Good for the Earth | Good for People | Good for Communities
Kevin Taylor - Executive Director - Kevin joined BASA in July, 2014. He was born and raised in Michigan and served in the US Air Force as a Jet Engine Mechanic working on F-4 Phantom fighter jets. Kevin graduated from University of Detroit in 1985 with a degree in Marketing and immediately followed with a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan in 1987. Following many years of working with industrial corporations, Kevin moved to Arizona in 2001 to start his own business. Together with his wife, Julie Butler, Kevin moved to Cochise County in 2011. They are currently building a sustainable homestead in Palominas, AZ. Kevin is a Certified Master Gardener and, for many years, has been involved with organic gardening and permaculture design. He is also active in the local Toastmasters organization. Along with homesteading activities and spending time with two grandchildren, Kevin enjoys hiking, camping and backpacking around the southwestern USA. Contact him at [email protected].
Joe Baeza - webmaster - more information later.
Valerie McCaffrey, Chair – Valerie founded Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture in 2000. She founded and served as Market Manager for the Sierra Vista and Bisbee Farmers Markets for many years, and wrote a weekly article for the Sierra Vista Herald’s Wednesday Taste section for six years. Valerie holds a B.S. Horticulture Technology. Contact her at valerie.mccaffrey”at”bajaaz.org.
Dennis Moroney,Vice-Chair – Dennis owns and manages 47 Ranch, raising all natural grass-fed beef, goat, and lamb, as well as wool, pecans, olives, pears, grapes, eggs, and garden vegetables. Dennis is also an instructor of agriculture at Cochise College in Douglas. Dennis has been involved in agriculture and renewable natural resources for almost 50 years, including living and ranching utilizing primarily solar and wind energy for the past twenty years.
Serena Sullivan, Secretary & Treasurer – Serena has lived and worked in various aspects of the local food movement in Nayarit, Mexico, Seward AK, Tucson AZ, South Welfleet, Cape Cod MA, and Bisbee AZ. She is the founder and co-owner of Ecoasis Sustainable Living Center L.L.C; Vice President of Ecotopia, a non-profit focused on the stewardship and education of sustainable practices; Membership Chairman of the Bisbee Food Co-op; and serves on the Bisbee Sustainability Committee.
Mark Apel, Director – Mark Apel is an Extension Agent in Community Resource Development with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in southern Arizona where he is implementing programs in land use planning, sustainable development, small acreage landowner assistance and regional economic development. He has over 28 years of environmental and planning experience.
Martha Ames Burgess, Desert Foods Specialist – Martha is an ethnobotanist and owner of Flor de Mayo, an heirloom foods, teaching and Native desert products company. She studied with Native elders, founded the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum’s members’ field study program (1977-1985), consulted for Alaska Natives in early 1990s, and has continued teaching about traditional Native foods and medicines through farmers markets, conferences and workshops since founding her company in 1995. She instructs for non-profit educational organizations such as Desert Botanical Garden Phoenix, Valley Permaculture Guild, Pima County Parks & Recreation, Native Seeds/SEARCH, and BASA. and Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture. Martha holds a MS in Geochronology from the University of Arizona and a BA from Brown University.
Peter Warren, Director – Peter is the Urban Horticulture Agent for the Pima County Cooperative Extension at the University of Arizona. He directs the Master Gardener Volunteer Program and the Smartscape Training Program for Landscape Professionals. His third area of effort is in working with local food systems and promoting integrated pest management on small farms. His expertise is in entomology and environmental horticulture and he delivers research-based information on urban/suburban entomology and best management practices for desert horticulture to clientele in southern Arizona. Previously he worked for Virginia Cooperative Extension as an Area Integrated Pest Management Extension Agent and then as the Horticulture and Natural Resources Extension Agent in Charlottesville, VA.
