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Western Resource Advocates Board

Western Resource Advocates has benefited greatly from the commitment of strong and diverse board leaders. The following are brief bios of each of the current board members.

Bonnie Colby

Dr. Colby is a Professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economic at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She has published numerous books and articles in her fields of expertise, which includes environmental conflict resolution, the economic aspects of water and public lands management, and valuation of environmental assets.

Martha Davis

Ms. Davis is an environmental consultant with a background in mined land reclamation and hazardous waste remediation. She is currently coordinating the Denver Green Team Project, a sustainable living program for small groups, and is active is various environmental organizations including the American Solar Energy Society and Rachel’s Network. She has a M.S. in Range Science from Utah State University and a M. Ag. in Natural Resources Management.

Patrick de Freitas

Mr. de Freitas has a background in management, with organizational and entrepreneurial experience with profit and non-profit groups. He is chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Conservation Leadership in Washington D.C. and of the Laird Norton Family Foundation in Seattle. Mr. de Freitas holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Utah. He was born and raised in England and lives in Salt Lake City.

Andrea J. Grant

AJ Grant is president of a nationally recognized consulting firm, Environmental Communication Associates, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado. After heading her own full-service marketing firm for over twelve years, Ms. Grant built a company specifically designed to communicate emerging environmental issues. Clients include corporations, non-profits government agencies and communities. She is also a production partner in a PBS children’s television series, the Big Green Rabbit.

Eric Hirst

Dr. Hirst spent a year with Western Resource Advocates as a senior policy advisor from 1992-1993. He was formerly a Corporate Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a distinction shared by only 1% of the ORNL technical staff, where he focuses on integrated resource planning and demand-side management issues. Dr. Hirst is also a consultant in electric-industry restructuring. During his career, he has published over four hundred reports, journal articles, and book chapters. Dr. Hirst holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

Donna House

Ms. House is a botanical consultant and researcher for Indigenous Peoples’ environmental issues and policies, and is a consultant to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Team for Endangered Plant Species, and has worked for the Nature Conservancy’s Indigenous Lands Program. Ms. House is a tribal member of the Navajo Nation, and lives in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico.

Kim Kasic

Ms. Kasic received her bachelor's degree in accounting from Colorado State University. She began her accounting career in Denver as an auditor with Ernst & Young, a multi-national public accounting firm. She was employed as an internal auditor for Amfac Resorts in Arizona, a corporation that owns the concession rights to many national parks. A Certified Public Accountant in both Colorado and Arizona, Ms. Kasic has worked with Native American organizations and Voluntary Health and Welfare organizations, and started her own accounting practice in 1995, specializing in the audit of non-profit organizations.

Sarah Krakoff

Ms. Krakoff is an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder. She has been the director of the Indian Law Clinic there and the Youth Law Project Director at the DNA-People’s Legal Services in Tuba City, Arizona. Ms. Krakoff has clerked for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has published numerous articles concerning the environment and Indian law, and has presented at many conferences and panels. Ms. Krakoff serves on the boards and volunteers for environmental and other non-profit organizations. She has a J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.A. in Literature from Yale University.

Brooke Mayer Larson

Ms. Mayer Larson came to the WRA Board with a background in environmental work at the Colorado Environmental Coalition, and community involvement through the Longmont City Council Human Relations Committee. Ms. Mayer Larson was the Partner Programs Marketing Manager at Hewlett-Packard. She has an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Development from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Heidi McIntosh

Since 1991, Ms. McIntosh has been the Conservation Director and attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance in Salt Lake City. Ms. McIntosh directs the conservation efforts of that organization, whose primary mission is the protection of lands in America's Redrock Wilderness. She also pursues litigation in administrative venues and federal court pertaining to public lands management and endangered species, monitors agency activities, and, negotiates resolution of disputes prior to litigation. Ms. McIntosh has been an adjunct professor at the University of Utah School of Law, and an attorney in private practice. She has a Masters of Law from the University of Utah School of Law, her J.D. from Georgetown University, and a B.A. from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Tricia Nichols

With a bilingual background that includes Spanish, Ms. Nichols has been a teacher of English as a Second Language, a social worker for Children's Protective Services in a Hispanic barrio, and a Peace Corps volunteer with the Ministry of Health in Family Planning in Paraguay. She has served as board president of Planned Parenthood in Orange/San Bernardino counties in California, and currently is president of a foundation whose focus is on population and environmental issues. Ms. Nichols has a B.A. from Temple University, and an M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is also a licensed helicopter pilot.

Wayne Petty

Mr. Petty is a partner in the Salt Lake law firm of Moyle & Draper. He has been an active member of the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society and for many years has provided pro bono representation to environmental groups.

John Taylor

Mr. Taylor retired after 20 years as a teacher in a variety of early childhood education settings, and previously worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., for the Colorado Rural Legal Services, and the Colorado Clean Water Action Project. He currently serves on the Board of American Rivers. Mr. Taylor is an avid white- and flat-water rafter and traveler.

Charles B. White

Mr. White is a member of the Denver firm of Petros & White, LLC. He concentrates his practice in the areas of water rights, public land law, and real property litigation. Mr. White has served as the president of the Stanford Environmental Law Society, an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law, and a member of the advisory boards of several organizations, including the University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center and Trout Unlimited’s Western Water Project.

Christopher Wirth

Mr. Wirth is the founder of Liberty Puzzles in Boulder, Colorado. He has worked as a financial analyst for Colorado companies, and is a member of the Colorado Bar Association. Mr. Wirth has an MBA in Finance, a J.D. in Business and Natural Resource Law from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford.