fundraising at several organizations throughout the Metro Atlanta area before joining the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper team in 2019.

As Development Director, Kyndall leads the CRK team responsible for fundraising, sponsorships, donor stewardship, membership services, outreach, and engagement. She enjoys helping members feel connected to their water source and give back through volunteerism, outdoor adventures, and philanthropy.

Kyndall lives in Woodstock with her husband, Jacob, and cat, Sushi. In her free time, she loves baking, hiking, and running.

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 Atlanta office. He works to develop our Trash Trap program and conduct rain barrel workshops. As a member of our development team Jordan helps expand CRK’s social media reach. Additionally, he assists in water quality monitoring with Middle Chattahoochee’s Neighborhood Water Watch Program.

Born in Washington state, Jordan received a B.A. from Reed College for Environmental Studies before settling in Atlanta. After working for CRK as a Communications Intern, he joined as a staff member in 2019. He currently lives in Historic Old Fourth Ward.

As Middle Chattahoochee Director, Henry is responsible for CRK’s work in communities throughout West Georgia and areas of East Alabama. He oversees programs like the West Point Lake Floating Classroom and Neighborhood Water Watch, leads fundraising efforts and coordinates paddles, cleanups and other events throughout the year.

Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, Henry attended LaGrange College, and graduated in 2013 with a History degree. Right out of school, he joined CRK as a summer intern before assuming a full-time role with the organization in August 2013.

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

A Columbus, Ga, native, Ashley is a recent biology graduate of the Natural Sciences Master’s Program at Columbus State University. A passionate naturalist with a love for botany and all things wild, Ashley has completed environmental surveys and projects in the Bahamas, Tanzania, and the Southeastern United States. She is a member of the Georgia Native Plant Conservation Alliance and the Georgia Botanical Society and works with local groups on conservation and restoration projects using native plants.

Ashley has spent time as an educator through Columbus State University’s graduate teaching assistant program, and plans to continue working as an educator through the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Floating Classroom and other outreach projects. Ashley interned with CRK in Fall of 2019, working with water quality sampling in Columbus, and joined as a staff member in January 2020.

Ashley is Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Watershed Protection Specialist in CRK’s LaGrange office. She works with the Neighborhood Water Watch Program to perform water quality monitoring in the middle Chattahoochee River watershed. Alongside a team of dedicated volunteers, she plans to address water quality issues throughout the middle Chattahoochee region.

Ashley, her wife Veronica, and three children currently reside in Columbus, Ga. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, roadside botanizing, and gardening with plant species native to Georgia.