Staff

Jeanette Dorner, Executive Director

Jeanette joined the Land Trust in November 2020 as Executive Director. She grew up in south Pierce County on the banks of Muck Creek, a tributary to the Nisqually River. She has a B.S. in Earth Sciences and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Pacific Lutheran University and an M.S. from the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources with a focus on Restoration Ecology.  She worked for 11 years as the Salmon Recovery Program Manager with the Nisqually Tribe, coordinating the protection and restoration of salmon habitat in the Nisqually watershed. She then moved to work on Puget Sound wide and Central Puget Sound salmon recovery for the last decade.  She is so pleased to have returned to her home watershed and the Nisqually family (Nisquamily) to help protect and steward these special places.

Kim Bredensteiner, Associate Director

Kim joined Nisqually Land Trust in March 2009 in the role of Stewardship Coordinator. Over the years she has directed the Land Trust’s restoration and land management activities and supervised our stewardship volunteer program. Kim has lived in Washington and focused on habitat conservation and restoration for over ten years. Prior to joining the Land Trust, she spent five years as salmon recovery coordinator for Island County. She received her B.A. in Biology from Grinnell College and a M.S. in Watershed Ecology from Oregon State University.

Jeff Barrett, Finance and Operations Manager

Jeff has enjoyed the natural splendor of Washington since his childhood on Whidbey Island. He joined the Nisqually Land Trust in November 2021 after a career in engineering and computing management and owning a small business in Downtown Olympia. He’s pleased to be able to put his experience to use in support of protecting, preserving, and fostering the flora and fauna in this region he loves.

Nikki Dizon, Development Manager

Nikki Dizon interned with the Nisqually Land Trust in 2011 and joined our staff in 2012. She is a graduate of Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment, where she studied environmental policy. She was also a volunteer for Whatcom Land Trust and interned with Capitol Land Trust.

Kayla Jenkins, Administrative Assistant

Kayla is thrilled to be working in the Nisqually Watershed, a place she has loved since childhood. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from The Evergreen State College and completing a water quality monitoring internship at Mt. Rainier National Park, she served two years in AmeriCorps at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, coordinating field trips and working with volunteers on invasive species removal. She later worked as a park ranger at the Refuge and served a short stint as staff for the Nisqually River Council. After a few years home parenting and five years as a budget analyst with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, she joined the Land Trust as the Office and Development Assistant in 2021.

Kayla then left to travel to Ecuador and start a new land conservation non-profit in partnership with an indigenous A’i Cofan community in the Amazon rainforest, the Kuan-Kuan Foundation. She is excited to be back on as our Administrative Assistant. She appreciates the opportunity to be part of the Nisqually family again and hopes to nurture connections between our local community and South America.

Jake Pool, Stewardship Manager

Jake joined the Nisqually Land Trust team in July 2023 as the new Stewardship Manager. He grew up in the Eatonville area in the Nisqually River watershed. His family settled along South Muck Creek in the 1930s, now 5 generations living, tending to, and exploring the land. Jake, his wife Kristin, and their two kids love the outdoors and are avid hikers and snowshoers, finding adventures on public lands here and beyond. Jake is passionate about conservation in and around the Nisqually Watershed. He works with volunteers and the community to engage in conservation activities from restoration plantings and clean-ups, to foraging and sharing with people the wonders of the flora and fauna that abound here. The Nisqually Lands Trust’s mission fits perfectly with his beliefs and he is honored to be a part of fulfilling that mission.

Jake says, “I want to do more than sustain and conserve what is left. By following nature’s model to grow and increase abundance from what was there before, we can provide future generations with diverse wildlife to see, natural resources to enjoy, and more organic matter in their soil than the previous generation.”

Jake received his B.S. in Public Horticulture with a custom focus toward park management, restoration ecology, and forestry from the University of Washington. He is looking forward to connecting with the community and partners and managing the stewardship of the lands under protection by the Nisqually Land Trust.