Board of Directors

for the Nevada Wilderness Project:

debra Debra Bookout (President) - Las Vegas, NV
Debra is originally from Houston, Texas. After graduating from law school, she moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she worked for more than a decade as an Assistant Public Defender with the Broward County Public Defender's Office (yes, that Broward County). Debra moved to Las Vegas in 2004 when, with some trepidation about living in the desert, she accepted a position with the Federal Public Defender's Office. Her fear of living in the hot, dry, achingly brown Mojave desert, after years in lush bayou country and later the tropics of southern Florida, was short-lived. She quickly fell in love with the incredibly beautiful state of Nevada and is now committed to the preservation of its public lands. When not traveling somewhere (anywhere), she spends her time gardening, weaving and hanging out with her three kids, Melrose, Moon and Kiwi.

Nancy E. Brune (Secretary) - Las Vegas, NV
Dr. Brune is a policy analyst at Sandia National Laboratories working on issues of energy security, renewable energy, smart grid policy, and the energy-water nexus. Previously, she was Director of Research and Policy at the Institute for Security Studies at UNLV where she ran the Energy Security Policy Initiative. She is particularly interested in bringing greater Latino representation into discussions about conservation, sustainability and renewable energy. Before graduate school, Dr. Brune lived in rural Nicaragua for two years, where she worked in an agricultural cooperative/coffee farm that employed organic farming practices and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes of her mountain village. She is a native of Texas and grew up camping and exploring on her family’s 20 acre plot of pine- and live oak-covered land in Bastrop, Texas. A resident of Nevada for four years, she has grown to love the desert landscapes. Nancy received a BA and MA from Harvard, and a PhD from Yale University.

Colin Ware (Treasurer) - Las Vegas, NV
Colin is Vice President of Marketing and Sales at IDC, where he is responsible for all external relations for the 35 year-old firm. He joined IDC in 2006 after working three years as a Senior Consultant for The Collins Group, the largest major gift consulting firm in the Pacific Northwest. His clients included Trust for Public Land (national), World Vision, Morris Animal Foundation, Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, Legacy Health Systems and High Desert Museum. Prior to that, he served as Director of Development at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus, Director of Marketing at the Denver Center Theatre Company, and Audience Development Manager at the San Francisco Symphony. In his career, which spans over 20 years of work in the non-profit sector, Colin has been instrumental in raising over $30 million dollars for non-profits of all types. Colin holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and an Honors Bachelors Degree in history from the University of Toronto.

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Jerri Conrad - Reno, NV
Jerri is director of client services at Olsen & Associates Public Relations & Creative Collaborations. She respects the recreational, scenic and environmental value of Wilderness lands. Jerri is a 16-year resident of northern Nevada and an avid road-tripper in the western United States. Some of her favorite trips include Highway 93 in Montana, Highway 12 in Idaho and anything near the John Day River in Oregon. Jerri has had some of her best road trip experiences in Nevada: Highway 95 along Walker Lake, Highway 140 to Denio and Highway 50 from Fallon to Baker. Her husband, children and two Springer Spaniels accompany her on most of these trips.

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Jill S. Heaton - Reno, NV
Professor Heaton teaches in the Department of Geography at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is an arid lands ecologist with expertise in the areas of herpetology, GIS, habitat modeling and spatial statistics. Her research typically centers on issues related to land use and conservation, specifically as they affect reptiles. Jill loves the outdoors, especially the arid landscape, and enjoys hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, dog sledding, fishing, kayaking and diving. She is also active in the martial art of Jujitsu.

Lisa Genasci - Reno, NV
Lisa Genasci joined the Nevada Wilderness Project board in October 2011 because NWP’s work dovetailed with her own personal and professional interests. She’s a senior proposal coordinator for Ameresco, a Massachusetts-based firm that works with a number of Nevada entities on energy savings projects. She is also vice president and communications officer at GuidEd Fusion Inc., a company that provides a uniform platform for teachers to track student scores, information and assessments. Lisa, who has two children ages 1 and 3 ½, is an avid trailer runner and cross-country skier, and also enjoys fly fishing. She has volunteered for a number of restoration projects in wild areas, including the Black Rock Desert, and also donates her time and expertise to A Scarlet Covering, a nonprofit helping victims of sexual exploitation.