OUR TEAM
Compass Ecospatial's dedicated experts bring decades of experience in ecological restoration, geospatial analysis, and environmental planning. We deliver science-driven, collaborative solutions to restore ecosystems and support sustainable communities.
Kelley Jorgensen | President & Principal Ecologist of Compass Ecospatial
Kelley is an experienced professional with over 30 years of experience in applied science, bringing pragmatic solutions to environmental and natural resource management. She specializes in aquatic and terrestrial restoration ecology and has managed a variety of environmental projects and programs. Kelley’s expertise includes compensatory mitigation, ecological restoration, water-dependent infrastructure permitting, and project development. Kelley has held several leadership positions, including President of Conservation for a private landowner developing Washington State’s first multi-resource and multi-credit type fish, wetland, and Oregon white oak habitat mitigation and conservation bank and is a current member and past chairperson of the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board technical review panel.
Her extensive experience with environmental regulations and her strong relationships with key regulators have helped her clients navigate complex permitting processes and paved the way for highly visible and complex projects to take shape. She is skilled at working with diverse stakeholders and facilitating productive conversations among team members to ensure that all project challenges and needs are addressed responsibly, and all perspectives are considered.
Kelley has recently joined the National Small Business Association Leadership Council, bringing her skills and knowledge of conveying lived experience to advocacy for small and emerging businesses. Kelley has experience advocating for compensatory mitigation policy reform and program resourcing to improve regulatory process predictability for permittees and reduce risk for mitigation providers and end-users of mitigation services.
Chris Watson | Founder & Principal, GIS Analyst GISP, & Field Geologist
Chris has over 25 years of environmental and geospatial work in the Pacific Northwest and currently leads the Compass team as a project manager with hydrologic modeling and GIS analytical capabilities. Chris utilizes spatial data to solve complex and often multifaceted problems. His skill set includes project management, GIS analysis, geodesign, geologic evaluation and exploration, technical writing, public education support, litigation support, computer simulations and modeling, and database design. His experience includes work for or on habitat restoration, compensatory mitigation, wind, natural gas, storm water, watershed and basin delineation, federal highways and bridges, state and municipal infrastructure, hazardous waste, landfills, mines, ports, CERCLA, and NERC CIP. Chris solves complex and often multifaceted problems using spatial data and analyses to serve his clients and support the Compass team.
Stephanie Ehinger | Senior Natural Resources Specialist
Stephanie brings over two decades of experience in environmental policy, regulatory consultation, and habitat conservation. Before joining Compass Ecospatial, she served as a senior Natural Resource Management Specialist at NOAA Fisheries, where she played a lead role in the development of innovative tools such as the Puget Sound Nearshore Conservation Calculator. Her work has supported strategic mitigation policy implementation, programmatic ESA consultations, and large-scale habitat evaluation efforts across the Salish Sea region.
Stephanie’s expertise spans ESA consultations, habitat quantification modeling, peer-reviewed tool development, and stakeholder engagement with agencies, ports, and regional coalitions. She has managed complex interdisciplinary projects, authored high-impact technical guidance, and frequently presented at national conferences on ecosystem markets, habitat banking, and conservation finance.
Stephanie holds a Master of Science in Biology from Universität Konstanz, with specializations in limnology and microbiology. She is a published scientist, experienced mentor, and recipient of multiple NOAA awards, including the Silver Sherman and Bronze Medal for her contributions to coastal conservation policy and habitat tool innovation.
Randy Goetz | Senior Fluvial Geomorphologist, Project Manager, LH, LG
Randy is a licensed Professional Hydrologist and Geologist with over 15 years of experience in river science, watershed management, and ecological restoration. His expertise spans hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, hydraulic analysis, and aquatic habitat design. Randy has extensive experience in field data collection across multiple spatial and temporal scales, and has managed projects ranging from watershed-scale assessments to reach-scale restoration, with a focus on delivering solutions that balance ecological function, regulatory compliance, and community needs.
Throughout his career, Randy has worked with tribal governments, municipalities, state agencies, and non-profits to design and implement projects that improve watershed health and aquatic connectivity. His project portfolio includes estuary and shoreline habitat rehabilitation, dam removal, floodplain reconnection, and channel habitat enhancement in diverse river systems throughout the western US. Randy is skilled at synthesizing field data, GIS-based analysis, and hydrologic/hydraulic modeling into management approaches that support resilient habitats and regulatory approvals.
Randy holds an M.S. in Watershed Science from Utah State University and a B.S. in Earth Sciences from the University of California. He is a Washington and Oregon Licensed Geologist, a Certified Professional Hydrologist with the American Institute of Hydrology, and is WSDOT Fish Passage & Stream Restoration Design Certified.
Janelle St. Pierre | Senior Ecologist, Project Manager
Janelle brings over two decades of environmental project and program management experience in the Pacific Northwest. She is a creative problem solver of community-based environmental issues with a strong commitment to connecting people with nature and facilitating public engagement.
Her project management experience includes comprehensive natural area management, riparian and floodplain restoration, fish passage installation, habitat enhancement for a variety of different habitat types, including oak and wetlands, and pollinator habitat creation. Her program management skills include stormwater management with a green infrastructure perspective, strategic planning for habitat connectivity, and basin-level project prioritization. Janelle is a skilled process facilitator of complex initiatives with a wide variety of partners, including non-profits, local governments and state agencies, utilities, public and private land managers, and businesses.
Gerrit Bass | Hydrologist
Gerrit has a background in working with conservation districts to assess the success of soil and water conservation practices and has a particular passion for rivers and the way they interact with their watersheds. His skill set includes both field-based data collection of environmental parameters as well as data analysis and reporting back in the office. His field duties have included water quality monitoring, soil sampling, riparian habitat assessment, surveying, and drone-based data collection. In the office, he enjoys taking this data and figuring out the story it’s trying to tell with the help of R programming and other analysis tools.
Dash Paulson, WPiT | Aquatic Scientist
Dash is a wetland professional in training, as well as an aquatic scientist with training in wetland delineation, plant identification, data analysis with R, and water quality monitoring. He specializes in studying beaver habitat modifications and their role in making watersheds more resilient to climate change. In addition to his environmental science education at the University of Washington, Dash has a background in journalism and communications from the University of Oregon, which he draws on to translate field data into compelling stories about environmental changes and opportunities.
Stephanie Whitson | Office & Administrative Manager
Stephanie is a master organizer and talented people person skilled in project management systems, project administration, contracting, accounts receivable, human resources, and day-to-day company planning. She is our dedicated technical editor and applies her background as a paralegal to her editing and contract management roles. She is responsible for documentation, meeting management, monitoring project budgets, using her time management skills to keep systems and projects on track, managing team and program schedules, tracking assignments and communicating progress on projects and programs.
Keston Kuechel | Business Strategist & Development Coordinator
Keston is a Business Strategist and Development Coordinator at Compass Ecospatial, where he leads strategic planning, proposal development, and partner engagement across the firm’s ecological restoration and geospatial services. He holds a Master’s degree in Marketing from Auckland University of Technology and brings a multidisciplinary background that bridges business strategy, economics, and environmental market innovation. At Compass, Keston plays a central role in positioning the firm for growth through targeted outreach, cross-sector collaboration, and the development of forward-looking initiatives. His work spans digital strategy, communications, and early-stage program design.