CCRLC Staff Profiles:
Tara Carolin
Director
Tara Carolin was raised on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies. She pursued her studies in Wildlife and Range Resources at Brigham Young University in southeast Idaho and in Utah where she earned a Master's degree in 1990, and afterward continued graduate work in Rangeland Ecology and Management at Texas A&M University. In 1992 Tara began her career with the National Park Service, supervising a long-term natural resource monitoring program and coordinating research for Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Natural Bridges National Monument. Tara transferred to Glacier National Park in 1996 as the park Ecologist and served in this position for 13 years primarily involved with inventory and monitoring of natural resources, whitebark pine restoration, vegetation mapping, research coordination, and environmental analysis and compliance. She is an active member of the Montana Native Plant Society Flathead Chapter. Tara joined the CCRLC staff as Director in 2009.
Melissa Sladek Science Communication Specialist Melissa first ventured west to study history and psychology in Colorado where she gained her first experience as an Interpretive Park Ranger for the National Park Service. She moved to Montana in 2000 in order to attend graduate school at the University of Montana in Missoula. After adjusting to the clouds and rain of Missoula, (tip: drinking lots of coffee helps) she obtained her M.S. degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in education. Although sure that she would soon return to Colorado, the wildness of Montana and the beauty of Glacier and surrounding areas convinced her to stay. In the last seven years Melissa has taught thousands of students about our natural world as well as created a variety of interpretive and educational products. Born and bred in Minnesota, she is a true mid-westerner at heart…which means she works hard to get the job done and then complains about it later. Fun fact: Sladek means "brew master" in Czech. Melissa first joined the staff of the CCRLC in June 2008 and was promoted to her current position in September 2010.
Terry Peterson
Administrative Assistant
After pursuing studies in wildlife biology, history, and teaching, Terry worked as a wildlife biologist and raised her daughter, sometimes in the wilds of Canada. She has spent her life roaming all points north, but is happy to have settled here close to nature and the park she loves. She strives to provide excellent visitor/staff/partner service while upholding the mission of the NPS. At the CCRLC, she coordinates temporary housing for visiting researchers, student interns, volunteers, and other collaborators (the CCRLC manages a fully furnished 8-bed house). She also coordinates meetings, workshops, brown bag seminars, corresponds with scientists, educators, non-profit organizations, maintains records for annual reports and publication summaries, and is a member of Glacier's Green Team. Terry joined the CCRLC in May 2010.
Jami Belt
Citizen Science Coordinator
Jami grew up near the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio and went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to pursue a career in wildlife/ human behavioral research. Her degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in biological sciences and neuroscience emphasized the importance of educating people as a means of enhancing biodiversity through preservation of habitat. After graduating she moved to Montana and in 1999, began studying the diverse natural resources of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, and sharing that knowledge as the Program Director for the Glacier Institute. Jami began her work with Glacier National Park’s Research Learning Center as the Citizen Science Program Coordinator. During this time she was accepted to the University of Montana’s Wildlife Biology program as a Boone and Crockett Fellow in April 2008 and began her graduate research in June 2008. After completion of her master’s degree she plans on furthering her career in wildlife research and conservation.
Jami joined the staff of the CCRLC in 2006.
Glenn Johnson
Science Communication Technician
A native New Englander (Massachusetts), Glenn went to sea at age 17 and spent four years as a US Navy photographer. He pursued an Associate Degree in journalism, worked in printing, drove a cab, and traveled throughout the eastern U.S. with his cameras. He pursued further educational endeavors in photojournalism and psychology at Syracuse University and in 1985 moved west to Boulder, Colorado where he worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer. Interested in technology, he worked in telecommunications at the University of Colorado, and later shifted to the IT field, eventually becoming a PC technician and network administrator. His creative leanings moved him into video work in the mid-90s, and in 2003 he left the private sector to begin working as an Interpreter for the NPS at Rocky Mountain, Zion, Death Valley, John Day Fossil Beds and Glacier. Glenn accepted a seasonal position with the CCRLC in 2011 with expectations of using his media experience and with hopes of developing more skills while helping to communicate park science.
Sheree West
Librarian
Sheree is the information services member of the CCRLC team. Raised on a diet of Cascade Range backpacking and Montana ranch work, she thrives on digging in to the challenge of finding just the right information resources for each situation. Sheree earned a B.S. in Environmental Biology from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado (where she spent every summer hiking in the San Juans with a Pulaski in hand on a USFS trail crew,) and a Master of Library and Information Science at UW-Seattle, (so she can confirm Melissa’s assertion about coffee as a survival tactic for cloudy days.) With five generations of her family born and raised in the western states, the mountains are in her bones: If information is needed about the plants, animals, or history of this country, Sheree can find it. Our librarian joined the CCRLC staff in February 2009.
Susan Sindt
Volunteer Interpretive Park Ranger
Since 1991, Susan has worked seasonally in three different national parks, including Glacier. She joined the CCRLC staff in 2005 to compile fire ecology information. She was later appointed as the first coordinator for our Citizen Science Invasive Plant project, and has also coordinated the loon monitoring program. Susan is currently developing a notebook for park interpreters with all of the latest information on threatened and endangered species in the park. She is quick to jump in and assist in any capacity where help is needed around the research learning center.
Citizen Science at Glacier National Park
