Meet the Board

Board Officers
J. David Hutton, President
Yolanda Homann, Vice President
Yolanda Garcia, Secretary
Jo Fairbanks, Treasurer
 

J. David Hutton
President
 

A physicist with extensive experience in nuclear physics and high speed electronics development, Dave Hutton has managed the science and engineering departments of several companies in support of various R&D programs.   He is currently a manager at Honeywell in Albuquerque.  A birder, a supporter of KNME, and commodore/board member of the New Mexico Sailing Club, Dave is a regular bird walk leader and member of the Research Committee committed to "assessment, monitor preservation and development."
 

A computer operator employed at GTECH, Yolanda has been with the Friends of the Rio Grande Nature Center since its inception is 1984. She volunteers selflessly “behind the scenes.” Yolanda is a self-proclaimed neighborhood activist who provides balance to the Board by voicing neighborhood concerns.
 

I started visiting the RGNC when I moved here from California in late 2001, after retiring from a defense contracting company in data management.  I immediately knew I wanted to volunteer here and I attended the volunteer training class in 2002.  Upon completion I started working in the Garden, but when summer arrived, I decided I would move indoors and have been working at the front desk ever since.
 

Jo is currently faculty in the UNM Masters in Public Health degree program and Director of the Public Health Outreach Education Program. A New Mexico resident since 1965, she has intensive experience in academia and as a public health practitioner throughout the state. She has co-authored two public health textbooks and conducted research in health disparities. She has previous board and supervisory experience and has been a Nature Center enthusiast and volunteer for many years.

Michael Hilchey
 

Marianne Lucia
 

Marianne Lucia and her husband, Bob, relocated to Albuquerque from Wilmington, Delaware in 2003 after retiring from careers with the State of Delaware.  While employed, Marianne worked as a teacher, counselor, planner, and manager in the fields of employment and aging.  She has been a volunteer at the Nature Center for six years, working in the Nature Shop and at the reception desk.

Retired hydrologist, forester, and former president of the Friends, Doug Shaw continues to volunteer as an outreach educator, interpretive guide for visiting school groups, and chair of the Friends’ research committee.    As a researcher, he leads water quality assays, macro-invertebrate studies, small mammal trapping, a pond algae assessment study, bosque bird monitoring work, and more.

Sondra Williamson

Sondra marks her 17th year with the Rio Grande Nature Center in 2007, an association that has included five years as volunteer coordinator and every year as expert birder and guide, botanist and garden developer, interpreter and volunteer training teacher.  Sondra's career as a nature enthusiast began in the l970s while she held down the six to midnight shift as a telephone operator for A T & T in Houston.  After discovering the city's Armand Bayou Nature Center nearby, she soon was there every daylight minute, serving as a volunteer teacher in bird and plant classes, a digger in the garden, and a paid employee in the nursery and gift shop.  On weekends, Sondra hired on as a pontoon boat guide on Clear Lake near Galveston Bay, pointing out wildlife to visitors.  In Albuquerque and at the Rio Grande Nature Center since l990, Sondra served as a board member and volunteer for Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.