NALMS Board of Directors
Lizzy Gallagher (Region 1 – CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
Lizzy Gallagher is an aquatic scientist at the Lakes and Ponds Program of the Vermont Department of Conservation, primarily focusing on cyanobacteria and aquatic invasive species. With a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Tampa, Gallagher began her career in freshwater conservation in Florida, where she worked in environmental consulting, primarily on restoration projects. Afterwards, she received an M.S. in Biology, undertaking aquatic ecology research at Miami University (Ohio). In 2022, Gallagher was employed with 7 Lakes Alliance (Maine), where she was introduced to NALMS. Gallagher went on to present at the 2023 and 2024 conferences.
Emily Mayer (Region 2 – NJ, NY, PR)
Emily Mayer is a Research Scientist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, specializing in phytoplankton identification, algal toxin analysis, and data management. With over a decade in lake management, she has conducted macrophyte mapping, water quality analysis, and project management. Emily holds a B.S. in Biology from Centenary University and an M.S. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida. A long-time NALMS member, she has helped run aquatic plant workshops and presented at NALMS conferences. She serves as Editor for NEAPMS (Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society) and as an aquatic technical advisor for several workgroups.
Shannon Junior (Region 3 – DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV)
Shannon Junior is the Eastern Water Quality Technical Specialist for EutroPHIX and focuses on water quality restoration and cyanobacteria management for lakes that are impaired with phosphorus pollution. She has worked in the Aquatics industry as an aquatic ecologist and business development professional since 1999 and has managed a wide range of ecological assessment and lake management projects. Shannon earned her BS in Biology from George Mason University in 1995 and continued her graduate studies there in Environmental Science and Public Policy. Shannon has been a member of NALMS since 2014 and is a Certified Lake Manager. She serves on various committees and workgroups for NALMS and is a founding member and the Editor for Women of Aquatics.
Perry Thomas (Region 4 – AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)
As Region 4 Director, Perry Thomas works to connect new and returning NALMS members and enhance NALMS’ professional development activities to meet unique needs and interests of lake, pond, and reservoir managers across the Southeast. Perry returns to the NALMS Board after a four-year hiatus. Previously, she served as Region 1 Director, Burlington VT 2019 Symposium Host Committee Co-chair, and President. She continues to serve as a founding member of the JEDI Program, with a focus on creating and disseminating lake watershed education experiences that actively engage disadvantaged communities in connecting with waterways, assessing needs, and planning action steps. Since moving to Kentucky in 2019, she worked with the Watershed Management Branch of the Division of Water, advised the Kentucky Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program, trained Kentucky Watershed Watch samplers, and managed outreach programs for a county-based Soil & Water Conservation District. Currently she serves as Program Director with the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education and is a member of the inaugural class of the Soil and Water Conservation Society’s Emerging Leaders Program. Before transferring to Kentucky, Perry managed the Lakes and Ponds Program with the Vermont Watershed Management Division (2015 – 2019), chaired the Memphremagog Watershed Association’s Education Committee (2011 – 2015), and served as president of the Federation of Vermont Lakes and Ponds (2008 – 2012). As a faculty member with Sterling College (1998 – 2010) and the Community College of Vermont (2011 – 2015), she advised senior research projects and taught courses in Environmental Science, Elements of Microbiology, and Freshwater Ecology. Perry holds a B.A. in Biology from Dartmouth College, and an M.A.T. and Ph.D. in Biology from Northern Arizona University.
Joe Bischoff (Region 5 – IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)
Joe Bischoff is a Senior Limnologist with Barr Engineering Co. in Minneapolis, Minnesota specializing in nutrient management and phosphorus inactivation. With over 25 years of experience, he has developed management plans for over 100 lakes in the Upper Midwest implementing phosphorus inactivation projects, aquatic plant management activities, and Harmful Algal Bloom control. Joe attended his first NALMS conference in 2001 and has been a consistent member of NALMS since 2012. He is a co-instructor for the Sediment Phosphorus Inactivation Workshop held annually alongside the NALMS symposium. He co-chaired the Host Committee for the 2022 Symposium bringing NALMS back to Minneapolis for the first time since 1996. Building on the momentum from the 2022 NALMS symposium, he led the establishment of the Minnesota Lake Management Society (MLMS) which became an official affiliate of NALMS in 2025. Joe is currently acting as President of MLMS.
Dendy Lofton (Region 6 – AR, LA, NM, OK, TX, Mexico and beyond)
Dendy Lofton is a senior limnologist with Stantec based currently in Houston, TX. Dendy has over 17 years of experience in water resource monitoring, assessment and management with specialized expertise in biogeochemical nutrient cycling and limnology. She holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina where she researched carbon and nutrient cycling in shallow Arctic Alaskan Lakes. Currently, Dendy’s work focuses on nutrient reduction in impaired lakes and ponds, diagnostic assessment of water quality in drinking water reservoirs and water quality management in urban stormwater ponds across the United States. Dendy is a Certified Lake Manager and serves as Stantec’s National Water Quality Technical Lead.
Tony Thorpe (Region 7 – IA, KS, MO, NE)
Tony Thorpe has been the coordinator/program manager of the Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program (LMVP) since 2001. The LMVP is a community science endeavor housed in the Aquatic Ecology laboratory at the University of Missouri that has collected over 19,000 water samples across the state of Missouri. Tony has been on the Board of Directors for the Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance since its creation in 2006 and was active in the development of Missouri’s lake nutrient criteria. Tony earned his MS at the University of Missouri by examining the relationship between heterotrophic bacteria and measures of lake trophic state.
Caleb Owen (Region 8 – CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)
Caleb Owen is the Water Quality Administrator for the City of Thornton, Colorado where he leads the source water monitoring, management, and protection of more than 40,000 acft of water across 16 lakes and three watersheds. He also leads Thornton’s regulatory affairs and compliance program. He has worked for Thornton since 2015, initially performing water sampling and lab analysis. Caleb has served on the board of directors for the Colorado Lake and Reservoir Management Association since 2020, currently serving as President. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry and an Area of Special Interest in Environmental Science and Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.
Stephen McCord (Region 9 – AZ, CA, HI, NV)
Stephen McCord, Ph.D., P.E., is President of McCord Environmental and part-time staff at the University of California Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Clemson University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UC Davis. As a Professional Engineer and Certified Lake Manager, Dr. McCord has over 25 years of consulting, research and teaching experience around the world. He is a past President of the California Lake Management Society and works on lakes to address bioaccumulation, eutrophication, dam safety, water rights, drinking water quality, sedimentation, and more.
Sarah Burnet (Region 10 – AK, ID, OR, WA)
Sarah Burnet is a Limnologist at the Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Idaho, where she also earned her MS in 2016. She received a BS from Western Washington University. Her current work and studies are centered on the Columbia, Willamette, and Rogue River Basins, with a particular interest in the relationships between sediment particle size distribution, the internal phosphorus release, and the factors driving cyanobacteria blooms and toxin production. A dedicated member of NALMS since 2014, Sarah served as Student Director from 2016 to 2019, was Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee from 2019 to 2023, and contributed to implementing the NALMS Code of Conduct.
Liz Favot (Region 11 – Canada – NB, NL, NS, ON, PE, QC)
Liz Favot is an aquatic scientist in Sudbury, Ontario, who has worked for the provincial and federal government in various roles over the last three years, ranging from freshwater monitoring programs, to research, to fisheries policy, to industrial compliance assessment. Liz received her PhD from Queen’s University in 2021, where her research utilized paleolimnology (environmental indicators stored in lake sediments) to reconstruct multi-century trends in nutrients, oxygen, and primary production, and investigate the environmental triggers for recent cyanobacterial blooms in oligotrophic and minimally disturbed lakes.
John-Mark Davies (Region 12 – Canada – AB, BC, MB, NU, NT, SK, YT)
John-Mark Davies is manager of the Surface Water Quality unit at the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA) and an adjunct professor with the School of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. At the WSA he oversees the provincial water quality monitoring program and works on water quality-related aspects of inter-jurisdictional management agreements. John-Mark became interested in water quality as a teenager while spending summers at the lake but especially when he was out wilderness canoeing. His interest in water lead him to graduate school at the universities of Manitoba and Victoria. Prior to working at WSA he spent time at the Experimental Lakes Area in Northwestern Ontario, worked on projects on Lake Erie in Ontario, on African great lakes and on BC’s west coast and interior lakes.
Mikala L’Hote (Student Director)
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Mikala L’Hote is a current master’s student at Paul Smith’s College studying Natural Resource Conservation. In conjunction, she serves as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Adirondack Watershed Institute, where she has had the opportunity to work on a variety of lake assessment and management projects touching upon complex water related questions and concerns throughout the Adirondack Park. Her graduate research specifically addresses the impacts of road salt use on lakes within the Lake Champlain Basin, with the aim to provide the public and key stakeholders with information needed to understand and address the impacts of road salt application in the basin. Over the last year, Mikala has served as Student Director of NALMS, dedicating herself to representing and progressing the role of student membership within the society.
Chris Doyle (At-Large Director)
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Chris Doyle graduated from Rutgers University with a B.S. in Natural Resource Management. He has 30+ years experience as an Aquatic Biologist, including 20+ years focusing on Lake Management. Mr. Doyle has been active with NALMS since 2005, and became a CLM in 2011. He served a term as the NALMS Region 2 Director (2018-2021) and previously served as the co-chair of the conference advisory committee. Currently he serves on that committee as a member, and a member of the Professional Certification Committee. He has served as the NALMS Conference Program Co-chair in 2020 and 2025. Mr. Doyle works as a private consultant in both aquatics and publishing.
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