Tim DeGraff serves as Regional General Manager for the Western states for RES. Tim is a certified professional wetland scientist with experience in wetland habitats throughout the United States with extensive experience in California. Before joining RES, Tim was CEO of WRA, Inc., a California-based professional consulting services firm focusing on plant, wildlife, and wetland ecology and regulatory compliance.

Tim has conducted over one hundred wetland delineations and has taught the wetland delineation certification class through San Francisco State University for ten years. His specialty is complicated projects involving large wetland impacts, endangered species consultation, complex mitigation requirements, and interagency negotiation. Tim was also the lead scientist and led the effort to entitle the largest wetland mitigation bank in California, the first stream mitigation bank in California, and several innovative conservation banks, including the first amphibian conservation bank involving translocation.

Dave Meurer serves as Director of Community Affairs, West Region. Dave previously served as the primary media and public affairs contact for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) as it planned for the largest dam removal and river restoration project in U.S. history. This important but often misunderstood project benefitted from Dave’s 28 years of experience working in Congressional and State Senate offices in Northern California. Dave has navigated many contentious issues and built numerous relationships over many years. He enjoys engaging with local, state, and federal officials, building consensus, and getting results.

Dave is especially passionate about solving chronic water challenges in California and the Pacific Northwest and seeking win-win outcomes for rural communities in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Dave earned a BA in Communications & Political Science from CSU, Chico, and resides in Redding, CA.

Darrel comes to RES with extensive expertise in real estate and property management. He is dedicated to creating solid business relationships that reap rewards and benefits for all involved parties. Prior to RES, Darrel was the REO Assets Manager and later Vice President of Real Estate Assets for Owens Financial Group, Inc. in Walnut Creek, CA. He supervised, leased, and disposed of a large portfolio of commercial and residential real estate.

Mandi serves as the Regional Client Solutions Manager for RES’ West Region. She joined RES in 2022 with a broad range of experience in the environmental industry from previous positions as Business Development Director at SWCA, Inc., and Department Head at Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc. With projects and business development connections in Hawaii, Alaska, California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest, she has over 20 years of experience providing environmental solutions to clients. With a focus on the transmission, renewable energy, and Federal sectors. Mandi’s varied background in management and project execution includes large-scale prairie and wetland restoration in the Midwest and the construction of Pennsylvania’s largest-ever stream restoration project.

Mandi earned her BS from California State Polytechnic University Pomona in 2001 and her MA from New Mexico State University in 2005.

Teresa joined RES in 2023 as a Client Solutions Associate for the West Region, bringing a unique blend of bilingual sales expertise and a strong background in organizational operations. Her career spans both Mexico and the U.S., where she has developed specialized experience in biology, archaeology, and ecological restoration.

Holding a degree in Organizational Psychology and certifications in Management, Teresa also brings over a decade of experience in Human Resources, working in complex, international, and multicultural environments. She excels at managing cross-functional projects, optimizing internal processes, and delivering exceptional client support—all while driving operational efficiency and productivity.

With a passion for connecting people and solutions, Teresa plays a key role in ensuring RES projects run smoothly and clients receive the highest level of service.

Dave Coffman is RES’ Director of Northern California and Southern Oregon operations, RES’ West Region lead fluvial geomorphologist, and serves as the Restoration Program Manager on the Lower Klamath Project, the world’s largest dam removal and river restoration project. With a focus on large-scale ecological restoration projects, Dave brings extensive experience in dam and reservoir projects. He has a proven track record in new dam initiatives, including site selection, long-term water supply assessment, regulatory compliance, and ecological mitigation planning and implementation. Additionally, Dave excels in dam removal projects, guiding restoration efforts, permit development, and team leadership.

Dave has contributed to evaluating and designing more than 120 miles of stream restoration, erosion protection, and streambank stabilization projects throughout his career. His expertise spans a range of disciplines, including stream geomorphology, hydrology, erosion monitoring, sediment transport analysis, slope stability, and scour assessment. Dave has restored and enhanced fluvial systems through natural channel design, process-based restoration, and various mitigation strategies, from small streams to significant rivers across North America.

AJ serves as the Credit Sales Manager for RES’ West Region. He joins RES with extensive experience managing federal regulatory compliance for ecological restoration projects throughout all 50 states, Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. With a passion for developing sustainable funding strategies for restoration-focused organizations, he has maintained a diverse client base that includes federal agencies, tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, and units of state and local governments. Most recently, AJ developed the federal regulatory compliance program for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s America the Beautiful Challenge, a half-billion dollar grant program focused on implementing large-scale restoration and conservation initiatives throughout the United States.

In 2024, AJ earned a Masters of Natural Resources Stewardship (M.N.R.S.) from Colorado State University, with an emphasis on ecological restoration.

Kyrsten Shields serves as Regulatory Director for RES’ West Region. Kyrsten has a BS in Natural Resource Planning from Humboldt State University, with a minor in Soils, and has over 20 years of experience managing a wide range of, sometimes complex and controversial, permitting and compliance projects for private sector and public agency projects. Her expertise is in Federal and State Clean Water Act permitting, Endangered Species and Cultural Resource Consultations, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Streambed Alteration Agreements and Incidental Take Authorizations. Before joining RES, Kyrsten spent two years working as a Resource Planner for the County of Lake and over 18 years in environmental consulting, including her role as a Regulatory Group Manager.

Kyrsten’s experience also includes facilitating multi-agency approvals for Preserves established as Clean Water Act waters avoidance and minimization and listed species habitat preservation. She has prepared long-term management plans, property analysis records, and conservation easements and facilitated the onboarding of easements/endowment holders and long-term land managers. Kyrsten also has experience managing the preparation of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents and managing Caltrans Local Assistance projects for Caltrans.

Kyrsten enjoys regulatory mentoring and welcomes each opportunity to engage in agency negotiation!