Staff Profiles

Evelyn Ravindran, Director

Evelyn is an enrolled member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and has worked in the KBIC Natural Resources Department (NRD) for the last twenty-nine years.  In her career within the department she has served as a technician, specialist, fishery/nursery manager and has been the director since June 2018. During these years, she has served on Community committees including the Tribal Natural Resources, Cultural, Parks and Recreation, Economic, and Treaty Rights as well as the Fisherman’s Memorial and Tribute Working Group. She has also enjoyed working on external advisory boards for the Wisconsin Sea Grant Agency, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College Environmental Sciences Program, and Michigan Technological University School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. 

Evelyn's current committee service includes the Buffalo Reef Taskforce, Michigan Wild Rice Team, Committee for Michigan’s Mining Future and the Torch Lake PAC. Additionally, she participates in work groups and research which provide opportunities to share KBIC stewardship principles and concerns for the protection of the Lake Superior basin communities. 

In her time away from work she enjoys seasonal gathering activities and spending time on the water with her family and friends including her mother, four children and three grandchildren. 

Evelyn can be reached at eravindran@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext.4215

Justin Woodruff, Water Resources Specialist, jwoodruff@kbic-nsn.gov, (906) 524-5757 ext. 4220

Shannon DesRochers, Great Lakes Resources Specialist

Shannon can be reached at sdesrochers@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext. 4231

Lyndon Ekdahl, Systems & Facilities Coordinator

Lyndon can be reached at lekdahl@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext. 4237

Dylan Friisvall, Water Resources Technician, dfriisvall@kbic-nsn.gov, (906) 524-5757 ext. 4232

Serene Gauthier, Environmental Response Specialist

Serene is the Environmental Response Specialist for the KBIC Natural Resources Department. She obtained her degree in Environmental Science at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe Community College. Since 2016, Serene’s work with the NRD encompasses manoomin, aquatic invasive species, and water quality. Her current position, which is land and waste-related, has become one her favorite positions within the department. The Environmental Response Program is responsible for Spill Response, Brownfields, Open Dumping, and implementing a Tribal Recycling program. Serene is also a member of KBIC Waste Advisory Board.

Serene enjoys spending time outdoors with her family participating in hunting, fishing, and gathering. As a KBIC tribal member she exercises her treaty rights and works to protect the lifeways of her Ojibwe culture by carrying on these traditions.  

Serene can be reached at sgauthier@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext. 4228

VACANT, Lake Superior Program Coordinator

Erin Johnston, Wildlife Biologist/Wildlife & Habitat Section Lead

As the Wildlife Program Lead for the KBIC Natural Resources Department, Erin is responsible for management and oversight of projects and surveys related to wildlife, habitat, and wetlands within the L’Anse Indian Reservation. Current projects and long-term monitoring efforts focus on bats, waterfowl, herptafauna, and wolves.  The Wildlife Program continues to grow and diversify as we build capacity and strengthen partnerships.  Erin’s professional affiliations include the Michigan Wetland Association, Intertribal Chronic Wasting Disease Working Group, and Partners for Watershed Restoration.

Erin grew up in East Lansing, Michigan and started her academic career at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2001.  After two years at U of M she transferred to Northern Michigan University to pursue a degree in wildlife biology.  After graduating from NMU in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife/Ecology, she went straight to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.  Her graduate work focused on understanding hunter risk perceptions associated with chronic wasting disease. 

Upon graduating with her master’s degree in Natural Resources Management in 2008, Erin moved back to the UP where she took a job as the Environmental Science Department Chair for the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. In early 2011, she took a position with the KBIC Natural Resources Department as the Lake Superior Program Coordinator and moved into the Wildlife Program in 2016.

When she’s not working, Erin enjoys exercising in her basement, running outdoors, and spending time in nature with her husband and two young daughters.

For more information about the Wildlife Program or Erin’s publications, please contact her at ejohnston@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext. 4227

Jane Kahkonen, Air Quality Specialist

Jane is the Air Quality Specialist for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Natural Resource Department. She received her Environmental Science degree from the Ojibwe Community College where her Capstone Project focused on local plant phenology in relation to climate change. Jane continues her education, specializing in air quality, at the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University and through the EPA’s Air Pollution Training Institute. 

Jane works with the KBIC community providing indoor air quality assessments targeting health related air quality issues within homes, schools, and tribal facilities. Her role as air specialist includes drafting comment letters on state air permits, federal air rules and regulations, and researching air pollutants and emissions that affect the Ceded Territory of 1842.

Jane works with Superior Watershed Partnership monitoring the air quality at the Eagle Mine and shares work days with the State of Michigan Air Quality Division. She is also a member of the KBIC Committee on Alternative and Renewable Energy, overseeing energy assessments of tribal facilities for energy cost savings and emission reductions.

Jane can be reached at jkahkonen@kbic-nsn.gov or (906) 524-5757 ext. 4223

Patrick LaPointe, Fisheries Field Technician

My name is Patrick LaPointe and I am the KBIC-NRD Fisheries Field Technician. I am an enrolled KBIC tribal member. I began working with the KBIC-NRD in 2011. Since 2012 I have worked in the discipline of field fisheries. I assist with a wide range of fisheries assessments that associate with walleye, lake trout, lake whitefish, lake sturgeon, brook trout and other species.

My hobbies include spending time with my family, deer hunting, planting food plots and spending any time possible in the outdoors. 

To reach Patrick, please email plapointe@kbic-nsn.gov or call 906-524-5757 ext. 4226

Gene Mensch, Fisheries and Wildlife Biologist

Contact Gene at 906-524-5757 ext. 4240 or email gmensch@kbic-nsn.gov

Dione Price, Environmental Specialist/Environmental Health Section Lead

Dione is the Environmental Specialist for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department where she assists with various environmental disciplines including pollution prevention, historical contamination, waste management, renewable energy, brownfields, recycling, National Environmental Policy Act reviews, and human and environmental health within the reservation and ceded territory. Dione is a member of KBIC’s Waste Advisory Board, Chair of the Committee for Alternative and Renewable Energy, and Vice-Chair of the Torch Lake Public Action Council.

Dione was born in L’Anse, MI and grew up in Keweenaw Bay and Liminga. Dione received her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University and additional undergraduate work in human health from Finlandia University. Prior to KBIC, Dione worked for 9 years in land, waste water, and bio solids management. She also has vast experience in crop production and animal health and nutrition.

In her spare time, Dione operates a farm in Keweenaw Bay that produces homegrown beef, poultry, eggs, and hay. Her passion remains within the equine field where she shares her love of horses with her young daughter.

Dione can be reached at dprice@kbic-nsn.gov or 906-524-8701 ext. 4217

Dave Runquist, Wetlands Specialist

Dave is the Wetlands Specialist at KBIC’s Natural Resources Department.  Dave is responsible for the development and implementation of a long-term wetland monitoring strategy/program for KBIC. 

Dave graduated with a Bachelor’s degree with a plant science focus from University of Wisconsin – Superior. He then worked for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation as a wetland delineator in the northwest 20 counties of Wisconsin, among other distinctions in the field. He helps remove and control invasive terrestrial plants to enhance and sustain the resources of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community by promoting the stewardship needed to prevent and control invasive species.