Date Published to Web: 9/4/2007

POLK COUNTY -- Nicole Duplaix was selected by the Luckiamute Watershed Council as the group's new coordinator, replacing Michael Cairns.
   Cairns stepped down from the job earlier this summer but will remain with LWC to focus on specific field projects.
   The watershed council also added an outreach specialist, Christine Hurst, to its staff.
   Duplaix has a teaching and research background as a professor at Oregon State University. She has traveled extensively to document and monitor the treatment of endangered and protected species.
   "I've spent my life going up and down rivers in many parts of the world," she said. Wherever her work took her, the goals were the same: habitat protection and enhancement.
   "Watershed councils are based around volunteers who want to do something about endangered species and habitat," she said.
   She has founded two international wildlife protection groups - one for otters and another for dolphins and other fish species. She teaches "Global Crises in Resource Ecology" at OSU.
   Duplaix' experience is a huge asset for the Luckiamute Watershed, Cairns said. "Her background in education and outreach - which is such an important part of this job - is really a strong point," he said.
   Hurst comes from the Johnson Creek Watershed Council in the Milwaukie area, where she was watershed stewardship coordinator. Before that she was a volunteer in the Sweet Home watershed district.