BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF
Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends board members are a dedicated group of individuals who are personally and professionally committed to the long-term success of the mission of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Wetland Management District. Members are purely volunteer in bringing their individual and collective knowledge, experience, skill, integrity, passion, and motivation to this agenda.
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Dave Guzzi - President
Dave has been passionate about the outdoors since before he could remember and was introduced to it by his parents with camping and fishing in remote locations across North America. Dave continues this passion, having gone on several extended hunts and backpack trips throughout the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States. While he has hiked, fished and skied much of North America, his passion lies with his home state of Minnesota. “There is nothing better than a Minnesota waterway or lake site,” says Dave. His current passion includes training service and hunting dogs as well as introducing youth to outdoor experiences. After Dave’s spinal cord injury in 1996, he has devoted much of his life to ensuring that wild places are accessible in ways that are practical. Dave began volunteering with the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in 1997, dedicating much of his time in creating accessible hunting opportunities for wild turkey, deer and duck. |
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Shannon Breimhurst - Secretary
Shannon is a marketing/communications consultant and writer with a background in healthcare, nonprofit organizations, and journalism. She is a creative manager and senior copywriter at Patterson Dental. She holds a master's degree in Strategic Communications from the University of Minnesota. She has served on the Friends' board since 2019, lending her expertise in writing, fundraising, and donor relations and communications. When not working, she enjoys time spent outdoors hiking, camping, and playing with her husband, son, and daughter. |
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Mark Jenson - Treasurer
Dr. Mark Jensen was born and raised in St Louis Park. He practiced general dentistry in Chicago for several years before completing his residency in Endodontics at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Following private specialty practice in Illinois, Dr. Jensen returned to Minneapolis in 1992 to open Endodontic Professionals. Dr. Jensen is excited to be joining the MN Valley Refuge Friends board and to begin volunteering. Dr. Jensen enjoys Gopher football, the Twins, and spending time with his family. Dr. Jensen joined the board in 2021 and is looking forward to volunteering and getting to know the refuge. |
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Anne Clarrissimeaux - Director
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Michael Kurtz - Director
Michael Kurtz, a longtime volunteer of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, joined the board of directors in 2021. Kurtz is a self-taught photographer, wildlife tracker and serves as a cultural interpreter at Hoċokata Ti (ho-cho-kah-tah-tee), the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's cultural center and gathering space for the Community's tribe members. Kurtz is an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. |
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Loreen Lee - Director
A California Native, Loreen Lee is an educator and artist based in St. Paul. She discovered the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge through her passion for the outdoors and birdwatching. With mentoring partner Urban Bird Collective, she hopes to explore and document wildlife in all eight units of the refuge. Lee teaches fifth grade at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. She earned her B.A. in liberal studies from Sarah Lawrence College and holds an M.A. in curriculum and instruction from the University of the Pacific. |
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Abby Marquart - Director
A proud and connected Minnesotan, Abby enjoys hiking, biking and kayaking within the refuge. She initially got involved with the refuge as a volunteer Trail Ranger. In addition, Abby is a Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer. She answered the call for board members because she appreciates the Minnesota River Valley and the wild, protected space that is the wildlife refuge. Abby wants to be the best steward possible of the amazing resource that is the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge. Her favorite spot within the refuge is the rapids area and the area that was Inyan Ceyaka Otonwe (the Village at the Barrier of Stone). |
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Tom Worthington - Director
Tom Worthington worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 38 years before retiring in 2018 as the Deputy Regional Chief of Refuges for the Midwest Region. He started his career with the Service at the Okefenokee Refuge in southeast Georgia, moved to Minnesota Valley Refuge in 1983 where he helped plan and design the current Visitor Center, and later took on a variety of Refuge System leadership positions in the Midwest Regional Office. Tom remains active on the Service’s History Committee, recording oral histories from retired Service employees and partners. He enjoys playing tennis and sailing. He and his wife Melissa volunteer at the Refuge Nature Store and Information Desk and are frequent refuge trail hikers. They have two grown children and three grandchildren. |
