Board of Directors

Rick Aster, Socorro, NM

I have the honor of being a charter member of NMWA and of having served on the Board from our organization’s inception through 2002. As a resident of rural New Mexico for nearly twenty years, an Earth scientist, a parent, and a passionate outdoor recreationist, in rejoining the NMWA Board, I will work energetically to advance protection of our precious wild lands.

Kenneth Cole, Albuquerque, NM

I am a retired International Official with extensive experience in negotiating financial and technical support for community based economic and social development undertakings. I trained as a lawyer and have experience in complicated negotiations with counterparts ranging from senior government officials to local community leaders.My bird watching activities have taken me all over the world, and given me many opportunities to observe the benefits of healthy habitats and to grasp the problems caused by the degradation of natural resources.  Once you’ve seen the totally bald slopes in Southern Ecuador or seen “grandfather” logs being trucked out of rainforests of Borneo, you know you have to be involved in preserving natural areas.

Christianne Hinks, Albuquerque, NM

Christianne received her BFA from Ohio University before moving to New Mexico in 1984. She is an active member of NMWA and has volunteered in many capacities, most recently focused on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She is a member of the NM Steering Committee for the Alaska Wilderness League and the director of the Confluence Project.

C. Wesley Leonard, Albuquerque, NM, Chair

Mr. Leonard, a founding Director, recently retired as Director of the Center for Environmental Resource Management at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has served as Chair of the Management Committee of the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy, a nine-university consortium focusing on border environmental issues. He previously worked for the Bureau of Land Management and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as well as in national sales and marketing. He been active in New Mexico wilderness affairs for more than 30 years and has been involved in the passage of several wilderness bills. Mr. Leonard served several terms as Chair of the Sierra Club’s El Paso Regional Group.

Esther Garcia, Questa, NM

I was born in Taos County and have lived in Questa all my life. I serve as the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Del Rio Colorado Land Grant and am very active with the New Mexico Acequia Association, which is instrumental in passing legislation affecting all New Mexico acequias and water issues. I am honored to have been named in the top twenty nominations for the 2008 Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women, and to have recently been honored by the Village of Questa for my efforts in advocating for the cultural preservation of our water rights and acequias, and for the restoration of the San Antonio Del Rio Colorado Land Grant.

James Hickerson, Cedar Crest, NM

I joined the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance for its commitment to preservation, its clear and rational public voice, its integrity, and its active engagement with local communities, as well as for the opportunities to participate directly in its work. Because our knowledge and our words must be accurate and reflect history as well as current reality, I have helped create the Conservation Library in the NMWA Albuquerque office, which now has over one hundred volumes.

Tripp Killin, Albuquerque, NM

Mr. Killin is the former Associate Director of  NMWA and was responsible for all non-membership fundraising and reporting for over five years. Tripp left the staff of NMWA to become Executive Director of the Jeniam Foundation.  Tripp earned a B.S. in Biology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Nancy Morton, MS, RN, CCRN, Albuquerque, NM, Secretary

Nancy is a nurse and teaches at the University of New Mexico. She’s been a volunteer wilderness activist for more than 30 years. She was a founding board member of the NM Wilderness Alliance. Nancy’s favorite wildland activities are hiking and river running.

Thomas Mouck, Ph.D., Albuquerque, NM, Co-Treasurer

Dr. Mouck has a Ph. D in economics and is a professor of accounting at the University of New Mexico. His research focus is on issues of corporate accountability in general and environmental accountability in particular. Dr. Mouck’s interest in environmental accountability springs from a love of nature in and of itself, and a deeply-held concern about the increasing planet-wide loss of wilderness and biological diversity.

Nancy Murray, Albuquerque, NM, Co-Treasurer

Nancy has degrees in Biology and Business Administration. She worked for eight years in research at Oregon Health Sciences University. She has worked in the healthcare industry since 1995. Although field biology has never been her vocation, it has remained her lifelong avocation. This interest fuels her commitment to conserving habitat diversity. Prior to joining the NMWA Board of Directors, she was Vice President on the Central New Mexico Audubon Board of Directors and was a representative to the New Mexico Audubon Council.

Todd Schulke, Pinos Altos, NM

Mr. Schulke is a founder and staff member of the Center for Biological Diversity. He holds a degree from Evergreen State College in environmental studies and has been a professional environmentalist for over 12 years. He worked for five years on grazing and off road vehicle issues in southern California before moving to New Mexico in 1989.

Bob Tafanelli, Ph.D., Las Cruces, NM, Vice Chair

Dr. Tafanelli holds multiple degrees in biology. He is currently working on two studies of aplomado falcons. His history of environmental activism stretches back to the 1960’s when he helped found the Oklahoma Chapter of the Sierra Club. In the 1980’s he formed and headed the Coalition of Conservation Organizations in Las Cruces, a coalition of 50 individual and group members that later evolved into the Southwest Environmental Center. He was a founding board member of NMWA.

Brooke Williams, Moab, UT

For the past thirty years, I have actively pursued adventure in wild landscapes and believe in using lessons learned from nature’s ability to adapt to constantly changing conditions in organizational transformation. I have an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute and a Biology degree from the University of Utah. I have been the keynote speaker and panelist at numerous meetings, conferences, and workshops. Additionally, I have written many books and articles and am the Vice President of Great West Institute.