Watershed Management Group Intern

Alexis Salazar
Restoration & Community Engagement Apprentice

A first generation Mexican American, Alexis grew up in Utah surrounded by natural beauty and unique bodies of water. She worked 10 years in Tech managing databases, small business financial software and ran community engagement locally around sustainability initiatives and partnerships with various non-profits throughout Tucson. She’s an artist at heart and is passionate about design systems, science communication through art and hands-on-engagement and getting people excited about coming together to build a relationship steward the land and water. Being a desert dweller and ocean lover, Alexis frequents trips to Mexico and around the world to scuba and freedive. When she’s not in the ocean, she’s at the pool with her longfins, roller skating, dancing with two left feet or spying on birds.

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: She/Her

Alfredo Vasquez
Desert Rivers Restoration Apprentice

Alfredo has worked collaboratively with a range of county, state, and federal agencies. He interned with Pima County's Conservation Lands Department and worked as both a Range and Forestry Technician with the U.S. Forest Service, performing environmental assessments to guide natural resources management and riparian restoration efforts. Alfredo envisions himself working in conservation/restoration planning in the future, and in his spare time he enjoys riding his bike and going to the movies.

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: He/Him

Anissa McKenna
Urban River Restoration Apprentice

Anissa McKenna is a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and was born in Tucson, Arizona. She earned a M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Arizona where she studied the bioaccessibility of arsenic in relation to contamination from uncapped mine tailings. Anissa has experience in climate resilience, tribal engagement, interagency collaboration, and community organizing, and is passionate about protecting the land and community. Her family has strong ties to the Santa Cruz River and many family members remember swimming and playing in the river and washes as children. She enjoys reading, playing music, and gardening.

Language fluency: English
Pronouns: she/her

Avery Lane
Desert Rivers Restoration Apprentice

Avery Lane is a writer, poet, and outdoor enthusiast raised and based in the Sonoran Desert. Her education and research background is in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology, and she holds an M.A. in Evolutionary Anthropology. She has experience in biological fieldwork, restoration ecology, outdoor recreation and interpretation, and is excited to expand upon these skills with Watershed Management. More broadly, she is passionate about reciprocal stewardship, how people find meaning in place, and cultivating creativity through engagement with nature. Avery loves to explore outside and help others do the same; she volunteers for Southern Arizona Rescue Association, and completed a thru-hike of the Arizona Trail in 2021. She is the founder and host of a weekly community writers group called Strange Pen (please reach out if curious!) and is always looking for new ways to integrate life and creative practice.

Language fluency: English
Pronouns: She/Her

Celia González
Bilingual Outreach Apprentice

Celia was born and raised in Durango, Mexico, and moved to the United States when she was 18. Growing up between two languages and cultures gave her an appreciation for both and shaped her belief in the importance of making people feel seen, understood, and connected. She earned a B.A. in Electronic Media from the University of Texas at El Paso, with a minor in Secondary Education. Her experience includes storytelling through photography, journalism, and digital media. She enjoys engaging with the community and finding creative ways to connect with others. In her personal time, she enjoys hiking, photography, supporting the dance community, and pursuing her dream of becoming a Bollywood dancer, which she hopes to make a little more real one dance class at a time. She also loves exploring taco stands with her husband and spending time with her two kids, who keep life interesting.

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella

Esther Wroth
Community Conservation Apprentice

Esther grew up in Tianjin, China, her maternal hometown. Her background includes work as the Marketing Coordinator at the San Xavier Co-Op Farm and a Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology & International Affairs from Georgetown University with minors in Russian and Theology and a concentration on Energy & Environment. Her research on climate resilience in Sāmoa shaped her understanding of sustainability as a reciprocal relationship where people and nature provide for each other. Esther is interested in anti-capitalist community food sovereignty, global Indigenous self-determination, and spirituality's role in our relationship to land. She loves bugs and her family, and she believes they all love her back.

Language fluency: English, Mandarin Chinese
Pronouns: she/her

Jacob Hoover
Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow

Jacob Hoover, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, received his BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Georgia in 2023. He then went on to become a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru in the community economic development sector. In Peru, Jacob worked hand-in-hand with teachers, community members, and local businesses to teach classes in financial education, entrepreneurship, and women’s economic empowerment. These experiences led Jacob to his passion of working in development in support of disenfranchised peoples around the world and particularly South America. He is now attending the University of Arizona as a Coverdell Fellow pursuing his Master’s of Information Science with a specialty in Machine Learning. He hopes to eventually go into development work as a data scientist, helping to ensure the most vulnerable populations are visible and present in decision-making, and receive the support that they need. In his freetime, Jacob loves to draw and create art, watch arthouse films, play ultimate frisbee, and thrift vintage clothes. 

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: He/Him

Jennifer Skinner
Urban River Restoration Apprentice

I’m a Chicana environmental educator and cultural worker from Douglas, AZ. My great love for my desert homeland, its people, plants, animals, food, rivers, and rich cultural heritage inspired me to pursue a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a minor in Mexican-American Studies from the University of Arizona. My education underscored the vital importance of cultural work as a tool for community healing and deepening our connection to the unique environmental conditions of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. As an environmental educator, I have worked to design culturally relevant curriculum for Title 1 K-12 students in Douglas and Tucson, encouraging youth to connect with themselves and their heritage by working directly with the land, studying local history, and reflecting through eco-conscious artistic practice. In my personal time, I am a photographer, graphic designer, gardener, and community organizer who loves to explore the world, cook, and share meals with friends and family.

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: she/they

Liam Donohue
Community Conservation Apprentice

Though he is originally from Virginia, Liam spent a large part of his childhood in Santa Cruz County, Arizona and Ambos Nogales, where he developed a love for the Sonoran Desert. He graduated with a bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences and Anthropology from the University of Virginia, with a focus on water resilience and water rights. Liam is interested in finding ways to promote human thriving within natural ecosystems, with most of his research focusing on watershed health and water access. He also holds a Master's in Teaching from UVa and brings  six years of experience in education. Within the Community Conservation program, Liam works in Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) projects across Tucson and Southern Arizona. His favorite Tucson activities are watching storms during monsoon season and looking for quail. 

Language fluency: English, Español, Portuguese
Pronouns: he/him

Pachynne Ignacio
River Restoration & Community Science Apprentice

Pachynne Ignacio is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation. She has an associates of science in Natural Resources from Tohono O’odham Community College, and a bachelors of science in Native Environmental Science from Northwest Indian College. She is a mom to a slew of naughty cats and one dog, as well as being a scientist, runner, big sister, emo-punk, two-spirit, and painter. She’s always finding a way to bring attention to water in her original paintings, because in the research she did in her undergrad, she knows the next Indian Wars will be over water, and that’s starting now. Sudagi ‘o wud doakag (shoo-doc oh wood doh-ah-kag) (Water is life). She enjoys traditional farming and community building. Often speaking about the importance of recognizing traditional ecological knowledge and the O’odham contribution to modern day Environmental Science. 

Language fluency: English
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them

Roberta Gracia
River Restoration Policy & Planning Apprentice

Roberta Gracia was born and raised in Nogales, Arizona. She earned a B.S in Environmental & Water Resource Economics and a M.S. in Applied Economics & Policy Analysis from the University of Arizona. Her academic research analyzed how not only environmental, but also political factors shape agricultural productivity across the Colorado River Basin. This helped her understand that water is a vital necessity that might become a scarce luxury if not taken care of. Her passion for water began from helping her grandfather with his water pumping systems company. This hands-on experience sparked her interest in water infrastructure and engagement across diverse communities. Roberta’s long term goal is to help communities have access to clean, safe, and reliable water. In her spare time, she loves to hike, lift weights, and travel with family. 

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella

Tesha Banks
Desert Rivers Restoration Apprentice

Tesha Banks grew up playing barefoot on the Babocomari River in rural Cochise County, Arizona. She now lives in Tucson, where she is pursuing a double undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Natural Resources (Rangeland Management emphasis) at the University of Arizona. Before attending university, Tesha completed a 900 hour position with the Arizona Conservation Corps based out of Chiricahua National Monument, where she discovered a passion for outdoor work and a sense of purpose in restoration and conservation. Her position at Watershed Management Group ties directly back to her home river, allowing her to practice restoration and erosion control on the Babocomari itself. She cares strongly about community building and working towards justice and reconciliation in Southwestern communities shaped by settler-colonialism and imperialism. She plans to live and die in Tucson, where she is a botany nerd, Chinese tea lover, and enthusiastic player-in-mud.

Language fluency: English, Español
Pronouns: She/Her