MBI has been providing scientific research and education since 1997. We offer a unique skillset, bringing together sound science and education based on extensive expertise and experience. Many of the techniques broadly utilized in standardized aquatic resource monitoring across Ohio and the Midwest were pioneered by members of the MBI team. We bring this expertise to the field, to the classroom, and to all that we do.
Meet the Team
Allison Boehler
Allison Boehler has been with MBI since 2003. Her responsibilities include monitoring and managing the daily administrative, fiscal, human resource and operational needs of MBI. She also oversees the MBI Education Program and is a key contributor in determining the strategic direction of MBI. She was most recently Administrative Manager and Conference Coordinator at the Ohio Biological Survey, and served as the first Education Director of the Ohio Wildlife Center. Her interests include environmental awareness and involvement, and conservation of wildlife and all natural resources. She received a B.S. in Wildlife Management from The Ohio State University.
Administrative and Education Director
Mike Bolton
Mike has been an Aquatic Ecologist and Senior Macroinvertebrate Taxonomist with MBI since November of 2020. He is primarily involved with the identification of macroinvertebrate samples and helps with limited field work. He retired from the Ohio EPA in 2019 where he spent 36 years conducting biological field surveys of Ohio streams. At the Ohio EPA he was one of the principle investigators in the Primary Headwater methods and created the HMFEI (Headwater Macroinvertebrate Field Evaluation Index). He has published scientific papers on various aspects of macroinvertebrate taxonomy and distribution. He published papers describing a new species of chironomid midge (Paratanytarsus longistilus), a new species of fossil oyster from the Plio-Pleistocene of Florida (Striostrea paucichomata), and the immature stages of a terrestrial chironomid (Chasmatonotus unimaculatus). Through his efforts in collecting and associating the life stages of chironomids he was honored by various researchers with five species named after him. The complete downloadable list of his publications can be found online at Research Gate and Academia. He received a B.S. in Natural Science and a M.S. in Biology from the University of Akron.
Senior Macroinvertebrate Taxonomist
Rich Carter
Rich Carter has been a Policy Research Associate with MBI since April 2024. He tracks water policy issues at the state/national level and represents MBI in interactions with local watershed groups and state/local governments, as well as coordinating organizational outreach. He most recently served in several capacities at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife (DOW), including: Fish Chief directing statewide fisheries management/research and collaborating on Great Lakes, Mississippi River Basin, and regional fisheries/invasive species efforts; Fish Management Supervisor/Fisheries Biologist managing regional fisheries management efforts; and, Infrastructure Program Administrator directing statewide wetland construction/renovation, stream restoration, and reservoir dam/access/habitat restoration. Before DOW, Rich served as Water & RCRA Program Manager at GT Environmental, Inc. and Manager at Science Application International Corporation, managing water/hazardous waste projects, site contaminant investigations/restorations, and biologists/compliance professionals, as well as conducting business development and marketing. Prior to that, he served as a supervisor and environmental scientist in the toxic substances and solid waste programs at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Rich received a B.S. in Environmental Biology from Ohio University, and a M.S. in Fish Biology from The Ohio State University.
Policy Research Associate
Chelsea Dingess
Chelsea Dingess has been a part of the MBI team since 2019. Starting as a Field Technician on the water chemistry crew, she quickly advanced to Crew Leader. At MBI, Chelsea is also the Administrative Assistant and has a wide range of responsibilities from office organization, record keeping, and communication to field sampling chemistry, macroinvertebrate sorting, datasonde deployment, sediment collection, filtering chlorophyll and preparing and shipping samples. She also plays a key role in the MBI Education Program, where she coordinates and facilitates the courses. Chelsea studied at The Ohio State University and has BS degree in Natural Resources Management and is a Level 3 Qualified Data Collector for Water Chemistry and QHEI.
Aquatic Ecologist & Administrative Assistant
Trent Dougherty
Trent Dougherty joined MBI as Executive Director in September of 2022. Trent is responsible for overseeing the overall management of the organization, and for the development of MBI policies, procedures, and operations. He is a nonprofit and environmental attorney, and is Partner at the law firm Hubay Dougherty LLC. Before joining MBI, Trent was General Counsel for the Ohio Environmental Council and its family of organizations for over 16 years. He represented the OEC and its members before the Environmental Review Appeals Commission, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Ohio General Assembly, and Congress. Trent also created and directed the OEC’s Ohio Environmental Law Center. He has published and presented on numerous environmental, energy, and natural resources law and non-profit law issues. Trent received a B.A. from the Ohio State University and a Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School.
Executive Director
Jack Freda
Jack Freda has been a Macroinvertebrate Ecologist with MBI since early 2013. He is a certified Level 3 macroinvertebrate biologist, and conducts multiple macroinvertebrate surveys. He also assists and conducts training in field sampling, sample processing, and laboratory identification procedures and techniques. He is responsible for various technical report writing and editing tasks encompassing the range of biological, chemical, and physical habitat survey assessments conducted by MBI. He recently retired from the Ohio EPA with 38 years of experience specializing in macroinvertebrate sample collection and identification, and analysis of data from streams and rivers in Ohio and the Midwest. He assisted with the development of the Ohio EPA Invertebrate Community Index (ICI), and the VAP Program Level 3 macroinvertebrate training. He received a B.S. in Fisheries Management from Ohio State University.
Macroinvertebrate Ecologist
Vickie Gordon
Vickie L. Gordon began her career at MBI in 2004 as a part-time field technician. In 2007, Vickie accepted the full-time position as Aquatic Ecologist and Field Crew Leader. Over the years with MBI, Vickie transitioned from working primarily with fish to chemical water quality. She is currently the Projects and Data Management Coordinator, where she works closely with the Research Director on project details, and oversees field logistics and field crew coordination. Vickie is a Level 3 Fish and QHEI Qualified Data Collector and a Level 3 Water Chemistry Qualified Data Collector.
Projects and Data Management Coordinator
Edward Hicks
Edward first joined MBI in the spring of 2023 as the Assistant Crew Lead and Fish Taxonomist for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, sampling in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Prior to MBI, Edward worked as a Student Worker and Field Technician for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Biomonitoring units in St. Paul and Brainerd. Edward received a B. S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology with a Fisheries and Aquatic Biology emphasis from the University of Minnesota in 2022. He is in the process of obtaining a Fish Biology Level 3 QDC certification from the Ohio EPA.
NRSA Assistant Crew Leader
Martin Knapp
Martin Knapp has been an Aquatic Ecologist with MBI since 2007. He is the lead macroinvertebrate taxonomist and is currently involved with macroinvertebrate sampling, identification, and report writing for MBI projects including assessments in the Great Miami River, Mill Creek, and the Little Miami River basins in southwest Ohio, the Black River lacustuary, the Dupage River in Illinois, and the Elkhart River in Indiana. Past projects at MBI include statistical analyses of macroinvertebrate and diatom assemblages from wetlands, and macroinvertebrate identifications from Georgia streams. At Ohio EPA from 1981 until his retirement in 2007, he sampled macroinvertebrates throughout Ohio, performed bioassays on Ohio discharger effluents, coordinated biological and water quality assessments, wrote Water Quality Based Effluent Limit (WQBEL) reports, and developed a wetland invertebrate community index for Ohio’s wetland program. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Biology from the University of Akron, an M.A.S. in statistics from Ohio State University, and is currently enrolled at Columbus State Community College pursuing continuing education.
Macroinvertebrate Ecologist
Maddy Moates
Maddy joined MBI the summer of 2022 working as a Technician with the fish crew. During this role she was able to sample and learn about the species of fish located in Ohio and Illinois watersheds, including the Scioto and Olentangy in Ohio, and the Des Plaines in Illinois. Maddy has returned to MBI as the Crew Leader for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment survey, conducting sampling in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In this position she coordinates the NRSA Crew, and samples fish, water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat along with multiple other indicators to assess water quality. Maddy studied at Ashland University where she received her B.S. in Environmental Science and Biology.
NRSA Crew Leader
Pete Precario
Pete Precario was the Executive Director of MBI from 2007 through August of 2022. He was also an environmental attorney until January of 2022, and previously worked at the Ohio EPA as Chief of the Litigation Development Section. In that position he was responsible for Ohio EPA case management and for the development of many OEPA regulations. He practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, principally environmental law involving matters across the State of Ohio. He was appointed by Governor Celeste to serve on the Environment Board of Review (now called the Environmental Review Appeals Commission) and served as Chairman. He has been involved in a number of commissions and advisory boards relating to OEPA management and the development of regulations and standards. Pete received a B.A. from the Ohio State University and a JD from the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University.
Senior Policy Advisor
Edward Rankin
Edward T. Rankin has been an Aquatic Ecologist with MBI since 2012, having worked on MBI projects since 2003. He is currently involved in developing an Integrated Priority System for addressing multiple point and nonpoint source impacts for the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSDGC). Other current research includes: the effects of stressors on aquatic life in rivers, streams and watersheds; training on stream habitat assessment methods; development and application of biological criteria; and, derivation of biocriteria-based stressor targets and criteria for aquatic life. He was most recently a Senior Research Associate at the Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University (OU). This followed 19 years as an Environmental Scientist at the Ohio EPA working on developing biological criteria, the Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index, and other water assessment methods. Past projects include an EPA STAR grant on watershed classification and stressor identification and serving on the National Academy of Sciences and EPA Science Advisory Boards. While at OU he collaborated on numerous MBI projects including an examination of the sensitivity of Unionid mussels to ammonia and other stressors, studies on coal mining impaired watersheds in southeast Ohio and research on data from US EPA’s National Rivers and Stream surveys. He received a B.S. in Biology from St. Bonaventure University, and an M.S. in Zoology from The Ohio State University.
Aquatic Ecologist
Alex Roller-Knapp
Alexander Roller-Knapp has been with MBI since 2009. He began as a field technician and is now the primary Macroinvertebrate Crew Leader. He is certified as a Level 3 Macroinvertebrate Qualified Data Collector with 13 years of field surveying experience. He leads work crews as well as assists with MBI training courses on sampling procedures and techniques. His interests include organizing community work days, fishing, salamander observation and anything outdoors. In 2017, he started an annual earth day river clean up that has removed over 13 tons of litter from the Olentangy and Scioto river banks. He has an associate degree in Environmental Science Safety and Health as well as a Macroinvertebrate Level 3 Qualified Data Collection certification from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Macroinvertebrate Ecologist
Anthony Sasson
Anthony Sasson has been a Research Associate with MBI since 2018. He tracks Clean Water Act policy issues at the state and national level, such as aquatic biodiversity protection, stormwater, nutrient pollution and the Waters of the U.S. rule. He represents MBI in interactions with local watershed groups and state and local governments. He was most recently a freshwater conservation manager at The Nature Conservancy in Ohio, working on state and national policy and regulation, stream conservation technical issues, protection of Big Darby Creek and Lake Erie conservation. He has served on various advisory committees, such as for the Ohio EPA, Ohio Water Resources Council and Clean Ohio Fund. He participated in Ohio’s Western Lake Erie Basin water quality plans and projects (especially agricultural nutrient pollution), the USDA State Technical Committee, the Ohio Nutrient Reduction Plan, nutrient and other water quality standards, and provided numerous comments and communications for the Conservancy and MBI related to state water quality assessments, legislation, policies and rules related to water quality. He is active in the Ohio Scenic Rivers Association and the Darby Creek Association. He has over 40 years of experience in water quality and other environmental protection. He received a B.A. in Biology from Wittenberg University,a Masters of Environmental Science from Miami University, and a B.A. in Geological Sciences from The Ohio State University.
Research Associate
Ashley Smith
Ashley Smith joined MBI during the summer of 2021. As part of the macroinvertebrate team, she has had the opportunity to sample a variety of watersheds in both Illinois and Ohio. When she is not in the field, she assists with cleaning and sorting samples in preparation for identification. Prior to joining MBI, she worked as an intern at the Groveport field office of the Ohio EPA. Shortly after, she served for two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer at the Raccoon Creek Partnership. Ashley studied at Ohio University where she received a BS in Environmental Biology. Ashley is certified as a Level 2 Qualified Data Collector for Macroinvertebrates, and is working toward obtaining her Level 3 QDC certification.
Macroinvertebrate Ecologist
Chris Yoder
Chris O. Yoder has been the Research Director of MBI since 2001 with 46 years of professional work experience. He is involved in the development and application of biological assessments and biological criteria, including the development of methods for rivers and streams, wetlands, and lakes. He is presently involved in numerous projects that employ monitoring and assessment, environmental indicators, and biological assessment. He has conducted reviews of 27 state and 3 federal bioassessment programs and has advised EPA, states, municipalities, and watershed organizations about the development and implementation of biological criteria and water quality standards. He was formerly a senior research associate at the Ohio University Voinovich School for Leadership and Public Affairs (2000-7) and Manager of the Ecological Assessment Section at Ohio EPA (1976-2000). He is a lead instructor for the Qualified Data Collector training as part of the Ohio Credible Data program, serves on a U.S. EPA working group for biocriteria and bioassessments, and served on a National Research Council committee (2001) and a General Accounting Office panel (2012) concerning the role of science in TMDLs. He has authored more than 70 technical publications and more than 300 oral presentations. Current research includes biological and water quality assessment, water quality standards (WQS), Clean Water Act (CWA) policies, and assisting state, and non-governmental programs to improve their understanding and use of WQS and monitoring information. He received a B.S. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University in 1973, and a M.A. in Zoology from DePauw University in 1976.