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Greg Becker is Oregon's new State Conservationist as of June 2024. Becker began his career with the NRCS in 2001 as a Soil Con Tech in Sheridan, Wyoming and converted to a Soil Conservationist shortly after. In 2006, he began serving as a District Conservationist and Team Lead in Idaho. As District Conservationist, he also served as Tribal Liaison to the Kootenai and Kalispel Tribes. During that time, he also served in a detail as Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations. In 2021 he became the State Resource Conservationist serving on Idaho’s leadership team and working with multiple partners, taking the lead on projects like the Cheatgrass Challenge. Becker also served as Acting State Conservationist in Nevada where he was recognized by US Senator Rosen for his work with partnerships in the sage brush ecosystem.
Prior to NRCS, Becker graduated from Colorado State University with a forest management degree. He entered private business as the manager of logging operations for a sawmill for over 7 years covering an area that included Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. A Nebraska native, Becker grew up working on farms. He has been fortunate enough to work in agriculture and natural resources throughout his single and family life in many of the western states. Becker has also served multiple terms on his local church board of directors in both Wyoming and Idaho. He and his wife Jenianne feel incredibly blessed to raise their six kids in such amazing places.
Contact: Greg.Becker@usda.gov | 503-414-3201
Brian Cyr is the Assistant State Conservationist for Management and Strategy based out of the State Office in Portland. He supervises a fantastic team of 5 members that seek to provide great customer service to NRCS Oregon.
Brian has been on the west coast since leaving the Navy, where he was stationed in Jacksonville, FL. He graduated with a BS from Southern Oregon University. He's been with NRCS since February 2024, having previously worked with the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management as a Contract Specialist. Having spent the last 6 years in Seattle with NPS, he is glad to be back in the Portland metro area where the opportunities to be active outdoors are many and varied.
Contact: Brian.Cyr@usda.gov | 503-414-3209
Claire Tachella is the new Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships based out of the State Office in Portland. Claire is responsible for promoting and fostering conservation partnerships and cooperative relationships with environmental groups with natural resource interests to advance the agency’s mission. Claire supervises a 5-member team, including a 3-person public affairs team, an outreach coordinator, and a tribal liaison.
Claire has been with NRCS since 2015 working in New Mexico, Washington and Oregon as a Rangeland Management Specialist, Soil Conservationist, Resource Conservationist, and Program Manager. She holds an M.S. degree in Rangeland Ecology and Management from Oregon State University, and a B.S. degree in Environmental Science and Geography from the University of Oregon. In her free time, she loves to garden, cook, backpack and fish with her family.
Contact: Claire.Tachella@usda.gov | 503-414-3274
Matt Warbritton is the Supervisory Hydrologist for the Oregon Snow Survey and Portland Data Collection Office (PDCO), which is part of the NRCS Snow Survey & Water Supply Forecasting Program.
The PDCO, with a team of 11 full-time positions, oversees the operation of nearly 150 mountain hydroclimatic monitoring sites in Oregon and releases seasonal water supply forecasts during the winter and spring. Matt serves as an advisor on the Governor’s Water Supply Availability Committee and the Drought Readiness Council. He became the supervisor in November 2023 and has been PDCO for nearly 4.5 years. A core focus of Matt’s work as supervisor is to expand customer engagement and increase partner engagement/collaboration to meet the needs of customers and partners more effectively.
Prior to NRCS, he worked in Yosemite National Park with the National Park Service as a Physical Science Technician working on the park’s hydroclimatic and stream monitoring network. Matt received his Master of Science in Geology (focus in glacial geomorphology) from Iowa State University and Bachelor of Science in Geology from Saint Louis University.
Contact: Matt.Warbritton@usda.gov | 503-414-3225
Aimee Rohner is NRCS Oregon's new State Conservation Engineer as of April 2024, based out of the Portland State Office.
She has over 30 years of experience with NRCS having started in college as a student trainee during undergraduate and graduate studies. She holds BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Utah State University with emphases in Geotechnical, Hydraulics, and Water Resources. She has worked in Utah as the State Conservation Engineer, State Design Engineer, Area Engineer, and spent a decade in Alaska as the State Design Engineer and H&H Engineer. She has enjoyed the growth and expanded impact of taking multiple details to include work with the National Watershed Program, Pacific Island Area Assistant Director for Engineering (SCE), State Conservation Engineer in UT, and multiple project oversight details. She is a licensed as a Professional Engineer in Alaska and Utah, and pursuing licensure in Oregon.
In her free time, she loves traveling near and far, enjoys almost all outside activities, learning new things, and spending time with family and friends.
Contact: Aimee.Rohner@usda.gov | 801-889-9163
Gary Diridoni is the Assistant State Conservationist for Watershed Resources based out of the State Office in Portland. He's been with NRCS since October 2016, previously working in Environmental Compliance before starting in his current role July 2020. Prior to NRCS, Gary worked in Redding, CA for 11 years as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for BLM.
Gary graduated from Humboldt State University with a double major B.S. Wildlife Management & Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Ecosystem Conservation. He also completed Oregon State University's Fisheries Management Graduate Certificate Program with a graduate project focused on controlling aquatic invasive species through pathway disruption.
Contact: Gary.Diridoni@usda.gov | 503-414-3092
Heather Medina Sauceda is the Basin Team Leader (Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations) for the Central Coast / Upper Willamette and Southwest Basins which covers nine counties. Her office is in the Tangent USDA Service Center.
Heather was born and raised in Michigan. She has worked with NRCS for 25 years, working previously as an earth team volunteer, student trainee, soil conservationist and a district conservationist in several locations in Michigan.
Heather graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelors in Zoology – Environmental Biology. She is a returned peace corps volunteer who served in the Dominican Republic. Heather and her family call Albany home.
Contact: Heather.Medina@usda.gov | 541-974-5268
Leo Preston is the Basin Team Leader (Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations) for the Lower Willamette and North Coast Basins and is based out of the McMinnville USDA Service Center. He provides support and oversight for the Basin Team located in seven NRCS Field Offices that serve nine counties and ten SWCDs in Northwest Oregon. His basin is known for its vast diversity of agricultural enterprises and the unique challenges of the urban/agriculture interface in large metropolitan areas.
Leo comes from a farm background in the Midwest and is a graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Education and Agronomy. He has been with the NRCS for 40 years, during which time he has served as Soil Conservationist and District Conservationist in several locations in Iowa. He also served as Resource Conservation & Development Coordinator in the U.S. Virgin Islands before coming to Oregon in 2000.
Contact: Leo.Preston@usda.gov | 503-376-7613
Nathan Adelman is the Basin Team Leader (Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations) based out of Pendleton. He leads the John Day Umatilla Snake River Basin which includes nine Eastern Oregon counties, eight NRCS Field Offices and 45 staff working across this great landscape.
Originally from Pendleton, Nathan’s previous 18 years with the agency were spent in various positions across the great state of Oregon, working with farmers, ranchers, and landowners in Harney, Washington, and Linn counties, as well as the greater Southwest part of the state. He is a graduate of University of Idaho with a BS degree in Crop and Soil Science.
Contact: Nathan.Adelman@usda.gov | 541-304-4065
Damon Brosnan is the Basin Team Leader (Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations) for the Deschutes/High Desert Basins based out of the Redmond USDA Service Center.
Damon has been with NRCS for 18 years, most recently working as a District Conservationist in Gilliam and Wheeler counties. He grew up in Oregon with roots in Heppner where his family homesteaded a ranch in 1868. Prior to working with NRCS, he managed a large cow/calf operation that ran 1200 pair and summered between 2,000-3,000 yearlings. Damon grew up working on his family's ranch during school vacations, worked on a ranch in LaPine and Silver Lake during and after college for a few years, and managed a ranch in the Heppner area for 15 years.
Damon started at NRCS as a term employee hired during the 2005 CSP signup and was later hired on full time as a Soil Conservationist in Condon. In 2007, he became the Wheeler County District Conservationist (DC), and in 2015 the DC for Gilliam County as well.
Contact: Damon.Brosnan@usda.gov | 541-384-2671 ext. 107
 Erin Kaczmarczyk is the Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, based out of the State Office in Portland.
Erin has worked with NRCS for over 15 years, previously spending 8 years as a District Conservationist in Ephrata, Washington. During her time with NRCS, she's worked with just about every land use including organic farms, horticulture, cropland, hayland, some range and forestry, dryland wheat and other land uses throughout central Washington. She managed 10 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program easements, worked a lot with CRP, HELC, and some ECP. Her passion starting out was beneficial insectaries and soon transitioned to all things soil health including reduced tillage, crop rotation and cover crops.
Previous to NRCS, she worked as a DoD civilian employee in Rota, Spain where she was the lead for natural and cultural resources for the Naval Base and started the Bird Aircraft Safety Hazard (BASH) program for the air strip. She returned stateside and worked construction for a Cellular Tower installer and then worked with the Okanogan Conservation District for nearly 4 years. In her free time, she loves to fish, hunt, garden, preserve food and spend time with her family and their extracurricular activities.
Contact: Erin.Kaczmarczyk@usda.gov | 503-414-3219
 Amy Hendershot is the State Resource Conservationist based out of the State Office in Portland.
She has spent 16 years working with NRCS, most recently acting as a National Urban Conservationist on a detail to help stand up USDA’s new Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. Outside of her detail, Amy spent 8 years as a District Conservationist in the south Puget Sound area, overseeing 4 field offices in 5 counties.
She previously worked as an NRCS Soil Conservationist and Resource Conservationist, at North Central Washington and WSU Puyallup Research Extension Center.
Amy grew up in Tacoma and has spent her whole career in Washington and Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys backpacking, gardening, and exploring the great outdoors.
Contact: Amy.Hendershot@usda.gov | 503-414-3216
 Jericho Winter is the State Soil Scientist, based out of the State Office in Portland.
Jericho provides leadership for developing, managing, and directing a comprehensive and integrated technical soil services program for the state and serves as a liaison with National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) cooperators. She supervises a wide range of staff including two GIS Specialists, three Resource Soil Scientists and a State Resource Inventory Coordinator.
Jericho has worked for Oregon NRCS for 15 years, first starting as an MLRA Soil Scientist where she mapped soils in the high desert of Central Oregon, the Winema National Forest in Southern Oregon and the Willamette National Forest in Western Oregon. She eventually took a position as a Resource Soil Scientist providing technical soil services and focusing on Food Security Act wetland and Highly Erodible Land compliance at a regional level, and later, statewide. She joined the Oregon Leadership Team as the State Soil Scientist in the summer of 2021. Jericho is originally from Illinois, and she earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geography with an emphasis in Soil Science from Northern Illinois University.
Contact: Jericho.Winter@usda.gov | 503-414-3231
Jessica Bras is the Executive Assistant to the State Conservationist based out of the State Office. She's been with NRCS for 9 years, working as an Executive Assistant and an Admin Assistant to ASTC - Management & Strategy. She started her federal career with the DoD as a Staff Administrative Assistant in Helena, MT.
Jessica acts as the "gatekeeper" to the STC and keeps NRCS Oregon organized and running smoothly. She manages the STC's calendar, organizes meetings, manages travel, is the master timekeeper for the state, gets documents routed and signed, and manages a whole host of other tasks key to NRCS Oregon's organizational success.
In 2000, Jessica joined the U.S. Army Reserves. She held 3 Military Occupational Specialties - a Senior Intelligence Analyst, a Brigade Equal Opportunity Advisor, and a Senior Human Resources Non-commissioned Officer, and has 3 state-side mobilizations and two two-year deployments to Iraq under her belt. She has an Associate's degree in Applied Sciences, graduated in the top 10% from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, and has military certifications in Master Resiliency Training Instructor, Equal Opportunity Leader, Anti-Terrorism Officer/Active Shooter Trainer, Operational Security Officer and CPR. Jessica retired from the U.S. Army this past February, concluding her military career with 24 years of service.
Contact: Jessica.Bras@usda.gov | 503-414-3221
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