Nancy Brannon is a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, working on a Ph.D. in sociology with an emphasis on environmental sociology. She taught for 20 years in the Sociology Dept. at University of Memphis prior to starting graduate school here in August 2002. Nancy was a member of the Chickasaw Group of the Sierra Club in Memphis where she served as Groundwater Chair and host of the TV show "The Nature of Conservation".

Leon Christion resides in Knoxville and is an Environmental Planner with planning experience in water quality, open space, general land use, air quality and transportation issues. He recently received his Masters of Science degree from the University of Tennessee in Urban and Regional Planning with an Environmental Concentration. He is currently working as an independent contractor for the City of Knoxville.

Rita Harris, Secretary, resides in Memphis where she works for the Sierra Club as an Environmental Justice Organizer. She was formerly the Executive Director of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center in Memphis and currently serves on the board of the Mississippi River Basin Alliance. She authored Shelby County's Dirty Dozen, a public education tool which highlights data from EPA's Toxic Release Inventoryand which has seen six editions. Rita is a strong advocate of groundwater protection and of reclaiming our rivers for subsistence and sport fishing.

Sandy Kurtz, Treasurer, resides in Chattanooga. She was one of the founders of the Tennessee Environmental Education Association in 1974 and went on to establish the first educational programs at the Chattanooga Nature Center and the TVA Energy Center Museum. Sandy is currently co-chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance and a member of the Environmental City Task Force and Chattanooga Environmental Education Alliance. She also serves on the boards of the Tennessee Environmental Council and the TVA Green Power Steering Committee.

Axel Ringe, President, resides in New Market and is Senior Scientific Analyst with NCI Information Systems in Oak Ridge. He has a B.S. in Geology and has done graduate work in animal behavior. Axel is co-founder and chair of NatureWatch, a Jefferson County environmental group. He is also active in the Harvey Broome Group chapter of the Sierra Club, the Society for Conservation Biology and Jefferson County, Sevier County and Nolichucky Regional Library Boards.

John Rutherford resides in Nashville and is the Executive Director of Tennessee Citizen Action.

Wayne Schacher, Vice-President resides in Clinton and is a wildlife biologist-zoologist with diversified experience in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in Tennessee and throughout the Southeast. Wayne worked for 18 years with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency as Aquatic Habitat Protection Biologist and Wildlife Officer. He has also contracted with the Oak Ridge National Lab as benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomist and with TVA as terrestrial vertebrate zoologist. In 2001, he started an ecological contracting and consulting business known as Natural Resource Services.

May Sligh resides in Signal Mountain and has recently been hired as Recycling Education Coordinator of the Orange Grove Center in Chattanooga. She has worked as an Environmental Consultant for environmental nonprofit organizations in Tennessee since 2000. Prior to moving to Tennessee, May worked for the VA Dept. of Environmental Quality as an Inspector for NPDES permitted facilities; for the VA Dept. of Transportation on wetlands permitting; and for the Vermont Department of Transportation and Agency of Natural Resources on water quality and other environmental permitting. May also contributes articles to The Hellbender Press, an environmental journal for East Tennessee.