GREAT BASIN - Key Persons
Aaron is originally from upstate New York but has called the Western US home for the last 12 years. He is currently located in Nevada and is the Store Manager of the Patagonia Outlet in Reno. Aaron is passionate about public land protection as well as water issues. He worked on campaigns to remove the four obsolete dams on the Lower Snake River in Eastern Washington as well as opposing the creation of an oil terminal at the Port of Portland, OR. Aaron enjoys snowboarding, climbing and backpacking with his wife and daughter.
Abby is a consultant on rural community development and environmental issues, with specialties in nuclear waste and public involvement. She is former executive director of Citizen Alert which helped defeat the MX missile project; manager of Nevada's rural Community Development Block Grant program; and technical assistance provider for Rural Community Assistance Corp. She has been the nuclear waste advisor to Eureka County, Nevada since 1991; and is a freelance writer and editor based in Carson City, and Baker, Nevada.
Ann is a retired teacher; member, and sometimes Chair, of the Indian Springs Town Advisory Board; board member of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club. Ann resides in Indian Springs, in rural Clark County, Nevada.
Annette lives in Callao, Utah, where she taught school for 39 years. She and her daughter's family own and operate the Rafter Lazy C Ranch. Along with her late husband, Cecil, she worked against the MX Missile system and the Air Force's plan for an electronic battlefield in Snake Valley.
Chandler is an activist and community organizer from Salt Lake City, UT. With a deep belief in the urgency of place-based work, she returned to Utah in 2017 after receiving a B.A. in public policy from the University of Virginia. Chandler is driven to shift systems of power to reflect our interdependence with the living world by engaging communities in decisions around the ecosystems on which they rely. To this end, she co-founded the Utah Food Coalition and Save Our Great Salt Lake and serves on the board of Wasatch Community Gardens.
For more than 28 years, Chris Giunchigliani served Nevadans in the Legislature and Clark County Commission, advocating for responsible growth, conservation, and social equality during a time of immense change in the state. As a former director on the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Board, Giunchigliani's unparalleled opposition to the Las Vegas Pipeline is reflected in her voting record and public rhetoric against the $15.5 billion project that will siphon 58 billion gallons of water annually from the desert.
Gary is a long-time resident of White Pine County who owned and operated the Border Inn in Baker for 30 years. Gary is a dedicated public servant who formerly served on the White Pine County Board of County Commissioners and the Mt Wheeler Power Board. He remains a volunteer EMT in White Pine County. Gary recently sold the Border Inn but remains with his wife Jo Ann in Baker, where they raised their five children and now enjoy their grandkids.
James Woolsey grew up in the Mojave Desert, (29 Palms, CA), and before retiring in August 2023, spent 32 years working for the federal government. 27 of these years were with the National Park Service and five with the American Battle Monuments Commission. Woolsey worked as superintendent or deputy superintendent at Great Basin National Park, Springfield Armory, Coltsville National Historical Park, Death Valley National Park and Acadia National Park. He also served as Director of Visitor Service for the American Battle Monuments Commission, where he helped open the visitor center at the Normandy American Cemetery and later served as the Paris-based director of interpretation and visitor services for 24 overseas cemeteries. James and his wife Elizabeth now own the Bristlecone General Store and Stargazer Inn in Baker, Nevada.
Kyle Roerink worked on Capitol Hill prior to joining GBWN and spent the early part of his career as a newspaper reporter in the West. He is indebted to the selflessness of the GBWN family - a group of folks who have groundwater springs pumping in their hearts. Kyle enjoys spending time with bristlecone pines and swimming in cold, high country streams.
Job Titles:
- Nevada State Director for the Center for Biological Diversity
Patrick Donnelly is the Nevada State Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, a nationwide non-profit dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Based in Southern Nevada, Patrick has been involved in natural resource conservation and activism for 15 years. He enjoys hiking with his dog, photographing wildflowers, and playing music around a campfire.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor to the Great Basin Water Network Board of Directors
Rob is a senior advisor to the Great Basin Water Network Board of Directors. Rob lives in the hill country of western New York, after spending 12 years working in Nevada with the U.S. Forest Service, Clark County government and the Center for Biological Diversity. Rob has a B.S. degree in Natural Resources Management and a M.S. degree in forest ecology. Although now far from NV, Rob visits regularly and cares deeply for the state's natural heritage and great people, and actively advocates for living within the ecological limits of your environment.
Rose is an over 30-year Sierra Club activist and leader on public lands and water issues offering analysis, testimony, public comment and coordination on local, state and federal projects. She is a liaison to many agencies on technical and policy issues. An avid birder and hiker, she lives in Reno, Nevada.
Steve has been a community organizer, nonprofit executive director, and an advocate for peace and social, economic and environmental justice for over thirty years in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has led successful campaigns and influenced policy on a wide variety of issues in Utah, from establishing the first transitional housing for homeless teens and for homeless veterans, to halting plans for the development of biological weapons labs, electronic warfare ranges and private prisons. He currently serves as policy advocate for the Utah Audubon Council, as an advocate for the anti-poverty nonprofit Crossroads Urban Center, and is the volunteer director of the watchdog group Citizens Education Project.
Job Titles:
- Retired Executive Director of Public Resource Associates
Susan is the retired Executive Director of Public Resource Associates. She served as a member for seven years and Chairman of the Washoe County Regional Water Planning Commission and its Conservation Committee for 4 years. She formerly served as rural coordinator for Nevada's lone Congressman and was a founder of the Truckee River Yacht Club, Friends of Black Rock/High Rock, and a founding board member of Nevada Women's Fund and Great Basin Land and Water, Inc. Susan is the past coordinator of GBWN and serves as an advisor to the board.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Indian Peaks Band of the Paiute Tribe of Utah
Tamra is the chairwoman of the Indian Peaks Band of the Paiute Tribe of Utah and a member of the Paiute Tribe of Utah tribal council. She is an advocate for water protection throughout her traditional homelands. Tamra strongly believes in advocating for marginalized communities and has been appointed to sit on various boards and task forces to implement and research meaningful policy changes. Tamra has spent years partnering with GBWN on efforts to stop the Cedar City Pipeline and Groundwater Grab, which would unlawfully export the tribe's water rights for sprawl in Cedar City.
Tom lives in Baker, Nevada where, along with his father and brothers and their families, he operates Baker Ranches in Snake Valley. Tom is also President of the White Pine County Farm Bureau.