SKY ISLAND ALLIANCE STAFF - 2007
Matt Skroch, Executive Director
In 1998, Matt began his career with Sky Island Alliance as a summer intern conducting field studies throughout the region. With an extensive amount of time spent in the sky island mountains and valleys, he gained an intimate understanding of the places and critters that Sky Island Alliance pledges to protect. Matt now strives to incorporate Sky Island Alliance's science-based work with grassroots organizing and public advocacy, using principles of conservation biology to form the framework of a conservation formula that places emphasis on public participation and advocacy. Matt holds a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University, and has also studied conservation biology in the forests and mountains of Costa Rica. In addition to his capacities at Sky Island Alliance, Matt also serves on the board of directors for the Arizona Wilderness Coalition (vice-president), Congressman Grijalva's Environmental Advisory Team, and Governor Janet Napolitano's Forest Health Advisory Team. When he isn't at the office or in the field with Sky Island Alliance, he may be found on his sailboat in San Carlos, Mexico.
David Hodges, Policy Director
David is a longtime environmental activist in the Southwest who has worked as a grassroots organizer and trainer for more than 20 years. He received his early hands-on training through working on mainstream political campaigns and further developed his skills through formal training programs conducted by the Midwest Academy and the United States Students Association. He has worked on a wide range of issues including environmental, Native American, student organizing, NAFTA, and homelessness. David has also worked with a variety of conservation organizations such as the Student Environmental Action Coalition (National Director in 1993), Center for Biological Diversity, Mt. Graham Coalition, and the Southwest Forest Alliance. In addition to his capacities at Sky Island Alliance, David also serves on the Eastern Arizona Resource Advisory Council and the Board of Directors of American Lands Alliance, Arizona Wilderness Coalition, and Dragoons Institute. > Contact information
Acasia Berry, Associate Director
Acasia has worked on environmental issues for over 15 years. She earned a BA in Anthropology from the University of NC-Chapel Hill, with coursework in Botany and Forestry. While at UNC, she helped organize the first National Student Environmental Conference and the creation of the Student Environmental Action Coalition. After graduation she worked in environmental education, coordinating a hands-on educational experience for thousands of school children. Before arriving in the Sky Island Region, Acasia enjoyed and worked to preserve biodiversity in North Carolina, the Northern Rockies and Oregon. She is on the board of The Center for Reflection on the Second Law and The Bioregional Council of North America. As Associate director of the Sky Island Alliance she directs the membership program, oversees event and conference organizing as well as general administration.
Sergio Avila-Villegas, Wildlife Biologist and Outreach Specialist
Biologist Sergio Avila-Villegas attended the University of Aguascalientes, then University of Baja California for his Master’s degree in Arid Lands Management. Since 1997, Sergio has gained extensive training and experience working in northwest Mexico on wildlife research and conservation projects on species like mountain lions, Cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls, California sea lions, river otters, Santa Catalina rattlesnakes and sea birds. In 2003 he initiated work on jaguar conservation in the Sierra Madre of Sonora where he monitored the northernmost breeding population of jaguars. At Sky Island Alliance, Sergio is taking the lead on research and conservation efforts in northern Mexico, currently filling a critical niche with community outreach, research and conservation in places where no information currently exists regarding the status of the borderland’s cuatro gatos.
Trevor Hare, Landscape Restoration Program
Born and raised in the Denver, Colorado area, Trevor moved to Tucson in 1984, seeking warmth. He spent most of the next few years tramping around Mexico and Arizona's western desert. Trevor graduated from the University of Arizona in 1991 with a BS degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a focus on botany. He started work on a long-term project with the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center studying the impacts of urban and rural development on rattlesnakes. As a grant-funded researcher, Trevor also has worked as an endangered species biologist doing inventory and monitoring of Mexican spotted owls, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls, goshawks, SW willow flycatchers, native fish, and cacti. Trevor began work with Sky Island Alliance in July 2001 and oversees SIA's volunteer program. Trevor also currently serves as the Science Advisor for the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, in addition to being a member on Pima County's Conservation Acquisition Commission, Arizona State Parks Natural Areas Program Advisory Committee, and the Resource Advisory Council for the Gila Box National Conservation Area.
Sky Jacobs, Membership and Administrative Associate
Sky grew up in the Southwest and is a naturalist who loves exploring the wild, rugged, and lost country of Arizona and Sonora, and learning about all the amazing plants and animals that call the region home. He has worked on and off as a biologist studying cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls and other Sky Island and Sonoran desert flora and fauna for 8 years. Sky has also loves photographing the natural beauty of the region. Sky has been volunteering in the field with Sky Island Alliance since its early years. He has worked for SIA part-time since 2004.
Louise Misztal, Conservation Associate
Louise grew up hiking and fishing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where she was instilled with a love for wild and remote landscapes. She moved to Tucson in 2000 and found a little bit of home in the high elevation pine forests of the Sky Islands. Louise holds dual Bachelor's degrees from the University of Arizona in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a focus on conservation biology, and in Microbiology. In 2003 she began grassroots organizing work with the Arizona League of Conservation Voters and expanded her environmental work in 2004 as a volunteer for Sky Island Alliance. She went on to complete her honors thesis regarding management of the Aravaipa Creek watershed with SIA in 2005. Since 2005, Louise has worked as a field biologist across the Sky Island Region studying reproduction of southwest willow flycatchers, monitoring ecological health of habitat utilized by endangered species, studying reproduction and resource allocation in a Tucson population of House Finches and monitoring riparian restoration along the Santa Cruz River.
Sarah Williams, Field Associate / Volunteer Coordinator
A native Tucsonan, Sarah’s childhood experiences of hiking, camping, and backpacking helped form a deep appreciation for the unique natural surroundings of the Southwest and laid the foundations for her adult advocacy of its protection. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Arizona in 1996, she migrated to the Florida Keys and began a career in public education as an elementary Spanish teacher. For the next four years, Sarah taught English and Science to middle school students in Florida and Virginia. Immersed in an emotional battle between her love for the sea, desert and mountains, she returned to Tucson, where she can continue to enjoy all three. Sarah began volunteering with SIA in 2007 and was hired in April as Field Associate / Volunteer Coordinator. She is working to expand activism and generate greater interest within the community by creating interactive, science-based opportunities for our volunteers and members.
Jessica Lamberton, Wilderness Outreach Associate
Born and raised in the Sonoran Desert of Tucson, Arizona, Jessica developed a love for wild things at an early age, publishing her first article at the age of 9 on monsoons and raising toads. She has a strong commitment and enthusiasm for conservation outreach and education, and has been involved in wildlife and wild felid conservation at home and as far as Ireland and Mexico. Jessica holds a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the University of Arizona, where she is working as a Research Technician studying urban bobcats and mountain lions in Tucson while she pursues her Master’s degree. A long-time volunteer and supporter of Sky Island Alliance, Jessica’s newest project is the preservation of the Tumacacori Highlands proposed wilderness.
Lahsha Brown, Conservation Associate
Lahsha grew up enjoying life in the great outdoors as her parents often took her hiking, camping and fishing all over the forests, lakes and wilderness of Idaho, where she was born and raised. Her love of the outdoors became more than just a favorite hobby when she began doing outreach work for The Wilderness Society’s Idaho office in 1995. At the Wilderness Society she led campaigns to protect Wilderness areas, national monuments and other public lands. Lahsha has experience working with the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest Service, and she has policy expertise in a number of land use areas, including off-road vehicle use and livestock grazing. Lahsha attended Boise State and Arizona Universities and is certified in Riparian Area Restoration and Monitoring from Oregon State University. She has served as an appointed member of the BLM Resource Advisory Council in Idaho and on the Owyhee County Recreation Task Force. She stayed with the Wilderness Society for 11 years until moving to Tucson from Boise. Two years after her move to the Sky Island region, Lahsha joined Sky Island Alliance. Besides working, Lahsha, who considers herself a “bona fide desert rat,” enjoys doing anything outside and being a wife and mother.
Janice Przybyl, Wildlife Linkages Program Director
After Janice moved to Tucson in 1990, she watched with dismay as the desert surrounding Tucson succumbed to urban sprawl. She decided to become more proactive with her commitment to environmental causes and joined Sky Island Alliance as a volunteer in 1998. After a 20-year career in graphic design, Janice quit work in 2000 and became a full-time graduate student in environmental studies at Prescott College. She interned at Sky Island Alliance, first as assistant to the executive director; and then was hired to organize the first Wildlife Monitoring Workshop. In the Fall of 2003, Janice graduated from Prescott College with an M.A. in Environmental Studies. Her master's thesis, which explores the theoretical and practical framework for instituting a volunteer-based wildlife monitoring program using track counts, became the management model for Sky Island Alliance's Wildlife Monitoring Program. The full-time position of program coordinator gives Janice the opportunity to combine her love of wildlife, her love of the Southwest, her interest in science, and her ability to manage and engage people in volunteer research activities.
Mike Quigley, Wilderness Campaign Director
Mike is currently focused on securing Wilderness designation for the Tumacacori Highlands. Mike holds a Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences and English literature (dual major) and a Master's degree in English literature from the University of Delaware. He has worked with various private- and public-sector organizations, including as a staff assistant to the Governor of Delaware, as a laboratory chemist and a medical writer for multinational corporations, as a technical writer and manager for a small software company, as a freelance multimedia software developer, and as a diplomat in Washington and abroad for the United States government (serving in the American Embassies in Dakar, Senegal, and Yaounde, Cameroun, as the Embassy's Deputy Public Affairs Officer and the Deputy Director of the American Cultural Center). Mike has been a long-time volunteer for various environmental education and conservation groups, and an advocate for science-based conservation-oriented environmental policy.
Julie St. John, Restoring Connections Editor
Two of the most important influences in Julie's childhood were The Woods in her backyard and the heady knowledge that the creek she explored down the hill eventually fed into the Ohio, the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Three states and twenty years later, when visiting Tucson, she found another landscape to ignite her imagination and became determined to make up for the time she'd already missed getting inside the vistas. But it wasn't until a volunteer gig got her out on her first backpack with the National Outdoor Leadership School's Leave No Trace program that she discovered you could love the natural world AND work to protect it. Within three months she'd left her straight job (marketing, she has a BS in Journalism and an MA in Advertising) and began researching and writing about conservation issues. Which led, naturally for her, to working within the movement, first as an advocate for predators (Wildlife Damage Review), then promoting applied science (Society for Ecological Restoration), and lately as a freelance designer/editor, improving communications for some of the finest conservation groups in the region. She joined the SIA team for the Spring 2006 issue of Restoring Connections and looks forward to a long association, getting out and the getting the word out to protect and restore this glorious landscape she calls home.
SKY ISLAND ALLIANCE BOARD - 2007
Paul Hirt, President - Arizona: Paul was a co-founder of Sky Island Alliance. He worked on the 1984 National Forest Wilderness Act, the first Coronado National Forest Management Plan, co-founded the Coalition for the Preservation of Mt. Graham, and participated in a number of other campaigns involving public lands, grazing, mining, the CAP, and urban sprawl. He is now an Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Arizona State University and has authored a number of books and articles including, A Conspiracy of Optimism: Management of the National Forests Since World War II. He has a home in Cave Creek Canyon, Arizona, in the Chiricahuas, where SIA actually had its founding gathering back in 1991.
Steve Marlatt, Vice-President - Arizona: Steve has a B.S. in Wildlife Science and an M.A. in Environmental Education from New Mexico State University. He is currently the Information and Communication Technology Specialist for Bonita Elementary School in Bonita, Arizona. In the past, he has worked for the Coronado National Forest conducting riparian analyses, trails inventories, and recreational impact studies. He has a strong commitment to Sky Island Alliance's mission, in particular promoting conservation awareness and understanding in rural communities.
Nancy Zierenberg, Secretary - Arizona: Nancy is a former seasonal US Forest Service employee in the recreation field. Her educational background is in natural sciences and she been a conservation activist for the last fifteen years, focusing mostly on public lands use issues (grazing and off-road vehicle use). In 1991 she co-founded a nonprofit organization, Wildlife Damage Review, to end government killing of wildlife for the sake of private interests. She served on the board for Predator Conservation Alliance (Montana) for five years. She is currently working for the Arizona Native Plant Society.
Dale Turner, Treasurer - Arizona: A founding member of Sky Island Alliance, Dale is a biologist with an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Arizona. His research has focused on reptiles, amphibians, and plants in southern Arizona and northern Sonora. He works as a Conservation Planner for The Nature Conservancy of Arizona. In the past, he has served as Conservation Chair for the Sierra Club's Rincon Group, as an Executive Committee Member for the Arizona Wilderness Coalition, and as President of the Tucson Herpetological Society.
Carol Cullen - Arizona: Carol is the Executive Director of the Tubac Chamber of Commerce. Living in the midst of the Sky Island region, Carol is committed to working with the local business community to preserve the natural landscapes, open space and special rural character of the area. These are the environmental amenities that create sustainable commercial value for tourism, a staple of the Southern Arizona economy. Carol has extensive experience in research and evaluation, having served as a professional evaluator for most of her career reviewing state, national, and international programs.
Brooke Gebow - Arizona: Brooke has worked in the alternative energy field, at Tucson Botanical Gardens, and for the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources. She is currently SE AZ Preserves Manager for The Nature Conservancy and is based at Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains. The job focuses on landscape-scale conservation issues in the Sky Islands region as well as overseeing Conservancy properties. She has a BA from UCLA in Analysis and Conservation of Ecosystems and an MS from the University of Arizona in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She has served on the board of the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans and enjoys helping researcher-friends with field work in her spare time.
Sadie Hadley - New Mexico: A native Arizonan, Sadie grew up on a working cattle ranch on the US-Mexico border. After receiving a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and an M. A. in Eastern Classical Literature and Sanskrit, she studied and worked in the Himalayan region for several years, and recently spent time in Mongolia observing traditional grazing practices. Involved in conservation ranching projects through the Animas Foundation and The Malpai Borderlands Group, Sadie has a special interest in cross-border conservation and ecological issues. She holds certificates in riparian and stream restoration, has studied with Dave Rosgen, Bill Zeedyk, and other southwestern watershed ecologists, and recently completed the Master Watershed Stewardship Program through the University of Arizona and Pima County.
Oscar Moctezuma O. - Mexico City, Mexico: Oscar has been the Director General of Naturalia, A. C. for15 years.
Naturalia is a not-for-profit Mexican conservation organization, which owns Los Pavos Reserve in the southern portion of the Sky Island region in Mexico. Oscar Moctezuma is a biologist with more than 20 years experience in the field of conservation and environmental protection in Mexico. He was instrumental in obtaining funds from Mexican contributors to purchase Los Pavos, the first private conservation preserve devoted to jaguar conservation in Sonora. He served as executive director of Comité para la Vida Silvestre en Riesego de Extinction, A.C., and works with several bi- national conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy and Parks Watch.
Rod Mondt - Arizona: Rod is the Conservation Lands Coordinator for Trout Unlimited, an educator and founding member of Sky Island Alliance as well as several other not-for-profit conservation groups. He has worked as a ranger with the NPS, a recreation manager with the USFS, a lecturer and field coordinator for Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Experiential Education Program and for several Not-for-Profit conservation groups. He has a Masters degree in Geography with a special interest in conservation planning, regional reserve design, public lands grazing and recreation management and environmental education.
Chris Roll - Arizona: Chris holds degrees in botany and law. He is a public lawyer currently employed with the Pinal County Attorney's Office, having previously served as the Cochise County Attorney. He is very interested in the protection of the biological and cultural resources of the sky island region . He also currently serves as a member of the Arizona Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission.
Peter Warshall - Arizona: Peter's expertise includes natural history, natural resource management (especially watersheds, wastewater, and wildlife), conservation biology, biodiversity assessments, environmental impact analysis, and conflict resolution and consensus building between divergent economic and cultural special interest groups. He has worked in Africa and Arizona for several organizations and Native American tribes, in addition to serving as an adjunct research scientist with the Office of Arid Lands Studies (University of Arizona). He has written two published articles on Sky Island ecology and biogeography and is an expert on the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel.