Felicity Broennan, Executive Director

Having grown up along the Santa Fe River, Felicity is returning to her home town after spending 14 years in Southwestern Colorado. Over the past 18 years Felicity has worked for a variety of non-profit organizations in areas ranging from child development to American Indian higher education, environmental advocacy, and tribal housing. Felicity received her B.A. in English from the University of Colorado in Boulder and her M.S. degree in Environmental Science and Education from Antioch University in New Hampshire. She most recently worked with over 80 stakeholders to complete a collaboratively designed management and protection plan for the Mancos River Valley.

Felicity also established a monthly water quality monitoring program and the first Mancos River Day event. As the vice president of the Mancos Water Conservancy District Board of Supervisors she was instrumental in securing a landmark piece of federal legislation authorizing federal funds for much needed maintenance on a three mile canal that carries water to an off-river reservoir. An experienced fundraiser, public speaking trainer and beginning ballroom dancer, Felicity is thrilled to bring her enthusiasm and skills to work for the community.

Pamela Dupzyk, Program Director

Pamela Dupzyk (B.A., History and M.A. Museum Studies) has an expertise in connecting the public to their environment. Most recently, Pamela was the Program Director for a Northern California Watershed Association where she worked with the community on water quality monitoring and habitat restoration. Past projects include creating and managing a biodiversity program for students traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, designing a sustainable forestry exhibit, and developing interdisciplinary curriculum for numerous museums.

Raquel Baca-Tompson, Membership Coordinator

After working in corporate Human Resources for over nine years, Raquel put her career on hold to stay at home with her two young children before coming to work for the Santa Fe Watershed Association. In addition to a Human Resources background, Raquel worked as an assistant to the Director of Shidoni Foundry, Inc.; she holds a certification in fitness training; and has volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northern New Mexico. As a native Santa Fean, Raquel remembers growing up with water in the Santa Fe River and holds fond memories of taking off her shoes to play in the river with friends.

Board Members

Francois-Marie Patorni, President

Francois-Marie Patorni retired from the World Bank 2001, where he was managing the Water Policy Reform Program, helping countries build capacity and make policy choices for sustainable water resources management. His recent volunteer activities include: member of the Board of the Piedmont Environmental Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the natural resources in nine counties of Virginia; co-founder of RappFLOW (Rappahannock Friends and Lovers of our Watershed), a small non-profit to protect the Rappahannock river watershed in Virginia; member of the advisory Board of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education; Past-President of the International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management; member of the American Water Resources Association and of other professional networks promoting better environmental policies. He moved to the Santa Fe area in early 2004.

Giacomo Zafarano, Treasurer

Giacomo Zafarano is a native of Santa Fe with a long-time interest and desire for the health and return of the Santa Fe River. He received his B.A. from the University of New Mexico, Magna Cum Laude, in Linguistics; he then left the state for a while to pursue his professional career as a performing artist, another long-time pursuit for which he had also been born and trained to do from a young age. He has an extensive resume as a dancer, singer, and actor around the country in regional theater and theatrical revue in venues such as Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as around the world performing on cruise ships. Upon returning to New Mexico he also became more involved in the management of family owned businesses including real estate asset management. He is now the managing partner for Truzaf Limited Partnership, is a Realtor, and continues to keep his foot in the world of theatre arts as a performer and teacher. With strong ties to nature as well as the community, he has worked in many volunteer capacities in various organizations, including currently serving as the president of his homeowner’s association, serving on his former condominium’s board of directors, as well as on the board of directors for other arts organizations.

Eliza Frank, Secretary

Eliza Frank has over fifteen years of experience with environmental clean up, regulation, and public health, primarily involving hazardous wastes. She worked for four years in emergency response at oil and chemical spills and on Superfund sites. She was a contractor to several companies and organizations, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, and worked for six years at the New Mexico Environment Department. Eliza earned a BS in biological anthropology from the University of NM in 1990. Since 2004 she has volunteered and worked seasonally for Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity leading the construction site for Women Build. She is a river steward of the Santa Fe River in her neighborhood. She also co-organizes an email network to provide information in the neighborhood and became President of the Barrio la Cañada Association in February 2008. Eliza grew up in Albuquerque and Truchas and moved to Santa Fe in 1997.

Michael Chacon

Michael is a ninth generation descendant of Nicolás Ortiz and Mariana Coronado of Santa Fe. He currently serves as the Technical Reviewer/Quality Assurance Manager for the Dept. of Environmental and Cultural preservation of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, a small Indian Tribe which borders Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) near Santa Fe. In this capacity he oversees sampling and analysis plans for all environmental media within the Pueblo, and analyzes data from sampling events. For the eight years prior to his current position, he was a regulator with the New Mexico Environment Department, with responsibility for RCRA Hazardous Waste Permitting and Corrective Action at LANL, as well as Dept. of Defense and private facilities. Michael also has environmental laboratory experience with both radionuclides and water quality analyses from his work at Controls for Environmental Pollution in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Michael earned a bachelor's degree in geology from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1989.

Gerald Z. Jacobi

Jerry is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science and Management at New Mexico Highlands University. He has worked for state and federal resource agenencies and is currently engaged in research projects with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico Environment Department, U.S. Forest Service, and Trout Unlimited. His primary area of interest is in the use of aquatic macroinvertebrates as indicators of environmental quality, i.e., effects of prescribed burns, effects of fire and flooding, and effects of fish toxicants. Collaboration with his wife Donna and colleagues produced an index of biotic integrity for evaluating the conditions of surface waters of the state by NMED. His secondary research interest is on the distribution of Plecoptera (stoneflies) in the southwest. He is a member of the City of Santa Fe's River Commission.

Tom Noble

Tom Noble is a realtor and home rennovator. A 36 year resident of Santa Fe, he worked on the original Earth Day here and helped organize The Central Clearing House, one of Santa Fe's first environmental organizations. When not out getting up close and personal with the landscapes of the high desert, he has worked on a number of issues, including coal fired power plants in the Four Corners, grazing on our public lands, archaeological site monitoring, and wilderness protection. He is a past member of the board of WildEarth Guardians.

John Utton

John Utton, a partner in the Albuquerque law firm of Sheehan, Sheehan & Stelzner, P.A., focuses his practice on water rights administrative law and water planning; water rights litigation and adjudications; and land use planning and development law. Utton has taught seminars on advanced water law and natural resources writing at UNM’s Law School. John lives in Santa Fe along the river and has been long time river advocate.