Board of Directors

Chris is a hydrogeologist and attorney who has called Tucson home for the last 30 years.  Chris has a B.S. in Hydrology and a J.D. from the University of Arizona and currently works in water resources management for a Southern Arizona Indian tribe. When not working or advocating in the community for sustainable water resources policies Chris enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, including hiking, camping, and mountain biking.

Jared is a co-founder of Watershed Management Group and holds a MSc in Watershed Management and a PhD in Natural Resource Management. He has conducted ecohydrology research for the US Department of Agriculture and US Forest Service and has implemented community-based conservation programs in the US Peace Corps. He has also managed projects funded by the US Agency for International Development. Jared is currently working on international program development and establishing WMG's office in India.

Evan Canfield, Advisory Board

Evan Canfield has a PhD in Agricultural Engineering and is registered professional Civil Engineer with a specialty in water resources. Prior to settling in Tucson he worked for humanitarian organizations doing agricultural development work in Asia and Africa. He has worked on water conservation initiatives as Chair of an advisory panel to Tucson Water. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona. His specialty is hydrologic modeling, and he has helped develop tools to predict the viability of passive and active water harvesting designs to accomplish the dual objectives of providing water for plants and managing stormwater.

Kevin Dahl, Advisory Board

Kevin Dahl is Arizona Program Manager for National Park Conservation Association (NPCA).  For more than 90 years, NPCA has been America’s leading advocate for the protection and enhancement of our National Park System.  Prior to NPCA, Kevin was executive director of Native Seeds/SEARCH, a regional group that works to preserve the genetic diversity of Southwestern Native American crops. He was also executive director of the Tucson Audubon Society, and Natural Resources Superintendent for Pima County’s Parks and Recreation Department. An alumnus of both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, his interest in plants led him to obtain his degree in ethnobotany from Prescott College. Kevin is author of Wild Plants of the Sonoran Desert, published by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and Native Harvest: Authentic Southwestern Gardening, published by the Western National Parks Association.

Georgia Ehlers, Advisory Member

Georgia Ehlers is Director of Fellowships and Community Engagement at The University of Arizona Graduate College. She manages the UA Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows and UA Wildcat Corps programs that have placed 300 students and grads in non-profit service across Arizona. She has a MS degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin, and was a city planner and consultant in Columbus, Ohio for 18 years before moving to Tucson in 1992. She is interested in non-profit management, community development and sustainability issues.

Joan Hall, Board Secretary

Joan is a self-employed microfinance specialist, and holds an MSc Degree in International Management from the American University in Washington, D.C. She has been helping organizations in developing countries to provide financial services to low-income people for over 20 years. She has worked for international NGOs such as CARE and Catholic Relief Services, as well as for international donors such as the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank. Joan participated in one of Watershed Management Group’s first apprenticeship programs, and is an active member of the WMG co-op.

Felipe Ip, Board Member

Felipe grew up in Macau/HongKong and now lives in Tucson, AZ.  A hydrologist with the Pima County Regional Flood Control District Felipe works on LID, stormwater detention, hydraulic models and floodplain mapping. He serves on the 2011 LID conference planning committee and Pima Association of Governments - Stormwater Management Working Group, and has in the past assisted with the Arizona Hydrological Society symposiums.  Felipe enjoys commuting by bike or bus to work, watching sunsets and spending time with his family.

Jennifer Mills, Board Member

Jennifer Mills is a native Arizonan who has a great appreciation for the vibrant and diverse place where she grew up. Working as a Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC, she has been assisting clients with their financial and investment decisions since 1994. Jennifer was introduced to Watershed Management Group by a like minded client and friend, Marguerite Fisher. Although she is still learning about the history and vision of WMG she is excited to be involved in an organization that embodies so many of the values that are near and dear to her heart. In her spare time, she is an enthusiastic rather than accomplished gardener who also enjoys hiking, camping, yoga, walks with her two Jack Russell Terriers, and watching sunsets with friends and family.

Mark Murphy, Board Member

Mark Murphy has been a hydrologist in Arizona and New Mexico for over 30 years, specializing in water quality, ecohydrology and water resource policy.  He has a PhD in geology from Johns Hopkins University.  He has worked for the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Arizona State University and several consulting firms.  Currently, he lives in Tucson and is Operations Manager and Senior Water Resources Scientist with GeoSystems Analysis, Inc, a locally owned small business.  Mark enjoys hiking, biking and camping in the Sonoran Desert and kayaking and fishing in streams throughout the West.

Irene "Rainy" Radillo, Board Member

Rainy is a self-employed certified Spanish judicial and medical interpreter/translator who works locally for the Federal Government and for private attorneys and companies. In addition to interpreting for the courts, she provides transcription and translation services for the AZ US Attorney's office and local attorneys. She feels fortunate to be able to incorporate her bilingual skills into any job she's had (she was an Occupational Therapist for 20+ years) and looks forward to continuing to do so for WMG. Irene participated in one of WMG's first apprenticeship programs, and has remained connected to the group in various ways.

Catlow Shipek is a founding member of WMG. Catlow and fellow co-founders based the philosophy of WMG on the watershed model using water as a link to bring stakeholders together. He received a MSc in Watershed Management from the University of Arizona. Past work at the Southwest Watershed Research Center with the USDA Agricultural Research Service has given him a depth of experience in soil erosion and sedimentation processes on southwestern rangelands.

Kieran Sikdar, Board Chair

Kieran has worked as a consultant focusing on collaborative business sustainability projects and measuring environmental impacts of business operations as well as an environmental science teacher. With a background in environmental systems engineering and permaculture design, Kieran enjoys utilizing lessons from nature to design systems to solve challenging problems. Kieran takes pleasure in biking, hiking, doing yoga, reading and watching desert rainstorms with his wife and doggie.

Sowmya Somnath, Board Member-At-Large, Co-Founder

Sowmya is a founding member of WMG.  She is a registered Professional Engineer with a decade of structural engineering experience working on diverse design and construction projects in the US.  She is a  former Indicorps Fellow and has implemented rural sanitation infrastructure development and hygiene education projects in India and Africa. She is also a professional mentor for Engineers without Borders on a multi-year drinking water slow sand filtration project in Mafi Zongo, Ghana.  She is starting up the WMG India office with Jared Buono.

David Stevenson, Board Vice Chair

David is a Tucson native who appreciates the abundance of the desert, the energy of the sun, and the life-giving rain.  After 30 years of IT at IBM and Kroger, he joined Technicians For Sustainability.  At TFS he teaches clients to measure their energy consumption and solar energy production, with a goal of inspiring them to use less energy and live more sustainably.  David got involved with WMG through rainwater harvesting workshops, then attended WMG’s Water Harvesting program.  He enjoys implementing water harvesting concepts to nourish food gardens and create animal habitat.  Other interests include bicycling, hiking, and camping throughout the West.