Daniel Einstein
Land Conservation Director
Daniel Einstein received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Washington and was an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Saint Martin’s University. Prior to his appointment at Saint Martin’s, he worked in research with over 15 years of experience in interdisciplinary teams in the national laboratory system, at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, and at the Cleveland Clinic.
He moved with his wife from Seattle to a farm in Olympia near Woodard Bay in 2000, where they enjoyed watching the great blue herons from the Woodard Bay colony. In 2006, they moved to their current residence in West Olympia, where their daughter was born. From their front porch, they enjoyed watching the West Bay colony during their raucous breeding season, and followed with increasing concern the progressive destruction of their nesting grounds. That concern led to the establishment of the Olympia Coalition for Ecosystems Preservation (now Olympia Ecosystems), focused on protecting, preserving and restoring key ecosystems in Olympia, WA. Daniel acted as Board President of OlyEcosystems from its inception until 2022, when he became the organization’s first Land Conservation Director.
Caroline Slagle
Restoration Specialist
Caroline Slagle joined Olympia Ecosystems as a Restoration Specialist in June of 2025. She is completing her Master of Environmental Studies at The Evergreen State College, where her thesis surveys prairie–oak edge understory species in the South Salish Sea ecoregion to guide ecological and cultural restoration in collaboration with tribal, state, and non-profit partners.
Caroline has wide-ranging experience in local habitat restoration—from helping run the native plant nursery at Thurgood Marshall Middle School as an AmeriCorps member, to co-planning the Festival of the st̓əč̓as (Steh-Chass) as Program Director of the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team (DERT). She also applied her GIS skills at PropagationNation, mapping the assisted migration of coast redwoods and giant sequoias to Washington.
Before joining our staff at Olympia Ecosystems, Caroline worked with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Scientific Technician assessing in-stream barriers to anadromous fish migration and prioritizing WSDOT stream restoration projects.
Shane Oprescu
Bookkeeper
Shane Oprescu is passionate about water, the environment, and the mission of Olympia Ecosystems. She brings experience with growing organizations in transition, specifically in the areas of bookkeeping, payroll, scheduling, contracts, advocacy, relationship building, and project management. While we have hired Shane as a bookkeeper, we already know she will benefit the work and mission of our dynamic group in uncountable ways. Shane attended Charles Wright Academy, Linfield College, and The Evergreen State College, where she earned a BA in Community and Health. In her spare time, Shane enjoys open water swimming, gardening, and ceramics.
