Evie Witten

Co-FOUNDer, Principal

Evie Witten brings expertise in natural climate solutions, community-based conservation, food systems and business/organizational start-up to the Regeneration North team.  Evie currently leads our work to develop the foundation for sustainable and inclusive seaweed mariculture industry in Alaska, including applied research in kelp farm systems, energy efficient processing methods, and market diversification.

Evie previously provided senior leadership for The Nature Conservancy in Canada (Nature United), World Wildlife Fund’s international Bering Sea Conservation program, and Alaska’s Great Land Trust.  She applied conservation science principals and data to landscape scale conservation initiatives, and established collaborative approaches to natural resource conflicts and challenges, including the Emerald Edge Initiative and Path to Prosperity sustainable business program, Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy, Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, and Pribilof Islands Collaborative. 

Evie and her family own Ebb Tide Ocean Farm, growing kelp in tandem with oysters in Kachemak Bay. Her other food systems experience includes business start-up ( founder and initial owner of Evie’s Brinery), regenerative agriculture research, commercial fishing, and working in co-production to document and protect Indigenous traditional harvests in the Arctic.  She serves on the Alaska Governor’s Food Strategy Task Force, and as Governing Board Member of the Alaska Food Policy Council.

She earned a BA in Environmental Studies and Geology from the University of Vermont, and a Masters in Forest Science from Yale University.

Cathy Flanagan

co-Principal  

Cathy is trained as a hydrologist and brings extensive experience with instream flow, water rights, riverine conservation, integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, community collaboration, and project management. She has honed her knowledge of Alaska’s natural systems as a water specialist for The Nature Conservancy, the U.S Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and through her private consulting firm. She’s established conservation solutions using scientific analysis, instream flow water reservations, watershed planning and assessment, and collaborative approaches to water resource conflicts. She has applied her knowledge of water, people, and ecosystems working with private, governmental, non-profit, and Alaska Native groups in Alaska over the past 20 years.

 Cathy’s experience in food systems includes protecting subsistence fisheries and traditional use areas with Alaska’s Bristol Bay communities, as well as a passion for salmon fishing, and community gardening.  She is the founder and developer of TossedAlaska; an Alaska-specific cooking and gardening website committed to using Alaska grown foods and encouraging individuals to be creative and independent in their food preparation.  

Cathy holds a Master of Watershed Science from Colorado State University, and a BS in Environmental Engineering from the Rutgers University.

Rand Hagenstein

Co-FOUNDER & Senior Strategist

Rand is an ecologist who has worked in non-profit leadership, conservation and natural resource research and analysis in northern ecosystems for 30+ years. His broad experience and expertise includes conservation strategy and implementation, public and private fundraising, conservation finance and community economic development, marine and fisheries issues, invasive species eradication, and nature-based climate solutions. He has worked throughout Alaska in diverse communities evaluating resource development impacts on traditional harvests, commercial fishing, and collecting biological data.

Rand’s current and recent work is focused on developing and scaling seaweed mariculture in Alaska, and on supporting temperate agroforestry initiatives in North America. In his spare time, he is a kelp farmer, fine woodworker and rough carpenter, wooden boat builder and restorer, intensive vegetable producer, and traditional charcuterie student, among other things.

Rand holds a BA in Northern Studies from Middlebury College, and a Masters in Forest Science from Yale University.