Meet The Staff

Cy Forell (Co-Owner) - I started out in the hobby with a Goldfish from the fair, and then a Betta bowl. I set up my first 10 gallon tropical freshwater tank when I was twelve. It quickly became a 20 gallon and then a 38 gallon.

I began my professional aquarium career at a local pet store when I was sixteen years old. After one year there, I moved on to another local family owned pet store chain. I was quickly made an assistant manager and served as an aquatics specialist. After a few years with this company I was moved out to co-manage their new aquarium only shop. At this point I was bitten with the saltwater "bug". I had bred countless freshwater species but saltwater aquariums provided a whole new realm to explore. In 1998, I began servicing aquariums to supplement my income. I started my own company on the side called Aqua Pro USA. This business grew quickly, so Tim and I formed a new partnership called Barrier Reef Aquariums in 2000.

Throughout my college education, I found myself drawn to science and environmental issues/policy classes. There was no degree program that perfectly matched my interests. In 2001, I finally finished up my last few classes at the University of Washington and earned a Bachelor Degree in Liberal Arts with a focus in International Interactions. During the summer of 2006, I realized that our Coral Aquaculture Farm and Aquarium Servicing Business had grown to the point where it was time for Tim and I to go our own direction. After 15 years I left the store I had helped to build, in order to pursue my goals with Tim. Shortly after we left we were approached about the possibility of opening our own aquarium shop. We both knew it was what we wanted to do! We opened the doors of our retail shop in December of 2006.

My other interests include spending time with my wife, visiting her family and friends in Canada, sports, movies, music, and travel. My username on RF/RC is "barrierreefcf".

Tim Cole(Co-Owner) - I have been fascinated with fish and the ocean all my life. When I was little, my dream was to study sharks "when I grew up." I read and collected anything and everything related to them. Since I grew up in the Arizona desert my exposure to the sea was limited to PBS.

My addiction to aquariums began with a 10 gallon tropical freshwater tank when I was eight years old. I then moved up to a 20 gallon tank that I kept for many years. When I was in Junior High I went to a local fish store and discovered saltwater. I was instantly hooked. I got myself into a 34 gallon acrylic hex tank as my first saltwater reef aquarium. I quickly moved up to 55 gallon which, I brought all over with me during my college years. Though still fascinated with sharks, I found a deeper passion learning more about living reef communities. I decided to go to the University of Washington to achieve a degree in Marine Zoology. My goal was to be in the field of aquaculture or conservation. I later switched to the School of Fisheries Sciences, which I found was a much better fit. Thanks to my education, I have been given valuable insight to all the different fisheries and forms of aquaculture. This has driven me in educating the public on proper husbandry and encouraging aquaculture in the aquarium hobby.

My career in the aquarium industry began during my senior year in high school. I got a job at a local fish store and quickly moved up to an assistant manager position. I worked at that store for two years then transferred to a sister store where I continued as an assistant manager. I continued to manage this store until mid-2006. During my first couple years in the industry I fell into aquarium servicing after landing a local rap star as a client. As I continued to acquire new clients, I began to realize I wanted to make my future in this business. My username on RF/RC is "barrierreeftc".

Chris Taylor (Store Assistant Manager) - I started my path toward the aquarium hobby pretty much right out of the womb. My first thoughts were of dinosaurs (what little boy didn't like dinos) and after that fever subsided I really got into entomology (insects). Then at about 9 years of age my best friend started a small freshwater tank and I followed suit. I dug my parents 29 gallon outta the basement and set it up. Little did I know that soon my every waking moment would be spent delving into all aspects of ichthyology (fishes). I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but I usually fell asleep with my fish book in hand. My dad told me that when I was younger, like 4-5, when we went to the aquarium I would tell him the names of all the different fishes. So I guess this was really my calling from the very start of my speaking career.

After keeping all manner of freshwater biotopes for about 5 years I yearned to get into saltwater/reef tanks. My parents gave me a 29 gallon saltwater set-up and I've been hooked ever since. I started my working career when I was 15 at one of our local pet stores. I left after about 2 years because I would rather work than do homework for school.

After catching up in school I went to work for another pet store in my area. After about 3-4 months there I became manager of the fishroom.kind of a daunting task when your only 18. I left there to go back to the store I started in, as an assistant manager..after close to 10 years there I needed a change of scenery. I started working for its sister store that was fish only, where I ran the freshwater side of things. After working there for the better part of 4 years I left to help get Barrier Reef up and running. My username on RF is "declivis".

Matt Bricknell (Custom Design Division) - Matt has a full time career as a wireless technician but as a good friend of ours he is always around helping out. He is very skilled in steel/aluminum fabrication and his ability to take a concept from design to reality has enabled us to start a new division. Barrier Reef Elite Concepts, which Matt heads up, offers design, fabrication, and installation services for any custom job. He is also well versed with Neptune AquaControllers and Elos Products. To see an example of Matt's skills in custom tank design and fabrication check out his current tank build thread here. Its a custom 370 gallon, Elos "Crystal" glass, rimless/braceless, reef tank! His username on RF/RC is "bricky".

Brienne Earnst (Sales Associate) - I am an avid photographer and fish geek. Thanks to a mother who has always been as passionate about animals as I am, I've been around fish and other creatures my entire life. There has never been a time when I didn't have 1(or 10) aquariums up and running, with a variety of fish and critters, ranging from freshwater shrimps and triops, to Arowana, and now reef tanks.

Aside from the aquatic world, I've also had a long history in the herp(reptile) world... Since the age of 16, i've kept a wide variety of snakes and other herps, ranging from Reticulated pythons, Burmese Pythons, Green Tree Pythons and Redtail Boas, to Asian Ratsnakes of all types. Having cut back due to my blooming interest in the reef hobby, i'm down to just a couple Green Tree Pythons, Redtail Boas, and a Diamondback Terrapin by the name of LandPhil.

Photography is another big part of my life, and something I've been interested in just as long as herps and aquariums. During the summers I spend probably hundreds of hours in places such as the Arizona desert, Seattle Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo and NorthwestTrek honing my skills as a wildlife photographer. Adapting my photography to the reef aquarium has been an interesting ride for me, with a whole new batch of tips and tricks to learn, to get the color just right, or everything in focus. I look foreward to many years to come in this hobby to get everything just right.

My ReefFrontiers handle is Brie... Just Brie. :)

Jamie Schlump (Store Manager) - Ever since I can remember I always knew I wanted to work with animals. Growing up, I was the girl that was found playing with frogs in a muddy ditch or collecting insects and critters since I thought they were "cute". I started out with multiple goldfish and bettas but it wasn't until college when I realized you could have the ocean in a fish tank!

I enrolled in Michigan State University's Pre-Vet program, but after doing a project on coral bleaching my freshman year, inspired to hopefully save the reefs someday, I switched my major to Zoology with a concentration in Marine Biology. Not more than a few months after this switch, I was hired at Preuss Pets and was assigned to the saltwater department with hope that I would quickly catch on. While there, I learned how to educate the general public make smart decisions when setting up and maintaining their saltwater tanks using the knowledge combined from my schooling, at home research, and helpful, informative co-workers. I stayed at Preuss's two years and left with a passion and better understanding of the hobby than thought possible.

After receiving my Bachelors, I moved to Washington, worked with Chinook salmon for a summer, then decided to get back into the hobby by becoming an employee here at BRA. I have had a 40, 30 and 20 gallon reef tank. Activities I do when I'm not working include hiking/camping, Xbox/computer games, jewelry making, painting and a lot of reading.

Bill Pratt (Resident Science Geek / Maintenance Specialist) - I started with Barrier Reef in March 2011 after leaving my job at a national marine sciences laboratory for a life back in the city. Having run my own aquarium maintenance business in the past and being passionate for marine sciences and tropical marine ornamentals especially, my relationship with Barrier has blossomed organically.

I have two undergraduate degrees, with hopes of pursuing my Master's or PhD in biological oceanography in the near future. I have done research with phytoplankton and cutting edge LED lighting arrays for a federal laboratory… both of which will hopefully continue to prove fruitful in my career goals... and look forward to bringing my skills and abilities to Barrier Reef, further rounding out the diversity of talents that make Barrier second to none!

Jeff McCarty (Sales Associate/Maintenance Specialist) - My passion for aquariums started when I was young. I set up my first 10 gallon freshwater aquarium when I was 12 years old. This led to a 26 gallon bow front, which eventually became a saltwater tank. Then I set up 90 gallon and 125 gallon aquariums. I currently maintain two aquariums at home.

Since I had such a strong interest in the aquarium hobby, I got my first part time job at a pet store when I was 16. Within the year, I was promoted to manager of the saltwater department. A few years later I decided to become a firefighter. The aquarium industry must have set its hooks in me, because a few years later I came back. I helped a friend start up a new store and I was put in charge of the aquatics and reptile departments. I have also worked briefly in aquarium maintenance, the water softening industry, and a snowboarding shop. I joined the Barrier Reef team in September of 2011.

My other interests include snowboarding, long boarding, wakeboarding, motorcycles, snowmobiles, video games, movies, and working on cars.