Living Amongst the Green Giants
From anemones to old-growth trees, a celebration of life on the Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is home to some of the most immense life forces on the planet, with the Pacific Ocean and the rainforest coming together at the sea cliffs.
That’s why NCLC does our work in this region, to protect and care for this rare and wonderful place and its vast biodiversity. Enjoy an evening of celebrating life among these lands and waters—from the coastal prairies and wetlands to the peaks of the Coast Range and the expansive Cape Falcon Marine Reserve—and learn about the incredible impacts of local conservation with a presentation by NCLC Marine Coordinator Angela Whitlock and NCLC Executive Director Katie Voelke.
We’ll be presenting as part of Friends of Haystack Rock’s “Nature Talks” lectures, to be held at the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Katie Voelke, Executive Director
Katie Voelke was raised in a home under oak trees where she spent many hours collecting bugs, making mud pies with her sister, and camping and hiking with her parents in the summers. She is sure that this life-long exposure to the natural world is what led her on a path to study biology in school. Katie settled on Oregon’s north coast with her husband Scott in 2003 and spent time doing field work with the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife before she finally found her calling: working in land conservation with NCLC. In 2005, Katie started as NCLC’s first Stewardship Director, working under founding Executive Director, Neal Maine. After three years of learning the ropes alongside Neal, she took the helm in 2008 as Executive Director. Although her job at NCLC keeps her inside more than she would like, she manages to get her fix of the outdoors by following in her parent’s footsteps: bug collecting with her three sons and spending the summers hiking and camping with family.
Angela Whitlock, Marine Program Coordinator
Raised in Portland, Angela Whitlock spent ample time on the coast with her family hiking, camping, biking, crabbing, fishing, and exploring the beaches. She worked as a professional goldsmith for 25 years—a career that enabled her to move to the northern Oregon Coast in 2000. While attending Clatsop Community College, she became the first recipient of the Environmental Steward Certificate through the college, in partnership with Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. She also became involved in volunteer conservation efforts, including marine debris surveys, salmon stream surveys, and CoastWatch’s Adopt a Mile program. In 2020, she joined Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) as a lead environmental interpreter and became immersed in the world of rocky intertidal habitat,
satisfying the longing she felt as a child to be a marine biologist. She joined the Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP) at Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in 2021 and served two seasons. In March 2023, she started as NCLC’s Marine Program Coordinator, giving her an opportunity to further her passion for coastal conservation. In her leisure time, she enjoys nature journaling; walking outdoors with her dog Cricket; bird watching; and exploring tide pools (she’s still holding out hope to find evidence of the existence of mermaids).