Staff 

Jason Blake-

Tabling and Volunteer Coordinator

Mr. Blake has a BS in Marketing from the University of Louisville in his home state of Kentucky.  He has spent the past 7 years working or volunteering on a number of environmental and political campaigns across the nation.  Mr. Blake now coordinates volunteer work and tabling efforts for NMWA. Please contact Jason at jason@nmwild.org

Tisha Broska-
Membership Coordinator

Mrs. Broska has a degree in Environmental Science from the State University of New York at Fredonia. She manages NMWA’s membership program and is managing editor of NMWA’s newsletter, “New Mexico Wild!” Please contact Tisha at tisha@nmwild.org

Stephen Capra-
Executive Director

After a career in private industry and journalism, Mr. Capra has worked nearly full time for wilderness conservation since 1988. As outreach coordinator on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the Wilderness Society he hiked from Mexico to Canada, giving scores of press conferences and speeches to draw attention to the fight to protect this special place. Mr. Capra also worked for the Arizona Wilderness Coalition as its media coordinator before joining NMWA’s staff in 2001. As the driving force behind the Otero Mesa campaign, he helped bring this issue into the national spotlight. Please contact Stephen at steve@nmwild.org

 

Craig Chapman-
Special Events Coordinator

Craig Chapman is the newest member of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. He comes to the environmental community after 25 years in sales and marketing in the banking industry. Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he spent his early years as a military brat following his father around the world. Craig has lived in New Mexico for over 20 years settling down in New Mexico because of his love of the Mountains.  He is an active Ski Patroller and also has a passion for mountain biking, which he does to stay in shape for skiing. Craig has brought a new perspective to NMWA coming from the private sector. He plans to utilize his sales and marketing experience to promote Wilderness. Please contact Craig at craig@nmwild.org

David Ehrman-
Community Partnership Associate

Mr. Ehrman is our new Santa Fe staff member.  He lived in Denver, Colorado and participated in the successful campaign to stop the proposal to explode nuclear weapons underground to stimulate natural gas production in western Colorado. Ehrman worked for former U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell of Colorado in his Denver office with responsibilities for Rocky Flats, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plan (WIPP) and Veterans health issues.  He will involve NMWA members in maintaining personal contact with our congressional delegation to express their strong support for protecting wilderness and wildlife.  David will expand volunteer action into a variety of issues effecting wilderness including the restriction of oil and gas drilling in sensitive wilderness areas and protection of the Mexican Wolf.  He respects the views of local communities when discussing wilderness proposals.  He believes Santa Feans are taking a leadership role in New Mexico and Washington, D.C. on wilderness protection and new wilderness legislation. Please contact David at david@nmwild.org

Tripp Killin-
Associate Director

Mr. Killin comes to NMWA via the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he earned a B.S. in Biology. He is involved in several family foundations and thus brings a donor’s perspective to his work. He is responsible for all non-membership fundraising and reporting for NMWA. Please contact Tripp at tripp@nmwild.org

Trisha London-
Membership & Grassroots Assistant

Ms. London manages our Albuquerque office. She was a Park Guide and Interpretive Specialist with the National Park Service at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument for several years. Trisha is skilled in public speaking, graphic design, and native plant identification. She was also an active NMWA volunteer prior to joining the NMWA staff. Please contact trisha at trishal@nmwild.org

Nathan Newcomer-
Grassroots Organizer/Media Director

Mr. Newcomer began as an intern with NMWA in 2001 and is now the full-time Grassroots Organizer and Media Director. Nathan is also the guy behind the creative computer work, producing all of NMWA’s multi-media presentations and DVD’s.  While working with NMWA, he is studying at UNM to earn his degree in Political Science with a minor in Biology. Please contact Nathan at nathan@nmwild.org

John Olivas-
Northern NM Director

Mr. Olivas has an Undergraduate Degree in Biology and a Masters Degree in Environmental Science.  He is currently managing partner and owner of JACO Outfitters, LLC who specializes in guided hunting and fishing trips throughout New Mexico.  He previously worked in the federal sector with the USFWS as a Fisheries Biologist with the Mora Fish Hatchery and Technology Center  as well as the private sector as an engineer with Intel Corporation in Rio Rancho.  He currently sits on the Board for the Mora Land Grant and is very active in the state wide Land Grant efforts here in New Mexico. Please contact John at john@nmwild.org

Roxanne Pacheco-
Finance Manager

Ms. Pacheco joined NMWA in 2001 and is responsible for our accounting, reporting, and office administration. She has years of experience as an environmental activist and owns her own accounting and tax preparation business.Please contact Roxanne at roxanne@nmwild.org

Michael Scialdone-
Wilderness Protection Director

Mr. Scialdone has been with NMWA since 1999, and recently completed an inventory of 3.4 million acres of federal and state lands in New Mexico that qualify for wilderness protection. He directs NMWA’s on-the-ground wilderness protection efforts including volunteer restoration projects like closing roads and rehabilitating springs. Mr. Scialdone holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Sul Ross University, and previously worked on wilderness inventory programs in Utah.Please contact Michael at scial@nmwild.org

Nathan Small-
Wilderness Protection Organizer

Mr. Small is a native New Mexican, but came to NMWA after graduating from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH. He coordinates tabling for NMWA, and leads Wilderness Protection efforts for National Forest and National Park Service lands. After completing a 16 state roadshow, he lives full time in the Land of Enchantment. Please contact Nathan at nathansmall@nmwild.org

Jeff Steinborn -
Southern NM Director

Mr. Steinborn comes to the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance with a wealth of experience in and out of government. He previously served as an advisor to both U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and then Congressman Bill Richardson. As Senator Bingaman's former advisor to the Otero Mesa, Jeff was a strong proponent of protecting this key resource, and played a vital role in helping to guide strategy. He was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell for high school, graduating on the Dean's academic list. Please contact Jeff at jeff@nmwild.org

Steve West -
Staff Scientist

Steve West, the former Mayor of Loving, NM, a former Army officer, and former Science teacher at Carlsbad High School has joined the staff of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Mr. West has a Masters in Science from New Mexico Tech and comes to the organization as its Staff Scientist. Mr. West is also an accomplished author with more than 50 articles and reports published in science journals and other periodicals. Additionally, he has been studying grassland bird species in southern New Mexico for several decades, including extensive bird surveys on Otero Mesa. As part of his work on the Chihuahuan desert, Mr. West wrote and published a book entitled: “Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers and Other Plants of the Desert and its parklands.” Please contact Steve at stevewest@nmwild.org

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Board of Directors

Randall Gray, Lake Valley, NM, Vice Chair

Randy retired from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as their Chief Wildlife Biologist in Washington, DC. He also serves on boards for the Wild Farm Alliance, North American Grouse Partnership and is on the private lands committee for the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.  Randy believes large un-fragmented landscapes are critical to the long term conservation of biological diversity.

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.

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

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

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

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.

David Parsons, Albuquerque, NM, Treasurer

Dave is a wildlife biologist and is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he led the recovery effort for the endangered Mexican wolf.  He continues to pursue his interests in the conservation of large carnivores and wild nature in many ways.  Dave is a steering committee member of the Southern Rockies Wolf Restoration Project and the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, and he is a stakeholder member of the Southwestern Gray Wolf Recovery Team.  He is the vice-chairman and a science fellow of The Rewilding Institute—a conservation think tank dedicated to the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity on a continental scale.  Dave also serves as the chair for NMWA’s Finance Committee and believes that wilderness designation and preservation are keys to the conservation of ecologically effective wildlands and wild nature.

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

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.

Rick Wiedenmann, Carlsbad, NM, Secretary

Mr. Weidenman is an assistant professor of biology at the New Mexico State University, Carlsbad campus.  He has been involved in wilderness activism, including working for the Dugger Mountain Wilderness legislation in Alabama before moving to New Mexico.