About

Jonathan is retired from public land management, wearing many hats throughout his career. National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service. Most of his time was spent in wildland fire working in most states with public lands. When not managing wildland fires he designed fuels treatments to protect communities, taught wildland fire classes and supervised a fire program in New Mexico. It is a nice change of pace to work around water, monitoring our water resources and assisting the community in keeping Sonoita Creek and surrounding watershed a vital part of the community.

Kathy moved to Patagonia in 1990. She holds a B.S. in Ecology & Natural History/Biology from University of California-Santa Cruz. She has taught high school and middle school science in the county public schools for 28 years. Kathy is an avid birder and conservationist. She designed and built her energy efficient straw bale home in 2000 where she currently resides. Her landscaping features Arizona food plants, providing cover and water features for birds along with rain catchment systems throughout the yard. She was encouraged to join Friends in 2005 by founder, Ron Hummel. She has served on the board for many years and is now an advisory member organizing and participating in research projects for the Sonoita Creek watershed.

Dave is a retired hydrogeologist living at Lake Patagonia Ranch. He has 27 years experience in environmental consulting and government service. He retired from the Arizona Department of Water Resources where he worked in aquifer recharge, wells and permitting, and riparian restoration. He earned a Masters Degree in Hydrology from the University of Arizona and has had a special affinity for Sonoita Creek since he was a graduate student. Dave joined the Board in 2020.  He leads the Water Quality Team collecting surface water samples throughout the Sonoita Creek watershed.

Hunter Williams worked in the financial services industry, including a few years in Tokyo, Japan. Later, he worked in water resources planning for two large regional water delivery systems in California and Arizona before moving back to southern Arizona in 2020. He graduated from the University of Arizona and University of Hawaii and loves clean water, public lands access, climatology, and vibrant communities. He is a graduate of the Park Ranger Training Program at Northern Arizona University, which focused on resource and visitor protection. He served as the high school science teacher at Patagonia Union High School in spring 2025. Hunter joined the Board in 2026.

Chris Gardner has practiced hydrogeology as a consultant in Arizona since 1998. He retired from consulting and purchased land in the Patagonia area. In this time, he learned of the historic work done to protect and preserve the area by Friends of Sonoita Creek and others. Chris quickly realized his expertise as a citizen scientist would be helpful to protect groundwater in the area for the most beneficial uses, to support people and biodiversity. Chris is also a member of the Town of Patagonia Flood and Flow Committee, on the board of the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance,  and volunteers at the Borderlands Nursery.

John has been visiting southwest Arizona since 1997 and moved to Patagonia full-time in 2018. He taught biology in Kalispell, MT for most of his career. John loves all things nature and, along with his work with Friends of Sonoita Creek, volunteers with local groups including Borderlands Restoration Network’s plant propagation program, Tucson Bird Alliance’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds and Patagonia Lake State Park. He leads bird and plant walks.