Max Showalter

Background

About Max Showalter

How do we use our natural resources and have them too? With a decade of experience in marine science and natural resource management, I'm motivated to tackle the big complex question of how we balance conservation and recovery of habitat with sustainable use of the resources communities need to survive. I was born and raised in Coal Country, so I've seen the impacts of natural resources that are extracted to maximize profit rather than managed to prioritize the well-being of the communities who steward them. Primary among these affected are the Tribal nations and Indigenous people who rely on unbroken connection to the land for cultural continuity. As a polar scientist, I built a technical background to understand how climate change influences our changing world, working with Inuit scholars to learn Indigenous ways of knowing and policy-making. Now in my role as Deputy Policy Director at Washington Department of Natural Resources, I flex my skills in facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning, working to make sure Tribal Nations and residents of Washington will have healthy trees and seas for generations to come.