Board of Directors – Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado
(as of January 2010)
Executive Committee
Werner Heiber, Chair
Eliza Searles, Vice Chair
Carolyn Moller, Treasurer
Lisa Mastny, Secretary
Other Board Members
Erich Bussian
Jim Dyer
Kim Herb
Rebecca Koeppen
Kelly Miller
Marcus Renner
Tyler Schied
Dick White
Board Members Emeritus
Erick Aune
Bliss Bruen
Carol Clark
Laurie Dickson
Keith Fox
Sara Holt
Roy Horvath
Linda Illsley
Laura Lewis Marchino
Julie Levy
Sue Morris
Katy Pepinsky
Denise Rue-Pastin
Tim Wheeler
Werner Heiber, Chair
Werner has desired to live more sustainably all his life. He grew up in Basel, Switzerland, and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Basel, New York, and Salt Lake City, first synthesizing new pharmaceutical drugs, then specializing in transdermal drug delivery. In Switzerland, he completed an apprenticeship in chemistry, and in the United States he obtained a B.S. in chemistry from Adelphi University as well as certificate degrees in Urban Planning and Mediation and Conflict Resolution from the University of Utah. Werner’s passion has always been energy-efficient homes, gardening, and the outdoors. He built his first passive solar house in 1975. Since his early retirement from the pharmaceutical industry, he has worked on energy-efficient homes, including as a Vista Volunteer on a demonstration house for Utah State University. Since moving to Southwest Colorado, he has helped start up a rural cohousing community, built strawbale houses, and run an affordable housing non-profit building mutual self-help houses. Werner has been involved with the sustainability movement in Durango, Colorado, since 2002. He lives in Durango while exploring his passion of highly energy-efficient clustered homes combined with productive gardens.
Eliza Searles, Vice Chair
Eliza recently completed one of the only undergraduate sustainable business programs in the country through Aquinas College in Michigan. Through the program, she attained a comprehensive understanding of the Triple Bottom Line, which encompasses economic, environmental, and social value creation in today’s business world. Assignments included preparing mock executive summaries to educate company management on issues and trends within the Sustainable Business Movement, researching various aspects of social capital and social entrepreneurship through case studies, and assisting a small, local business in becoming an effective partner in the wind energy logistics market through sustainable innovation. A 15-week internship with the Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado fulfilled the final program requirement. Eliza had the opportunity to be involved with many of the Sustainability Alliance’s projects and is inspired by the way the organization has maintained momentum out of pure desire for and commitment to a transition to sustainability. Prior to returning to college full time, Eliza worked as a Human Resource Benefits Representative, an experience she considers to be a fantastic career foundation. Eliza takes commitments seriously, and values honesty. A future-oriented, career-minded individual, she plans on being part of making good change happen. She feels that her interest in sustainability, combined with her knowledge of the issues, would make her a compatible addition to the Sustainability Alliance Board of Directors.
Carolyn Moller, Treasurer
Carolyn has had a life-long interest in sustainability issues and recalls, at age 10, placing stickers next to every lamp in her house reminding her family to “save energy.” She grew up in rural western Maryland and worked in community organizing and public health for many years in the mid-Atlantic Highlands area. She volunteered with the Maryland Health Care for All initiative, worked on various water quality projects, and helped establish several poverty outreach programs in her hometown. She holds an MBA from Hood College and an MPP in Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland. Locally, she volunteers on the boards of Durango Natural Foods and the Shanta Foundation. She currently works as a regional manager for a Southwest Colorado accounting and payroll firm. Carolyn uses her strong administrative skills and policy knowledge to help further the accomplishments of the Sustainability Alliance in cooperation with the Southwest Colorado community, helping this area continue to be an incredible place for generations to come.
Lisa Mastny, Secretary
Lisa has worked on sustainability issues for more than 15 years. She has spent the last 10 at the Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C., where her responsibilities include editing the bi-monthly World Watch magazine and other publications, as well as overseeing the ongoing project on sustainable production and consumption. Lisa has contributed chapters to Worldwatch’s popular State of the World and Vital Signs reports as well as other publications and projects. Her work has been featured in national and international print, online, and broadcast media. Lisa holds a B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and dual M.A.s in International Relations and Environmental Management from Yale University. A Durango resident, her main motivation for serving on the Sustainability Alliance board is to bring her global knowledge and background to help foster sustainable solutions at the local level to meet the challenges of projected growth.
Erich Bussian
Erich has always felt that business is one of the strongest tools to address the problems facing our society. His career has focused on making a contribution not only to the organization with which he is associated, but to the general wellbeing of his community and to those beyond the horizon. By working with San Juan Bioenergy to develop renewable and sustainable energy, Erich is helping to create a future that does not rely on borrowing limited natural resources from future generations. Erich served as Construction Manager in the initial phase of San Juan Bioenergy and is now the Director of Business Development, focusing on developing business opportunities for the second and third phases of SJB's evolution. Erich holds an MSc. from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and maintains a positive perspective on changing how business is done. Thinking outside the box has always been one of his strengths. His business background encompasses a long career in international entrepreneurial business. He has been a Managing Partner with Rocky Mountain Equity Development LLC and has held senior management positions with MapQuest and AOL. He lives in Durango, Colorado, and is an active member in the local community and dedicated father to two crazy and beautiful teenagers. He also spends part of his time in Amsterdam where he struggles valiantly to learn Dutch.
Jim Dyer
Jim is the Project Director for the Southwest Marketing Network and teaches and consults on agriculture, water, and environmental issues. He raises Navajo Churro sheep near Marvel, Colorado, and helps his wife Pam with their wool business, Dyers Wool. Jim earned a B.S. in Meteorology and an M.A. in Natural Science. In past lives, he has been a meteorologist, a community college professor for 10 years, run a sustainable agriculture education farm, and directed ag and water programs at Rocky Mountain Institute for six years. Jim has served on advisory groups for The Land Institute and Colorado State University Extension, chaired the Administrative Council of the USDA’s Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, and is on the Board of the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.
Kim Herb
Kim’s professional experience and education give her the tools to critique policies from an economic, social, and environmental, as well as an ethical perspective. She is especially qualified to address sustainability issues relating to energy, climate change adaptation and vulnerability, and sustainable business practices. Kim has lived in Durango since 2005 and is one of the owners of Cork Tree Consulting, an environmental policy consulting business. Her additional related professional experience includes being a Research Assistant for a National Science Foundation project on resilience and adaptability as they relate to climate change, as a Program Director of the Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, and as a Research Analyst for Ecos Consulting. She is also currently involved with the La Plata County Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) development as a Steering Committee member and Chair of the Climate Change Preparation work group, as well as being the chair of the Smart Energy Committee of the Sustainability Alliance. Kim holds a B.A. in Philosophy from St. John’s College (Santa Fe), an M.P.A. from the University of Wisconsin’s LaFollette School of Public Affairs, and a certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy from UW’s Gaylord Nelson School of Environmental Studies. She is the mother of three children and is inspired to be a board member of the Sustainability Alliance because she passionately believes that the key to creating sustainability lies in creating resilient communities. She hopes to forward the goals of the organization by bringing to the board her knowledge, excellent communication and mediation skills, creativity, and sense of humor.
Rebecca Koeppen
Rebecca is a wholistic health consultant, artist, wife, mother, grandmother, activist, and minister (in varying order, depending on the day). She was involved with the conception and formation of the Sustainability Alliance, which she considers an honor and a privilege. She believes that preparations must be made by everyone at many levels if we are to face the coming monumental changes of peak oil and global warming with anything less than destructive chaos. Working with the kindred spirits at the Sustainability Alliance has empowered Rebecca to take part in these preparations and to have hope and excitement about the future. She is committed to working to “open the green umbrella” of education, organization, collaboration, policy change, and plan-implementation under which La Plata County and the Four Corners region can thrive. Rebecca is a former board member of the San Juan Citizens Alliance.
Kelly Miller
Kelly moved to Durango in 1998 to attend Fort Lewis College. In 2001, she joined AmeriCorps and was awarded a scholarship that allowed her to finish her degree with honors in English Education in 2004. Since then, she has worked for both Aztec and Bayfield School Districts. She is currently a full-time English teacher at Bayfield High School and a part-time circulation librarian at the Lavenia McCoy Public Library in Bayfield. She is the coordinator for the Teen Summer Reading Program, which promotes summer reading for mid and high school students. In June 2009, Kelly was accepted into the Master Program at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, and was awarded the Master of Arts Program Graduate Fellowship. Her concentration is in Sustainable Business Development, and she hopes to someday start a nonprofit that gives Bayfield teens technical job skills (carpentry and agribusiness) that will allow them to lend a hand in war/natural disaster-ravaged areas of the Americas. Kelly believes that instilling an appreciation for volunteering at a young age will build lifelong volunteers. After living and recreating in the Southwest for nearly 11 years she has grown a significant appreciation for the region and wants to see it prosper responsibly. She has taken part in many Healthy Lifestyle La Plata programs and attended local Farm-to School meetings.
Marcus Renner
Marcus coordinates the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center, which provides opportunities for students to take leadership on environmental and social justice issues. Marcus holds an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with specialties in community education and youth leadership. He has worked for the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute in Los Angeles, the Positive Futures Network, Conservation International, and the Teton Science School. In addition to working at the Environmental Center, Marcus serves on the governance committee for the Environmental Studies degree program at Fort Lewis College. His primary interest is in connecting people in meaningful ways with the places they call home. In his vast spare time, Marcus writes stories, poems, and plays and rambles both above and below treeline.
Tyler Schied
For the past six years, Tyler has worked professionally as an environmental consultant working for Ecosphere Environmental Services and for BUGS Consulting as a Project Manager and a Field Hydrologist. Tyler has completed dozens of projects ranging from NEPA compliance to wetland mitigation design as a consultant for municipalities, utilities, energy development companies, watershed groups, and others. Recent research projects include a nutrient enrichment study on the Animas River, nutrient/bacteria source identification on the San Juan River, and the design and implementation of a basin-wide nonpoint source GIS for the San Juan River basin and the Animas River Watershed. Tyler’s previous experience in soil conservation, irrigation management, and precision agriculture during the late 1990s in Central California provides him unique insights into the close ties between land management, watershed protection, and sustainable systems. Tyler is currently the proprietor of a new company called RainHarvest Solutions, which provides design and installation expertise in rainwater collection systems, greywater systems, irrigation systems, and native/xeric landscapes. Tyler is interested in the Sustainability Alliance first and foremost because he thinks the time is right to affect policy as relates to sustainability of our economic, social, and environmental systems. His main interests are in working toward an ecologically sustainable water supply, the nexus between water supply and energy efficency, and creating synergies between related efforts both local and regional.
Dick White
Dick has been involved with the Sustainability Alliance since the group’s conception at the 2004 La Plata Community Summit. He served as Chair of the organization from 2006–2008. He is a former astronomy professor at Smith College and now describes himself as a sustainability advocate. Dick served for three years (2005–07) on the Board of the Southwest Colorado Renewable Energy Society and is a member of the Board of the La Boca Center for Sustainability. He also works on climate protection issues and is active in outreach efforts by Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI). Dick believes that sustainability is the central challenge of our time, that meeting the challenge must involve local communities becoming more self-reliant, and that the Sustainability Alliance has a central role to play fostering sustainability in communities in the Four Corners region.