Board and staff

Phone: (651) 560-2057

Email: christina.taylor@usda.gov

Provides technical assistance for NRCS projects and programs. More information coming soon.

Phone: (651) 560-2053 

Email: susan.cerwinske.wabashaswcd@gmail.com

Will probably answer the phone when you call and connect you with the right person in the office. Contact for information about invoicing, payments, board agenda, and data requests.

Phone: (651) 560-2055 

Email: matthew.kempinger@mn.nacdnet.net

Matt Kempinger has been working as a District Technician for Wabasha SWCD since 2020. He is the area contact for resource concern solutions. He works primarily on structural practices such as grassed waterways, water impoundment structures, and streambanks. He works with the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) and serves as the LGU for the Wetland Conservation Act (WCA). Matt is originally from the Rochester MN area and spent most of his time growing up outdoors throughout southeast Minnesota. He graduated in 2017 from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point with a degree in fisheries and water resources. Since then, he has had diverse work experiences that have greatly expanded his appreciation for conservation. Before joining the SWCD he worked on aquatic habitat for Wyoming Game and Fish and as an aquatic biologist with a company in Colorado monitoring water quality. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids. He enjoys music and all things outdoors especially rock climbing, hiking, and exploring backroads.

Phone:(651) 560-2045

Email:Katelyn.Abts@mn.nacdnet.net

Katelyn Abts is the newest member of the Wabasha SWCD team, working as the Natural Resources Technician since August 2023. She is working with Reinvest in Minnesota Easement Owners in RIM inspections and with the Volunteer Monitoring Network (VNMN) in finding and managing volunteers to test well water for possible contaminants. She is also your contact for pollinator and native species planting, tree order, and invasive species assistance. Katelyn grew up in Fountain City, WI and first worked with the SWCD as an AmeriCorps member in community forestry before joining as a full-time staff member. In her free time, she loves to bike and sketch/preserve native wild flowers and leaves. She plans on visiting every US National Park with Yosemite next on the list.

Phone: (651) 560-2060

Email: DeannaPomije@mn.nacdnet.net

New to the Wabasha SWCD is Deanna Pomije. She has come to the Wabasha SWCD with 25 years of experience working in conservation. Previously she has worked with both soil and water districts and the federal, Natural Resources Conservation Service in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. She grew up in New Prague, Minnesota and went to school in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She studied Biology - plants and Soils. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, canning, reading, prairie restoration and spending time with family and friends. Since 2000, she has been a Certified Crop Advisor, CCA. With Wabasha SWCD she will be focusing on nutrient management and soil health conservation practices such as cover crops and prescribed grazing. She is anxious to begin work once again in the driftless area and work on conservation agronomy with Wabasha producers.

Phone: (651)-560-2061

Email: ella.jurgerson@mn.nacdnet.net

Ella joined the SWCD in July of 2025 after previously serving with Americorp at the SWCD. Ella recently graduated in 2025 with a bachelors of environmental science. Ella works on practices such as cover crops, reduced-tillage, and field borders. Reach out to Ella in regards to interest in learning more about these practices and if assistance is available for implementing these practices on your land! In her free time she enjoys hunting pheasants with her lab and german shorthair, trout fishing the driftless region, duck hunting the Mississippi, deer hunting in the big woods, and hanging out on the farm in her garden or with her chickens!

Phone: (651) 560-2052 

Email: william.wayne@USDA.gov

Provides technical assistance for NRCS projects and programs. Technical assistance for structural projects such as grassed waterways and water impoundment, grazing management and general conservation planning.

Phone: (651) 560-2057

Email: christina.taylor@usda.gov

Provides technical assistance for NRCS projects and programs. More information coming soon.

Phone: (651) 560-2044 

Email: terri.peters@mn.nacdnet.net

Terri has been with the SWCD for over 13 years and over that time has acted in administrative and technical assistance capacities. Connect with her for questions regarding conservation programs and grants, water quality/well programs, AgBMP Loan information, SWCD business, and connection to the SWCD board, staff, partner agencies and resources. Terri is a Wabasha County native and she enjoys working with her community. Now that her 4 children are grown, she has dog children and is a foster for English Springer Rescue America (ESRA). Terri is the secretary for the Kellogg Lions Club. In her free time she enjoys music, gardening, canning and preserving, cooking, fishing and foraging, yoga, true crime podcasts, and spending time with her husband Bradley, family, and friends.