Andy Otto has been the Executive Director of the Santa Fe Watershed Association since 2014. Andy holds a degree in watershed management from the University of Arizona and has spent four years working with the Truckee River Watershed Council in California and Nevada. Andy’s experience working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders—from city and county governments to tribes to individual property owners—to improve the health of that watershed prepares him well for the challenges facing the Santa Fe Watershed. Andy spearheaded the successful campaign to fund and construct a Truckee River Legacy Trail through the length of the Town of Truckee. Along with life experiences that range from living on a Montana cattle ranch to managing a restaurant in Truckee, Andy brings longstanding connections to the Santa Fe community and a passion for working with communities to protect the environments that sustain them. In his free time, he enjoys cross country skiing and fly fishing. He concedes that he will never be an Olympic Ice Skater.

Mori is a third-generation New Mexican who grew up with horses, dogs, cats, soccer balls, and lots of art in the dirt of Santa Fe and Taos. She is a lifelong lover of wild beings, sacred landscapes, and terrible puns, devoted to discovering and embodying a path of place-based ecocultural stewardship. She earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Sciences with a concentration in Ecology and Conservation from Emory University, where she primarily focused on human-wildlife conflict in Ladakh, India. She also has a background in community conservation, religion and ecology, and Tibetan Studies, merging these interests as a Fulbright-Nehru student researcher in India after completing her M.S. Mori is grateful to now be back in New Mexico, learning from and contributing to the Santa Fe community in an intentional way through SFWA.

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 has an Associate of Applied Science Degree; 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. Raquel has been an employee with the Santa Fe Watershed Association since May 2006.

Amara is a life-long learner, meanderer, and overall generalist. She pulls from experience and training in environmental studies, community development, urban planning, museum work, natural healing, non-profit management, social justice, and local food systems. Her interests lie in the intersection of modalities to help imagine and create spaces where people can find connection to nature, art, themselves, and each other; where the community of life that makes up the natural world is respected, revered, and integrated into our every choice. In this slow, unfurling process she values community and curiosity and is learning to be more patient and more brave. She also enjoys hiking, backpacking, yoga, reading, meditation, and traveling.

Julie has a passion for educating and guiding youth toward a deeper understanding of their natural environment, local water sources, and what it means to manage their local watershed. Having grown up in Santa Fe and lived most of her years in the Southwest, she has always enjoyed the outdoors and the beauty the Southwest offers. She received a BS in biology with a focus on ecology from the University of New Mexico and most recently facilitated water education for the University of Arizona, AZ Project WET, before returning to her sorely missed hometown. In her downtime she loves to run, hike, ski, and travel with her family. She is excited to be working with the Santa Fe community through SFWA to better understand the watershed and water challenges.

Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Aaron Kauffman has over fifteen years experience analyzing and implementing simple and pragmatic solutions to watershed degradation. Aaron has a broad background in land management including reforestation projects in the Dominican Republic, monitoring and evaluation of pre- and post-fire erosion rates in oak savanna environments near the US-Mexico border, and stream restoration throughout the southwestern US. Aaron has also developed and taught community workshops and courses, including a Watershed Management class as part of the Sustainable Technologies program at the Santa Fe Community College. More recently, he has dedicated himself to addressing urban watershed issues such as stormwater pollutants, urban heat island effect, and channel degradation from flooding. Aaron completed his undergraduate degree in Ecological Studies at Seattle University and a received a Master of Science in Watershed Hydrology and Management from the University of Arizona. He founded Southwest Urban Hydrology LLC in 2012.