WMAS - Presidency 2005
WMAS Presidency 2005
Position Name Phone Message Board Name Email
President Adam Blundell 809-ADAM Adam Blundell Send Email
Vice President Jake Pehrson 673-1197 Jake Pehrson Send Email
Council Members and Committees
Suzy Applegarth 253-2534 suzy Send Email
Cortney Curran 840-4845 gonzo Send Email
Bruce Ewald   pistonfister Send Email
Jon Finch 763-9581 jfinch Send Email
Shane Heil (435)723-6613 home
(435)720-2599 cell
Shane H Send Email
Mark Peterson 296-1563 Mark Peterson Send Email
Shane Silcox 352-8697 ssilcox Send Email
Will Spencer   wsinbad1 Send Email
Renee Weimer 589-2591 weimers Send Email

President
Adam Blundell   
Responsibilities: My job responsibilities are to see that the club does what the presidency wants. I guess I also oversee meetings, finances, and everything else, but I like to look at it as a helper position which helps the rest of the club accomplish their goals.

Born and raised in Centerville. Went to school at many places including projects at the U, Weber, Boise State, Bermuda, Hawaii, San Diego. After joining the club, I knew I wanted to work in Marine Biology so I geared my education that way. I've been on the reef tour many many times. My wife's name is Marzena, she works in Nursing at the U's Labor and Delivery unit. Her favorite fish are tangs, which is why we have a tank full of them. My favorite are wrasse, but we don't have any because we don't have any room (with all them tangs). My favorite part of the club is the after dinner meetings and the smaller gatherings where people can really sit around and talk. I'm the first person to admit that this club owes its incredible growth and production to Jake Pehrson, for all of his work with the website.
As president, I'm always pleased to see people helping out to make big projects (like the Reef Tour) take place. I believe that the best thing about the club is our ability to teach people about basic aquarium systems. I think many people join our club confused and frustrated but then learn how simple their aquariums can be.
Vice President
Jake Pehrson   
Responsibilities: As Vice President my primary job is to help the President accomplish his job.  I am also the Web Master.

I have loved fish and animals my whole life.  I setup my first saltwater aquarium when I was 12 years old.  As soon as I was living on my own I filled my house with aquariums.  I am an entrepreneur at heart and have own various business related to aquariums and pets.  I currently work in the computer industry and still run the CoralPlanet and a couple other businesses associated with the industry.  Besides fish and corals I also enjoy scuba diving, board and card games, computers, electronics, traveling, and helping people start and run small businesses.
Presidency Council - Council members are the support staff for the president and the vice-president.
Suzy Applegarth   
Responsibilities:  Council Member, Meeting Greeter

Rob and I have had aquariums our whole lives. Isn't that weird how 2 fish nerds find each other? Now, we share our obsession of aquatic design (Although, I'm more into design, and he's more into living creatures). We have 4 tanks now: a reef tank, a community tank, and an aggressive tank. They are built into the wall and connected by a big sump, so we only have to "tinker" with one system. We also have a small specimen tank we are starting. We are looking for the perfect "specimen" right now!
Rob and I have been WMAS fish nerds almost since it's conception. We have met some really cool people and even some very famous authors. Most of our corals are from the WMAS. All of our corals have been shared with other club members and every fish store show tank in our part of the valley. We have watched our club expand and change and evolve into a very impressive group of wonderful friends! Thanks, WMAS!
Cortney Curran   
Responsibilities: Council Member

I have always been a great lover of animals. When just a young lad I began working with dogs for show obedience. In 2002, we thought we�d look into a salt-water aquarium. After researching the internet (obviously not enough) we had our own little salty tank of death. I stumbled onto WMAS in an LFS that was advertising Julian Sprung. The meeting was great, and I was bummed that I couldn�t go to the BBQ, so I paid my dues and as a result the success of our tank has soared.

Bruce Ewald
Responsibilities: Council Member

I have been into aquariums my entire life. I have only been doing salt water for approximately four years now. Once I started salt water it began an obsession. I have two salt tanks currently, and a frag tank project in progress. I have a 125-gallon reef with a variety of corals, a 10-gallon with 2 bubble tip anemones and a pair of ocellaris clown fish, and a 30-gallon fresh water tank that I don�t have the heart to tear down. I think that ocean life by far is the most exotic on the planet, and I really enjoy having a small piece of that to take care of in my home.

I am a mechanic at a car dealership. I have been doing this for around 12 years. I currently work on Hyundai, Isuzu and .I am also a certified Mitsubishi Technician. I used to love this job, but now it pretty much just pays the bills.

This is my first year on the presidency and I am very excited about it. I look forward to contributing and helping out the club in anyway I can. I have been in the club for approximately three years. I have met some great people and made some good friends. I have learned a lot from the club, both from the meeting presentations and from individual members.

Some of my other interests include:
First is my family. I have been married for almost 9 years to my wife, Jennifer. I also have a new baby boy, Jake. I love being a father.
I like playing with computers, almost anything out doors like camping, hiking, fishing, ECT. I also love music and am partial to stuff from the eighties era.
I have an RX-7 project car, which I hope to finish one day.

Jon Finch   
Responsibilities: Council Member

By day I'm a chemical engineer at a local oil refinery. By night I'm a husband and father of three. I've always been fascinated by aquariums. My beginnings were with typical freshwater fish, I quickly moved to cichlids and eventually to heavier water :). My first reef tank was in the early 1990s. My current tank is a 125 gallon mixed reef. I really enjoy the DIY aspects of this hobby and the science behind the scenes. As you can see from the number of my posts here, I have an opinion on many topics, but don't take me too seriously, I laugh at myself more then I care to admit (I'm laughing at this silly bio right now). More then anything, the reason I'm here is to meet and talk with others about this compulsive hobby. I've been a member of WMAS since coming across this web page in March of 2003.

Shane Heil   

Responsibilities: Council Member, Tank of the Month Presentation

I have owned marine aquariums for about 8-9 years now. I am into DIY and saving money, but I have learned that one does not necessarily equal the other. My current aquarium is 120 gallons. I enjoy keeping a variety of different coral varieties. Although tanks loaded with only SPS corals can be stunning, my personal preference is a mixture of many types.
I have a large family, 1 son and 3 daughters ranging in age from 9 years old to 18 months. We enjoy skiing in the winter and boating in the summer. During the in-between times in when I fiddle with fish. My wife enjoys looking at the aquarium, but little else. She is very supportive, but the last thing she would like to do is cut a stinky leather coral. She also affectionately coined the title of fish nerd after visiting a meeting of the W.M.A.S.
I live in Brigham City (about 20 minutes north of Ogden). We do not have a LFS here, but there are quite a number of people with reef tanks. I am not into the technical side of reef keeping. Although it is important to research and understand about the environment and the species we keep, you can be successful without a thorough knowledge. I consider myself to be very practical, eager to learn, and moderately informed regarding reef keeping!
Mark Peterson 
Responsibilities: Council Member, Membership

Keeping track of expenditures on my first reef aquarium during 1993-94, I was dismayed at the amount spent! It's embarrassing to admit that I have seen scores of fish die in my aquariums. This may be the reason for my enthusiastic participation in the WMAS; to help others keep livestock alive.
A pioneering adaptation of my undergravel filtered tank to the Jaubert plenum method later led to the use of Mangroves in one of the first Reverse Daylight Photosynthesis (RDP) Refugia. My Ugly Green Haired Mermaid is famous (see
http://www.garf.org/ugly.html). As one of the six founding members of the WMAS and Treasurer for its first three years, I worked hard to build the WMAS. During two years as President, I saw the club come out of poverty, ready for it's current huge success, at the hands of the current Presidency, led by the energetic and capable Adam Blundell.
Participating in the WMAS since it's founding in 1995, has allowed me the opportunity to visit 100's of hobbyists homes. Learning from other hobbyists has provided me a unique perspective about how tanks can flourish, even under extraordinary conditions.

Shane Silcox

Responsibilities: Council Member, Sounds System

I was born and raised in Sandy. I currently work for Siemens as a Developer / Cisco integrator. My wife stays at home with our 15 month old daughter who I think is as addicted to this hobby as I am.
I grew up loving animals, but because my parents didn't like the added work and responsibility of a furry pet, they got me fish, hence started the addiction. As most I started with freshwater fish, and kept them for quite a while until one of them died and the rest of the tank crashed. I got quite dismayed and gave up on fish for quite a while. Then last year while checking out turtles at the aquarium with my wife, we got interested in saltwater, and toward the end of my research for my new tank I ran across the WMAS. I wish I would have known about it sooner! The assistance and knowledge transfer that I have gotten from so many people here has been invaluable. I look forward to many great years with my new friends. Thanks WMAS!

Will Spencer

Responsibilities: Council Member, Accountant, Sea Star Editor
 

I have loved fish all my life.  I started with a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium when I was 10 years old.  This soon became several 10 gallon aquariums.  14 years later I still had one of those 10 gallon tanks when my wife gave me a 75 gallon tank.  I had always wanted a large tank and this one got me hooked.  My wife jokingly says it�s her biggest mistake of our marriage.  In July of 2003 my boss got a 150 gallon tank for our office and asked me to do something with it.  I decided to go with a saltwater reef even though I had no previous experience.  With the help of this club that tank has become a success.  I purchased a 180 gallon tank from Seahorse Suzy in November of 2003 and have it in my fishroom at home.  This tank has provided endless hours of gazing at all the life in my own little reef.  I am now an official Fish Junky with 6 tanks totaling almost 500 gallons of water and another 130 gallon tank in the works.  My goal now is to keep the water in the tanks and off the floor.

 

I love this club and the people in it.  I love talking fish to anyone who will listen and anyone who can help me keep my animals better. 

 

I am a tax accountant by trade and hope to be able to use my expertise to help this club in any way possible.  It will take a long time to give enough back to this club to pay for the advice, expertise and friendship I have received since joining in September 2003.

Renee Weimer

Responsibilities: Council Member, Membership

I was born in Minnesota on a dairy farm, but my family moved to Washington state when I was little. I was the youngest of 9 kids, and loved our farm animals. I enlisted in the Marine Corps when I was a junior in high school. I needed $$ to go to college. I spent 4 years in the Corps, and got to live in Iwakuni Japan for a year. A month after leaving the Corps, Damon and I got married. We were high school sweethearts. He was in the Air Force stationed in England -we stayed there 10 years. We also got to live in Germany, which was great for traveling all over Europe. It was also a great place to earn my Master's degree. We had a few freshwater tanks, and enjoyed them. For the last 7 years, we've been dragging this 225g acrylic tank all over the world. The military movers HATED it. We learned many German cuss words thanks to our tank, but could never afford to buy the 220v equip, with the fear of Uncle Sam suddenly moving us stateside. We were very sad to leave our international friends. We arrived at Hill AFB in Jan 03, and immediately started trying to figure out how to set up a saltwater system. The opinions were many, and we had saved up a fair amount of $$ in anticipation. Alas, we never heard of WMAS until Jan 04. By that time, we had AquaSpace 250m/h lights, 24w blue power compacts, 55g refugium (mostly for seahorses someday!), EuroReef skimmer CS 6-2, Iwaki Walchem WWM 40RXLT pump, and R/O unit. So far, all the livestock has come from Aquatic Dreams (except "Lucky," our Achille's Tang from Hawaii). As newbies, we really appreciate the frags, advice, and patience from WMAS members. We can't wait to have frags to share!
When I am not fondly gazing at itty bitty critters in our tank (wondering what wonderful scientific names they must have, and whether they are "friend" or "foe") I teach classes to Hill AFB active duty and civilian employees. It's a big change from working overseas, where the pace was normally pretty frantic. I enjoy growing things, wandering the mountains with our Border Collie, "Chester" and our English Bulldog, "Penny." Of course, hanging out with Damon is fun, too. We like to SCUBA dive together, travel, and woodworking. Someday, our dream is to have an aquatic wall in our dream house, where we can sit and gaze at a homegrown reefscape. As hobbyists, we dream of someday helping the real reefs to continue to thrive.

Past Presidencies: 2004