Brief Biographies for Workshop and Field Trip Leaders
These are in alphabetical order. Where there is more than one leader, some other contributors may be under the name of the first person listed in the workshop and field trip descriptions.
Jim and Jackie Blurton have backpacked and hiked the Gila Wilderness since moving to Silver City in 1993. They enjoy traveling, camping, and hiking throughout the West. They are active volunteers for the Gila Native Plant Society. Jackie is the artist of Wheel Milkweed (Asclepias uncialis), the plant chosen for our conference emblem.
Marty Eberhardt is chair of the Garden Committee for Silva Creek Botanical Garden. She previously worked in botanical gardens for much of her professional career. She is an avid hiker and volunteers as an archaeological site steward for the Dragonfly Site.
Hosana Eilert, owner of Wild West Weaving, has been creating woven works of art for over thirty years. Hosana’s enthusiasm for preserving a rich weaving tradition has led her to create a unique curriculum for students new to weaving as well as experienced weavers looking to dive deeper into this art form.
Angela Flanders and Jane Spinti have worked in the Western New Mexico University Herbarium for over 15 years, carrying out tasks such as mounting specimens, organizing files, making nomenclatural updates, and maintaining an online data entry system.
Mike and Carol Ann Fugagli are ornithologists and conservation biologists who have
shifted their focus from birds to the microscopic world of soil. They are passionate about the potential role microbes play in carbon sequestration. Carol Ann is the executive director of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, and Mike works as a conservation biologist with Stream Dynamics.
Asher Gelbart is the owner and operator of Green Energy Now, a small business based in Mimbres, New Mexico, that serves residents of the Gila-Mimbres watersheds. He designs and installs low-tech sustainable energy infrastructure systems, drawing upon permaculture principles with a holistic integrated design approach.
John Gorey is a wildlife biologist who studies birds, insects, plants, and habitats across the US. Since moving to New Mexico, he has focused on the plants and insects of Southwestern New Mexico.
Wendy Graves is a retired community college instructor of physics and mathematics. She is actively engaged in learning about the flora and environment of southwest New Mexico. She served as treasurer of the Gila chapter, facilitated the Silva Creek Botanical Garden Steering Committee, and is a past co-president of the NPSNM. Don Graves is a retired community college educator who taught biology. He previously led high school students from across the country in summer work projects in national parks across the Midwest. Don is a past co-president of the NPSNM and a past president of the Gila chapter.
Alesia Hallmark is the coordinator of the Silver City Watershed Keepers and Pick It Up-Toss No Mas program. She holds a Ph.D. in Aridland Ecology from the University of New Mexico. She has studied the relationship between long-term patterns of climate, plant growth, and animal population dynamics across the Southwestern U.S. Scott Zager is a professional botanist and plant ecologist who has surveyed vegetation across large, wild landscapes and has constructed ecological maps using a combination of techniques.
Ann Hedlund is a retired cultural anthropologist who worked with Navajo weavers and SW textiles and natural dyes for much of her museum/university career in Tucson, Tempe and Boulder.
Diana Ingalls is the founder and director of the Silver City Youth Mural Program, which pairs youth with facilitating artists to create painted or mosaic murals that explore the history, culture, and ecology of Silver City.
Chris Jepson is a retired maternal-child nurse who has been the volunteer seed librarian since 2021. She has admired plants and learned to garden since tending her father’s tomato plants as a teenager.
Kelly Kindscher is Professor of Plant Ecology and Plant Ethnobiology at the University of Kansas. He also holds a joint appointment as a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey. He is a passionate advocate for native plants, native landscapes and wild places. His research focuses on ethnobotany, native prairies, prairie and wetland restoration and regional plant communities. He has published numerous journal articles and is the coauthor of Field Guide to the Trees of the Gila Region of New Mexico, along with Richard Stephen Felger, James Thomas Verrier, and Xavier Raj Herbst Khera.
Russ Kleinman and Karen Blisard are a married couple who recently co-authored Flora Neomexicana IV: Bryophytes with Kelly Allred. This is the first fully illustrated book about the mosses and liverworts of New Mexico. Russ is a retired general surgeon who teaches Plant Taxonomy at Western New Mexico University, and Karen is a retired pathologist who studies liverworts and enjoys birdwatching.
Naava Koenigsberg is a clinical herbalist with over thirty years of experience working with native New Mexican plant remedies. She is a co-founder of the Traditional Medicine Garden at SCBG, the current treasurer of the Gila Chapter of the NPSNM, and serves on the Garden Committee.
Kathleen Koopman lives and works in Silver City. She is an active member of the Silver City Art Association. Her work combines found objects, assemblage, and alternative photographic methods to create thought-provoking and enigmatic works of art. She also volunteers at the Herbarium at Western New Mexico University.
Elroy Limmer is a retired horticulturalist who has been photographing small objects since he was a child. He is the former co-director of the National Insect Photo Salon for the Photographic Society of America and has received numerous awards for his photography. He has published two collections of his images. He has served as past president of the Gila Chapter and is currently a board member and the conference co-chair.
Steve Mudge has been designing and installing landscapes with an emphasis on Southwest native plants for thirty-five years. His current focus is on finding interesting plants in the Sky Islands of the Borderlands and the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.
Patrice Mutchnick is the Director and Founder of Heart of the Gila, a nonprofit organization located in the Gila Headwaters. She previously worked as the Biology Lab Director at Western New Mexico University, and as a Plant Collector for the Smithsonian Institution’s Biodiversity of the Guianas Program in Guyana, South America. Patrice also collaborated on the recently completed Plant Inventory of the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.
Dr. William (Bill) Norris is a Professor of Botany at Western New Mexico University (WNMU). He teaches a variety of classes, including Ecology, Ornithology, Biology of Fungi, Biology of Algae, and Botany. He has been conducting a survey of City of Rocks State Park for over twenty years. Maria Conklin is a master’s degree student in biology and art. She has researched Kangaroo Rats in City of Rocks State Park. Alex Wales is an undergraduate student at WNMU, majoring in botany and chemistry with research interests in soil microbes and antibiotic and antifungal microbes. Audrey Weisberg is an undergraduate botany student at WNMU who is student teaching assistant in the school’s Natural Science Department.
Larry Ollivier is a retired educator and award-winning poet and photographer. He is the author of two collections of poetry: The Voice of All Things Singing and Albert Einstein in Las Vegas. His photography has appeared in galleries and print.
Ronald (Ron) Parry is a retired professor of biochemistry with research interests focused on the biochemistry associated with the formation of natural products, which are the complex toxins, antibiotics, and defense compounds produced by plants, microorganisms, and fungi. After retirement, he returned to his interests in natural history and began to study moths.
David Phillips is a retired educator, who has been making images of landscapes and wildlife for over 20 years. His photos have appeared in various publications and promotional materials. He is an active member of the Silver City Photography Club.
John Rembetski is retired from Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque and now volunteers at the Albuquerque Greenhouse Gardens, where he learned about and constructed his first crevice garden. He helps others explore this unique and popular garden technique.
Joe Saenz represents the Chiricahua Apache, believed by many to be the original inhabitants of the Gila Wilderness. Saenz organizes the Red Paint Powwow, an annual event held at Western New Mexico University, where he teaches a course on the Chiricahua Apache.
Devyn Scott – Devyn is an undergraduate student at Western New Mexico University, majoring in both Botany and Zoology. When not in class, he spends his time in the Gila National Forest, enjoying the flora and fauna of the Southwest.
Denise Smith worked previously for the Silver City Sustainability Office. She is an active member of the national organization Great Old Broads for Wilderness. She is currently working with a grant-funded project to plant drought-tolerant trees along the streets of Santa Clara.
Jonah Snead is a Park Ranger at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, where he leads interpretive programs focused on cultural history, night skies, and wildlife. He has worked closely with Heart of the Gila on invasive plant removal and habitat restoration efforts along the Gila Cliff Dwelling Trail and Cliff Dweller Canyon, working to protect riparian systems and support native plant recovery. He received an NPSNM Carter Fund grant in 2025 to support this effort.
Elli Sorenson has a lifetime of experience working in different mediums, rich in color and texture, and a vast knowledge of pigments and materials. Her textile experience includes several dye methods, batik, block printing and painting, quilting, pattern design, and construction.
Cara Staab – Cara is a wildlife ecologist who recently retired from the National Forest Service. She has lived in eight western states and currently serves as vice president of the Gila Chapter of NPSNM and co-chair of the conference.
Donna Stevens is the co-author, with Jack L. Carter and Martha A. Carter, of Common Southwestern Trees and Shrubs: An Identification Guide. She is also the author of Common Plants of the Gila National Forest. Donna is the current president of the Gila Chapter of the NPSNM.
Priscilla Titus is a retired ecologist whose professional experience focused on natural resource evaluations and management in areas throughout the US with a specialization in the collection and propagation of native plant seeds for use in multiple restoration efforts. Jonathan Titus is a retired professor of biology who specialized in plant community development and succession. He has contributed to international ecological research including the flora of Albania, a demographic study of tree aloes in Botswana, and monitoring work in successional meadows in the Czech Republic.