Unless otherwise noted, staff can be reached at AMCC’s main office in Anchorage. You can also contact individual staff members by email. Simply click on the name of the person you wish to contact, or email directly. (Note the "at" in addresses should be replaced with @ when emailing.)

Kelly Harrell, Executive Director

kelly "at"akmarine.org

 Kelly’s strong passion for the oceans was ignited at a young age growing up in coastal Virginia where she fished, crabbed, boated, and spent many hours on the beaches. Part of Kelly’s family hails from a small fishing village in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, providing her a strong connection and understanding of the livelihoods of fishermen and small, coastal communities.

Kelly holds bachelor’s degrees in both philosophy and political science from Virginia Tech, and completed graduate work in fisheries policy at the University of British Columbia. She arrived in Alaska in the summer of 2005 as an intern with AMCC through the Alaska Conservation Foundation’s internship program and knew immediately she had found her new home. Since that time, she has directed AMCC’s Friends of Bristol Bay program and now brings her dedication to AMCC and its mission to the role of Executive Director.

In her free time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her husband and two husky dogs, and any activity that gets her outside and on the water including sailing on their boat out of Seward, diving, kayaking, and fishing.

Dorothy Childers, Program Director

dorothy "at" akmarine.org

 Dorothy joined the Alaska Marine Conservation Council in 1995 and served as executive director until 2005. She received a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation for a project addressing fisheries management in the eastern Bering Sea as warming ocean temperatures cause commercially valuable species to move northward into ecologically and culturally sensitive areas. Dorothy serves on the North Pacific Research Board, Marine Fish Conservation Network board of advisors, and the Alaska SeaGrant public advisory committee.

Theresa Peterson, Kodiak Outreach Coordinator (Kodiak Office)

theresa "at" akmarine.org  

 Theresa is an active fisherwoman and long-time resident of Kodiak, Alaska,  home to the nation's largest fishing fleet. Theresa has a diverse fishing portfolio; she setnets for salmon, fishes for tanner crab, longlines for halibut and jigs for cod. Fishing is a family business for Theresa, her husband Charlie and their three children. A tireless advocate for local fishermen, Theresa spearheads AMCC's working waterfronts program. She currently serves on the Advisory Panel for the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, an important and influential body in Alaska's fisheries management decisions. 

Amy Snider, Program & Outreach Assistant

amy "at" akmarine.org 

 Arriving to Anchorage from the charming Interior town of Fairbanks, Amy is excited to be on board at AMCC! Recently graduated,she studied political science andnatural resource management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A 2009 Udall Scholar and CLA Dean’s Scholar, she also won the Gray S. Tilly award, naming her one of the top three graduates of her class. During her last two years in school she worked at the Northern Alaska Environmental Center as the Campus Energy Organizer doing community organizing, education, and outreach. She was also an Alaska Conservation Foundation summer intern and had the opportunity to work from Fairbanks to Seward. With a strong interest in salmon, subsistence, and environmental policy, she wrote her thesis on the proposed Chuitna coal mine in Cook Inlet. Amy looks forward to promoting sustainable fisheries throughout Alaska.

Rachel Donkersloot, Fisheries Program Director

rachel "at" akmarine.org

Rachel was raised in Bristol Bay with her two brothers and sister.  She left Naknek after high school to attend the University of Montana but returned home every summer to spend time with her family and work as a forklift operator, bartender and budding ethnographer. 

Rachel holds a PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  She was awarded a Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner Gren Foundation which allowed her to conduct a year of ethnographic research in a rural fishing community in northwest Ireland.  Her research interest and experience spans the North Atlantic and North Pacific and includes: demographic, socio-economic, and ecological change in fisheries-dependent regions; gender, place and migration; rural economies; globalization; and the political economy of locality.  In the last few years, Rachel has begun to explore the issues affecting life and work in contemporary fishing communities through the medium of ethnographic film.  Her first film, Small Nets in a Sea of Change: Family Fishing in Donegal, Ireland, was completed in 2011. She loves her dog, Charlie, and the opportunity to work with, in and for Alaska fishing communities, and AMCC!