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Chris Brooks, Board Member
Chris Brooks left the humid Midwest for the desert 25 years ago to learn about water. After earning a degree in hydrology from the University of Arizona he worked in consulting for 16 years before returning to his alma mater for a law degree, with the goal of focusing his future efforts on water policy. He is currently employed by the Water Resources Department of the Tohono O’Odham Nation, helping them manage their limited water supplies. In all he does, the over-arching goal is efficient management and use of water – a resource we all depend on everyday, but still undervalue its importance in many of the choices we make. Chris is raising a family in Tucson and hopes that someday this community can learn to sustainably manage its water supplies so that his children can continue to call the desert home.
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Ross Bryant, Board Member, Treasurer
Ross Bryant has been involved in community issues since moving to Tucson in 1988. He is interested in approaching problems, both social and environmental, at the neighborhood level. He has been an active participant in his neighborhood association as vice president and president. He believes that implementation of sustainable resource projects such as water conservation is highly effective at the the community level. The success of community projects can serve as a catalyst for larger-scale projects with expanding goals and a wider audience. Ross has a technical background in remote sensing and scientific computing and enjoys interesting books and the beauty of the Sonoran desert in his spare time.
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| Jared Buono, Board Member-At-Large, Co-Founder
Jared is a co-founder of Watershed Management Group and holds a MSc in Watershed Management and a PhD in Natural Resource Management. He has conducted ecohydrology research for the US Department of Agriculture and US Forest Service and has implemented community-based conservation programs in the US Peace Corps. He has also managed projects funded by the US Agency for International Development. Jared is currently working on international program development and establishing WMG's office in India.
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Evan Canfield, Advisory Board
Evan Canfield has a PhD in Agricultural Engineering and is registered professional Civil Engineer with a specialty in water resources. Prior to settling in Tucson he worked for humanitarian organizations doing agricultural development work in Asia and Africa. He has worked on water conservation initiatives as Chair of an advisory panel to Tucson Water. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona. His specialty is hydrologic modeling, and he has helped develop tools to predict the viability of passive and active water harvesting designs to accomplish the dual objectives of providing water for plants and managing stormwater.
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Carl Case, Board Member
Carl joined up with the WMG Co-op a few years back after discovering it at one of Tucson's sustainability fairs and has been a strong advocate for the organization ever since. Environmental and public service has been a significant part of his professional life. After college he completed two AmeriCorps terms of service with the Coconino Rural Environment Corps in Flagstaff, AZ. He then turned to nonprofit administration in Tucson where he worked as staff for Southwest Conservation Corps. Academia calling he returned to the University of Arizona to complete a Masters in Public Administration and is now working on a PhD in Environmental Policy. Chances are if he isn't out mountain biking he is recovering from a wreck on the couch with his wife Karen and their dogs.
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Felipe Ip, Board Member
Felipe grew up in Macau/HongKong and now lives in Tucson, AZ. A hydrologist with the Pima County Regional Flood Control District Felipe works on LID, stormwater detention, hydraulic models and floodplain mapping. He serves on the 2011 LID conference planning committee and Pima Association of Governments - Stormwater Management Working Group, and has in the past assisted with the Arizona Hydrological Society symposiums. Felipe enjoys commuting by bike or bus to work, watching sunsets and spending time with his family.
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Henry Jacobson, Board Member
Henry has lived in Tucson since 1979 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Arizona. As a Registered Professional Engineer he has over 20 years of experience in general site development and foundation design. He is active in his neighborhood association and has helped implement small infrastructure improvements in several midtown neighborhoods in central Tucson. Since 2005 Henry has operated a steel fabrication business working with local builders and homeowners. He is interested in facilitating creative infrastructure improvements to enhance the quality of life of his neighbors. Other interests include recreational cycling, swimming and travel adventures with friends and family.
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Julie Jonsson, Board Member
Julie Jonsson is a native Oregonian with a passion for environmental issues. She is particularly interested in collaborative conservation and human interaction with the environment. She received a B.S. in Environmental Science from Oregon State University with a focus on rangelands. In 2007, she moved to Tucson to fulfill a lifelong desire to live in the southwestern desert. Julie earned a Professional Science Master’s degree in Applied Biosciences from the University of Arizona. While there, she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Water Policy. She has experience in the fields of environmental compliance, land conservation, and science education.
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Andrea Martin, Board Member, Secretary
Andrea has recently returned to Tucson after working as a satellite software engineer in California. She has been a self-educated naturalist for as long as she can remember. While earning an Electrical Engineering degree and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona, she became convinced that her work should be focused on furthering an understanding of the desert environment and the sustainable practices of the humans who inhabit it. Andrea is now actively pursuing and implementing her beliefs.
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Mark Murphy, Board Member
Mark Murphy has been a hydrologist in Arizona and New Mexico for over 30 years, specializing in water quality, ecohydrology and water resource policy. He has a PhD in geology from Johns Hopkins University. He has worked for the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Arizona State University and several consulting firms. Currently, he lives in Tucson and is Operations Manager and Senior Water Resources Scientist with GeoSystems Analysis, Inc, a locally owned small business. Mark enjoys hiking, biking and camping in the Sonoran Desert and kayaking and fishing in streams throughout the West.
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Gail Ryser, Board Member
Gail is an anthropologist with a specialty in paleoethnobotany and perishable fibers. Her social interests include food security and building community through asset based models. A recent transplant to Tucson, she became involved with WMG because of the education and outreach potential with local and non-local groups and because of WMG's strong commitment to community building and action. In addition to her involvement with WMG Gail currently is a program coordinator for a National Science Foundation grant, conducts independent and sponsored research in the coastal deserts of Peru, and is co-founder of a community garden in Tucson.
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| Catlow Shipek, Board Member-At-Large, Co-Founder
Catlow Shipek is a founding member of WMG. Catlow and fellow co-founders based the philosophy of WMG on the watershed model using water as a link to bring stakeholders together. He received a MSc in Watershed Management from the University of Arizona. Past work at the Southwest Watershed Research Center with the USDA Agricultural Research Service has given him a depth of experience in soil erosion and sedimentation processes on southwestern rangelands.
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Sowmya Somnath, Board Member-At-Large, Co-Founder
Sowmya is a founding member of WMG. She is a registered Professional Engineer with a decade of structural engineering experience working on diverse design and construction projects in the US. She is a former Indicorps Fellow and has implemented rural sanitation infrastructure development and hygiene education projects in India and Africa. She is also a professional mentor for Engineers without Borders on a multi-year drinking water slow sand filtration project in Mafi Zongo, Ghana. She is starting up the WMG India office with Jared Buono.
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Camila Thorndike, Board Member
Camila is passionate about WMG's solutions-driven, hands-on, and inclusive approach to questions of sustainability. She brings to WMG four years of experience in the fields of water conservation and watershed management in the West. Born and raised in Ashland, Oregon, Camila worked for the Oregon and Washington Water Trusts while earning her B.A. in Environmental Humanities from Whitman College, and first came to know Arizona as a conference assistant for Water Resources Research Center. She moved to Tucson for an internship with the Udall Foundation's U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR) and now coordinates outreach for Imagine Greater Tucson, focusing on underrepresented populations. Camila lives to bike, hike, salsa dance, cook local food, and adventure with good people.
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