Andrew Gunnoe, President

Andrew is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Maryville College.  Following a childhood spent in southwestern Ohio, he came to East Tennessee in 1998 to attend the University of Tennessee.  He earned B.A. and M.A. in political science and then completed his Ph.D in sociology in 2012.  After a two-year stint at Auburn University completing a Post Doctorate in the department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, he returned to East Tennessee, the place he now calls home.  Andrew cultivated his love of the Little River over the course of two decades spent paddling whitewater in the upper stretches of the watershed.  In recent years, he has come to know the lower stretches of the river more intimately as he frequently paddles it with his wife and two daughters.  In his free time, he enjoys going down stream, playing guitar, cooking, traveling, and spending time with his family and friends.  

Jeff Killian, Vice President 

Jeff is a native of Middle and East Tennessee growing up playing in the woods of the Cumberland Plateau and Appalachian Mountains. For over 20 years Jeff has kayaked, swam, canoed, and paddle-boarded every navigable stretch of the Little River and still enjoys floating the river with his two children Eva and Arthur.  Jeff is a Certified Quality Engineer and Auditor serving as a Quality Assurance Coordinator at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He attended the University of Tennessee earning a B.A. in Environmental Studies and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering. 

Nick Reynolds, Treasurer

Nick joined the LRWA board in 2019, and is an educator and soil & insect ecologist. He earned a B.A., B.S, and M.S. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in Environmental Studies, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Entomology & Plant Pathology. His graduate and professional research focused on non-target impacts of invasive insect control methods and exploring mechanisms affecting arthropod diversity in forest soils.  Since 2008, he has been a secondary Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science teacher. In his free time, he enjoys whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking with his lovely wife and young son.

Jennifer Webster, Board Member

Jennifer Webster grew up exploring the creeks and rivers of Alabama and studied Wildlife Biology at Auburn University. Her career has focused on field science education and sharing the natural world with students of all ages, including as a teacher/naturalist and school program director for Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Jennifer now spends her days as a 5th grade teacher at Clayton Bradley Academy in Blount County, where she enjoys a classroom full of curious kids to laugh and learn with each day. She lives in Walland with her husband Jesse, and son Lyle, where they enjoy spending time exploring and enjoying the Little River.

Andrea Ludwig, Secretary

Andrea is an Associate Professor of Ecological Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Institute of Agriculture. Andrea was born and raised in South Texas, where her love of natural flowing waters grew from family weekend trips to the banks of the Frio River in the Hill Country. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Bio & Ag Engineering and a Masters in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She then earned a PhD at Virginia Tech where she researched the nutrient dynamics in created floodplain wetlands.  An East Tennessee resident for ten years now, she enjoys trail running, mountain biking, and creek exploring, finding inspiration from natural landscapes that feeds her passion for environmental education for all ages.

Clay Guerry, Board Member

Clay grew up on the coast of South Carolina and attended Francis Marion University where he received a BS in Biology.  After a few years as a primate biologist on the coast, he moved to the foothills of the Appalachians for graduate school at Clemson University, where he earned an MS in Zoology as well as an MS in Parks and Protected Area Management.  He has worked as an outdoor guide, instructor, naturalist, and for the past 15 years as a public land manager focusing on recreation and natural resource management, here in East Tennessee. He is passionate about the role of outdoor recreation as a vehicle for conservation, sustainability, economic growth, and the general improvement of the social condition. In his free time, he enjoys river pursuits, mountain biking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Jon Michael Mollish, Board Member

Jon Michael was born and raised on the banks of Little River at his family property, River John’s Outfitters. Growing up, he worked at the family business and developed a passion for the Little River and surrounding community. That passion for the river grew when he had an opportunity to conduct a fisheries survey with the Tennessee Valley Authority during a routine monitoring event at the property. Since obtaining his B.S. in Environmental Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, he has devoted his career to aquatic biodiversity conservation and monitoring at TVA where he works as a Fisheries Biologist. A board member since 2010, he enjoys environmental outreach and stewardship activities with LRWA. In his free time, he loves travelling abroad, boating, and exploring our national parks with his wife.

Wes James, Board Member

Wes grew up in Lenoir City fishing the local reservoirs and the Tellico River and tributaries with his father and uncle. He attended UT Knoxville earning a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science in 1975. At TVA, where he worked for 37+ years, he held the positions of Wildlife Biologist and Natural Resources Management Specialist specializing in waterfowl and wetlands wildlife management, wetlands delineation and protection, and long-range natural resources management planning. Wes lived in Oak Ridge for 40 years where his wife Norma was a career teacher and his children attended Oak Ridge Schools. He and his wife moved to Maryville in 2018 to be closer to their son’s family and be more active as Grandpa and Grandma. Wes fly fishes in Little River regularly especially enjoying floats down the river with his son Kevin.

Ryan O’Connor, Board Member

Ryan is a native Knoxvillian and a Registered Nurse in the ICU at University of Tennessee Medical Center. Ryan earned a Bachelors of Arts in Marketing from UT and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Tennessee Wesleyan. Growing up in South Appalachia, Ryan got into whitewater kayaking early in high school. He spent a few years living in Colorado and Oregon, has traveled across the US and to other countries to explore creeks and rivers, and has always been drawn back to the abundance of year-round paddling in the Southeast. When not on the water, Ryan also loves exploring the mountain trails of the Smokies. On the Board, Ryan is broadening his passion for helping people into helping protect the land and waters of the Little River.

Scott Hussey, Board Member

Scott joined the LRWA in 2023 after seeing their community contributions first hand as an educator at Clayton-Bradley Academy and a member of Chota Canoe and Kayak Club. Simply put, he loves being in the water.  Originally from Florida, he earned a BS in Advertising from the University of Florida and an MA in American Studies from the University of South Florida. Scott met his Townsend-raised wife through cave diving Florida's crystal-clear springs. Since moving to Walland in 2012, his aquatic love manifested through open-water distance swimming, kayaking, rafting, and wintertime cold-water plunges. A week rarely goes by without him getting into the Little. His current joys involve sharing this aquatic life with his daughter and squirt boating the Wye whenever water levels allow it.