The EMSWCD Board of Directors is the governing body of the District. The Board sets policy, adopts the budget, sets program and strategic priorities, supervises the Executive Director and oversees the management of the EMSWCD’s affairs to ensure legal compliance and fiscal responsibility.
Read on to learn about our five Directors and Director Emeritus. You can also learn about recent and upcoming Board meetings, find out about the eligibility requirements for Board candidacy, and explore the three Board Zones that comprise our District.
Our Board
Mary Columbo
Zone 1
Mary Columbo became a full-time farmer in 2009 and has owned Wild Roots Farm since 2015. The farm uses conservation practices including minimal till and organics. Mary loves helping young and beginning farmers learn more about farming and shares her knowledge in formal and informal settings. She has a degree in geology and worked as a field geologist for five years before becoming a farmer. Born and raised in Oregon, Mary grew up in a small rural community outside of Portland. She credits her parents with instilling in her a deep love and appreciation of nature from a young age.
Mary was elected Zone 1 Director in 2024, serving a 4-year term. Mary is Treasurer and serves on the Budget, Land Legacy, and Personnel Committees.
Laura Masterson
Zone 2
Laura Masterson received her B.S. in cellular biology from Reed College and is now a widely respected organic vegetable farmer. Described in the local press as an "Urban Über-farmer," she manages farms in East Multnomah, Clackamas and Yamhill counties for a community supported agriculture (CSA) operation that feeds over 200 families year-round. She advocates on behalf of sustainable agriculture by serving on a variety of committees and citizen advisory groups, and on the Oregon State Board of Agriculture. Cultivating with a team of horses and an electric tractor, making use of rotational grazing, beneficial insect conservation, cover cropping, and utilizing a wide variety of other innovative or re-discovered techniques, Laura is a much-sought-after speaker and local expert.
Laura was elected as Director in every term from 2004 through 2020. She is serving a full 4-year term, and her seat is up for election next in November 2024. Laura currently serves on the Budget, Land Legacy, and Personnel committees.
Mike Guebert
Zone 3
Mike Guebert earned his B.A. degree in geology from Humboldt State University and recently retired from Metro as a Program Manager at the former St. Johns Landfill in North Portland. There, he worked with a small staff to monitor and improve environmental quality, operate and maintain a landfill gas extraction and re-use system, and make habitat improvements on the reclaimed grassland that makes up the cap of the landfill. Mike and his wife own and operate a small farm in Corbett, where they raise a variety of pasture-based livestock including dairy cows, goats, chickens, and turkeys. Their goal is to improve soil and water quality by practicing intensive rotational grazing, using chicken tractors (a portable chicken coop structure without a floor) to spread their fertility around the property, and excluding livestock from riparian areas.
Mike is very active in the small farm community, serving on several committees and panels, often testifying to the state legislature in support of bills to help family farmers, and is always willing to offer assistance and advice to beginning farmers.
Mike was appointed as an Associate Director in 2012, became the Zone 3 Director in 2015, and was last elected in 2022. He is serving a 4-year term, and his seat is next up for election in November 2026. Mike is Secretary of the Board and serves on the Budget, and Land Legacy committees.
Ramona DeNies
At-Large 1
Ramona DeNies is a longtime Portland-based journalist and conservation practitioner. She's the Senior Writer and Producer at the Wild Salmon Center - a nonprofit focused on wild fish, water quality, and healthy forests across the North Pacific - and the former News, Travel, and Research Editor at Portland Monthly magazine. She has run communications for multiple nonprofits, including The Intertwine Alliance. Her byline and contributing writer credits appear in Outside, The Believer, Willamette Week, the Seattle Met, The Osprey, and Wildsam Field Guides, among other publications.
Ramona was elected At-Large Director in 2024, serving a 4-year term. Ramona is Vice Chair and serves on the Budget, Land Legacy, and Personnel Committees.
Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky
At-Large 2
Jasmine received her B.A. in General Science from the University of Oregon and holds a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit and Public Management from Portland State University. Jasmine works for a regional environmental nonprofit.
Jasmine is a lieutenant with the Corbett Fire District, and she and her husband manage a small blueberry farm on their property in Corbett. Jasmine is also an avid whitewater rafter and has rowed over a dozen different rivers, including the Colorado, Snake, and Rouge Rivers.
Jasmine was elected as At-Large Director with the EMSWCD in 2020, and was last elected in 2022. She is serving a 4-year term and her seat is up for election in November 2026. Jasmine is the Chair of the EMSWCD Board and serves on the Budget, Land Legacy, and Personnel committees.
There are currently no Associate Directors.