About the Friends Staff
Jason has worked for the Friends since November 1999 and has a background in natural resource management, landscape design, and planning. He is particularly interested in understanding the ecological relationships between human activities and the landscapes in which they occur. He leads the implementation of the Friends Stewardship Program to care for habitat and recreational resources within greater Mt. Pisgah including Buford Park. Over his tenure, he has defined the Friends brand of stewardship and nurtured the relationship between the organization, its membership, the public, and this place we know as our urban wilderness. He is a principal author of the park’s Habitat Management Plan, as well as plans to guide management of the Sorenson Property (owned by BPA) and Turtle Flats (owned by the Friends).
After growing up in the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas, the bulk of Mike's work experience includes over 20 years with the National Park Service and 10 years with the U.S. Forest Service in fuels management, fire behavior and strategic fire planning, though he has also served as a seasonal park naturalist and law enforcement ranger. He has a home in south Eugene and also still owns land in the Arkansas Ozarks. He also enjoys spending time in the field appreciating all the the upper Willamette Valley has to offer.
Jared Tarr, Volunteer & Intern Coordinator
Mieko Aoki, Nursery Manager
Mieko has a background in biology, ecology, landscape architecture, horticulture, habitat restoration and wildlife rehabilitation. She joined the Friends in 2017 as Trails and Volunteer Coordinator, and became the Nursery Manager in 2020. She has always enjoyed plants, animals and what can be learned by slowing down and observing them. When not at work she loves camping in the mountains, wading in streams, listening to birdsong, sharing good food with friends and spending time with her awesome husband.
Hailing from the rural south, Hannah grew up stomping through forests and wading rivers. She gradually moved west, working multiple seasonal jobs including tallgrass prairie restoration in Nebraska using bison grazing, wild donkey behavioral observation in Arizona, and passerine songbird densities within working Oregon forests. After falling in love with the various microhabitats of the Willamette Valley, she decided to call Eugene home in 2019. Hannah enjoys creating delicious meals from the food in her garden, foraging plants and mushrooms in the coastal mountain range, and cuddling her snuggle-bug of a cat.
April Dawne Christen, Nursery and Admin Assistant
April Dawne grew up in Eugene and has been hiking and exploring all over Oregon with her dad since she was a kid. Her love of plants, mushrooms, wild places, dancing, delicious food and being physically active has led to a varied work history. She has been a restaurant cook, worked for the Forest Service, coordinated natural history workshops and continues to run her own landscaping business. She joined the Friends Stewardship crew in June of 2016, became the Nursery Assistant in May of 2020, and administrative assistant in 2024. You can find April Dawne by listening for her infectious laugh.