CRC Staff

Louise Shimmel, Executive Director, Louise@eRaptors.org founded and manages the day-to-day operations of CRC. A state and federally licensed rehabilitator since 1985, Louise has substantial experience in wildlife rehabilitation, has participated in all the Skills Seminars offered by the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC), done short externships at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota School of Veterinary Medicine, completed the radiographic certification class required by the state, and worked closely with local veterinarians on wildlife cases.

She has substantial non-profit administration experience, including four years as president and/or executive director of a general wildlife rehabilitation organization which, during her tenure, saw a 15-fold increase in average annual income, an increase in annual patient load from 100 to 2000 animals, and established a central care facility. Ms. Shimmel has eighteen years experience in presenting educational programs for all age groups.

She has a BA (Stanford) in Drama & English and an MBA (University of Chicago Graduate School of Business) in finance and accounting; several years of business experience including four years as an international commercial banking officer for one of the nation's largest banks; as well as substantial writing and editing experience.

Louise served for seven years on the board of directors (two as president) of IWRC, the primary professional association in the field; has served for fifteen years as the assistant or an associate editor of The Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation, for five years been an instructor of IWRC's Basic Skills class, teaching classes in the western US and Canada; and has presented conference papers and authored articles on emaciation protocol for raptors, blood transfusions, and other topics. Locally, Ms. Shimmel was co-founder and first president of Oregon Wildlife Rehabilitation Association, and assisted the state Department of Fish & Wildlife to improve standards for wildlife care by re-writing the state licensing exam. She was awarded the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association.

Laurin Huse, Rehabilitation Director/Assistant Director, Laurin@eRaptors.org

Laurin has been with Cascades Raptor Center for over 10 years, spending one year as a volunteer and demonstrating a remarkable dedication to the birds and the work we do. To 'reward' her, we kicked her upstairs, giving her the title of Assistant Director and 'doubling' her salary. In 2002, however, we were able to get her position funded as an AmeriCorps volunteer, and in 2003, with a grant from the Kinsman Foundation.

She an excellent rehabilitator - having taken the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council two day Basic Skills class on her own, and then, with our help, some of their advanced skills seminars, and state certification training for taking x-rays. She has assisted in the clinic for years, spent five weeks during 2010 at the BP oil spill response centers in the Gulf, and spent time visiting other rehab centers around the country. Laurin became our Rehabilitation Director in late 2010.

Laurin has an eclectic background, growing up in Fairfax, Virginia, but spending almost every summer with relatives on Kauai, Hawaii. She has attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts in Portland, studying primarily textile design and print making. She brings a great new artistic vision to much of what we do. She has her own letterpress business.

Having Laurin on staff has provided a fresh outlook on all that we do, a greater depth of management, another eye on the birds and ear for the volunteers, and a commitment of long term continuity for the organization.

Kit Lacy, Education Director, Kit@eRaptors.org

Special Thank You: Our sincere gratitude to the Ahrens Foundation for funding this position for the first two years.

Kit was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. After attending universities in Wisconsin, she headed west to Oregon. She enrolled at the University of Oregon and began working in an ecology lab. She completed a master's degree in biology, specializing in communication and social behavior of iguanas. Kit began volunteering at Cascades Raptor Center in January of 2002, has taken the two-day IWRC basic skills class in wildlife rehabilitation, and has been part of the CRC education team since its beginning. Kit also taught biology at LCC for many years. She especially loves training the birds to be ambassadors for their species and also enjoys sharing her love of all things wild with nature center visitors of all ages.

Kit has also become a master videographer, creating funny or endearing pieces for Facebook or programs. Her skill in training volunteers and birds culminated in capturing a natural behavior ('kiting' by our white-tailed kites), putting that unique foraging behavior on cue for programs, and video she made of that process won CRC the 'Behavior of the Year' award at the 2012 conference of the International Avian Trainers and Educators Association in Minnesota.

Carrie Sigloh, Operations & Volunteer Coordinator, Carrie@eRaptors.org

Carrie is a native Eugenian having grown up at the Eugene Saturday Market and attending South Eugene High School. She moved to Corvallis and graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor's degree in Zoology in 2008. That August she began volunteering at Cascades Raptor Center and has been hooked ever since. In October of 2009 she traveled to South Africa where she volunteered for three months at C.A.R.E., a baboon sanctuary in the African bush. Though she always dreamed about working with primates, while in South Africa, Carrie found herself continually looking up in the sky and wondering about the raptors she saw there. She knew then that raptors had become her calling. Upon returning, she joined CRC's education team, completed IWRC's two-day basic wildlife rehabilitation course and began volunteering around 20 hours a week. Carrie brings to CRC her passion for animals, personable attitude, dedication, hard work and willingness and eagerness to always learn and to share her knowledge with others.

Did You Know?

Louise traveled for 2 months in 2003 visiting Raptor Centers and Nature Centers around the country.

From that she gained valuable insights that are helping CRC -- how others conduct education, rescue and rehabilitation.

Special Thank You to the Kinsman & Ahrens Foundations for funding of positions described on this page.