Leadership 2026

Dave has been a UWC member since 2018. This will be his fourth year in the Treasurer role, and this year he is also heroically taking on the role of President! He started paddling as a youth in the mid-west, canoeing, fishing and doing multi-day canoe camping trips with his dad. He started white water boating while living in Eastern TN in 1996 and loves kayaking, rafting and canoeing. His favorite rivers include the Arkansas, Fall, Gallatin, Lochsa, Payette, Salmon, Tellico and White Salmon. 

Dave's duties include managing club finances, 401c7 non-profit status, insurance, event fees and permits, meeting and event calendars, and facilitating event leaders, as well as leading many of the events himself.

Malia came to whitewater by way of Grand Canyoneering. Floating down the river in packrafts to get to exit routes, she realized the potential for fun and adventure with these small but capable boats and got the itch to spend more time on rivers. Now she's a bona fide whitewater addict! Malia is of the controversial opinion that the Dirty Devil is a better multiday packraft trip than the ever so popular Escalante. This will be Malia's third year with the Utah Whitewater Club and first year on the Board. She has enjoyed getting to know the club members and exploring new rivers. Favorite club trips include the Hoback and Sevier. 

Duties of the Vice President include updating the website and social media, and posting pictures from events.

The mountains have always been where Mike wants to be. From skiing in the winter to mountain biking and rivers in the summer. Mike first got into water sports in 2011, which was an insane water year. His very first kayak trip was Muddy Creek in the San Rafael Swell. He did a few more rivers that year, but really didn’t have anyone to paddle with. He started paddling again in 2017, first with an inflatable tandem kayak, next with a raft, then a packraft, and now a hard-shell kayak. The UWC has introduced him to may great people that have the same passion for water sports of all kinds. Mike's favorite trips with the club have been the Payettes and Hagerman. Being with family and on the river is where Mike finds some of his greatest joy. 

Mike was our Board President for several years and while he's stepping back from that responsibility he's generously sticking around to share his knowledge and help out with Board member responsibilities another year.

Greg is relatively new to whitewater kayaking but grew up paddling canoes in Virginia. After swamping his fair share of canoes over the years, he got into rafting in 2020 and quickly followed that with packrafting. A UWC member since moving to Utah in 2022, he joined the Board last year and jumped into kayaking. Favorite rivers include the Rogue, New, James, Snake, and Salmon. 

Greg is taking on the role of Board Secretary. Duties of the Secretary include taking meeting minutes, and managing event sign ups, new membership sign ups, and membership renewals.

Erin fell in love with boating and rivers when she followed some college friends to Moab and took a job as a raft guide in 2004. After a few years of fun trips with her friends Erin took a long hiatus from the river. In 2017 Erin accepted a last minute invite to a spring Westwater trip where she received a full river baptism by way of a hellacious swim in Skull rapid. She fully committed her life to the river since the experience, bought a ducky, and joined Utah Whitewater Club.  Erin has enjoyed making new river friends and reconnecting with old ones through the club over the years and is excited to serve as a board member this year.  Oar rafts and duckies are Erin's preferred boats.  Her special talent is ninja-like self rescue moves for getting back into her ducky in the middle of rapids.  Her favorite stretch of river is the Moab Daily, for sentimental reasons. This is Erin's first year as a member of the Board.

All Board members are responsible for attending board meetings and helping organize and host paddling events throughout the year.

Dean has enjoyed being on the water for many years. He started as a child with his father and grandfather in small fishing boats and inner tubes on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. When he moved to Allentown, PA in the late 1980’s for a new job he didn’t know anyone there. He found the Lehigh Valley Canoe Club where he met new friends and started white water canoeing and moved in the paddling C1. Rivers and streams to paddle there included the Lehigh, Lizard, Hokendauqua, Tohickon and Youghiogheny. Paddling in Pennsylvania and Maryland was great, especially in the spring when there was lots of rain. With his new bride, he moved to Utah in the mid 1990’s and joined the UWC. Life got busy and paddling became just an occasional solo canoe ride on a nearby lake. With retirement came much more free time and rejoining the UWC, and then joining the Board. 

All Board members are responsible for attending board meetings and helping organize and host paddling events throughout the year. 

Isaac grew up on the waters of PA where he boated with family on the Susquehanna and occasionally kayaked with friends. Whitewater kayaking is a new sport for Isaac, which he began in 2024. An instructional course on the Payette river served as his intro. He looks forward to meeting new boating partners as well as learning new skills. The 2026 season is Isaac's second year with the club, and this is his first year as a Board member. 

All Board members are responsible for attending board meetings and helping organize and host paddling events throughout the year.