GARDEN OPERATIONS MANAGER

Sasha Timpson

Sasha grew up along the marshy coastlands of Maine, but has been enthralled by the Sonoran desert ever since they first moved to Arizona in 2011. Sasha enjoys spending time outside and getting their hands dirty, as well as facilitating connections between people and plants. They are committed to supporting the needs of their community and sharing the joy of gardening with others.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

Melissa Mundt

Melissa Mundt has over 10 years experience with desert gardening, teaching, composting and seed saving. She worked for many years with the Farm and Garden Program of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and recently started a landscape company, Garden PlaySpace, that focuses on kid-friendly gardens and nature play areas. She is a certified Permaculture Designer, certified Smartscape Sustainable Landscape Professional and has training in rainwater harvesting, seed saving, organic food production, backyard chickens and environmental education. She loves home gardening with her 2 young kids, hiking, watercolor painting and power tools.

GARDEN EDUCATOR

Jessica Paul

Jessica has been with the Community Gardens since 2014. She has been the garden technician, the gardens manager, administrator, and is now excited to devote more time as the garden educator for our Kids in Gardens program. She has been teaching children and adults in our garden communities for many years, helping to make our gardens learning labs for students of all ages. She is also an Arizona Master Naturalist, educating our entire gardening community on how we are connected with our larger Sonoran Desert Region.

BOOKKEEPER

Cara Ryan

Cara moved to Tucson from Illinois in 1980. Cara and her husband, Sean, enjoy gardening at their home and spending time with our two granddaughters. She is also active in animal rescue and currently foster dogs for several local rescues.

FOUNDER AND INSPIRATION

George Brookbank

George founded the Community Gardens of Tucson in 1990 and was a Tucson resident for over 40 years. As an Extension Agent for Urban Horticulture with the U of A Extension Service, George spent 12 years training Master Gardeners and managing the program until his retirement in 1995. George started CGT with the establishment of 4 community gardens in partnership with homeowners as well as the Community Food Bank. George served as Education Director for CGT for 20 years. His popular books include: “Desert Gardening: Fruits and Vegetables”, “Desert Gardening Calendar”, and “Desert Landscaping”.

George passed away March 1st, 2018 and all of us at Community Gardens of Tucson, as well as others in the Tucson gardening community, will miss him dearly. He was a gentle man who was patient and understanding, both with plants and with gardeners, from novice to pro. He was always willing to advise why a plant was not doing well and to help improve someone’s gardening skills. He helped make the desert bloom….

BOARD CHAIR

Parker Filer

Parker Filer grew up playing and working (also snacking. a lot.) in the backyard gardens of his parents and grandparents in western Pennsylvania. Fond memories of harvesting green beans, tasting homegrown watermelon, canning tomatoes, beets and applesauce, and pickling cucumbers, are what motivates his service on the CGT Board of Directors. Parker began studying plant science and food production at Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ in 2001. He later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Hawaii and a Masters degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development form Cornell University. He currently works at the University of Arizona in the Cooperative Extension service as an Assistant Agent of Horticulture where his duties include supporting the Pima County Master Gardener program and Pima Smartscape program.

BOARD SECRETARY, CGT OUTREACH COMMITTEE

Sarah Mann

Sarah Mann, MBA/PMP, is an experienced senior project manager with over 20 years of successful project/program management in private, public and non-profit sectors. Since she and her husband moved to Tucson from Seattle in 2014, Sarah has worked at the Critical Path Institute (C-Path), volunteered with the Community Food Bank and Tohono Chul Park, maintained a garden plot at the CGT’s Presidio Garden, and become an active supporter of Native Seeds and the Pima County Extension Service Master Gardener Program. Recently retired from C-Path, Sarah is committed to building the local community’s awareness and access to healthy food. When not gardening, Sarah enjoys traveling, hiking, photography and exploring the area.

BOARD TREASURER

Scott Feierabend

After serving four and one half years as Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association, Scott retired to pursue a number of personal dreams and passions, including giving back to the nonprofit sector as a volunteer. Based in Tucson, Arizona, IDA is the world’s only non-profit organization whose sole focus is to reduce light pollution and its many adverse environmental impacts.

Scott, who has worked in the non-profit conservation environmental and advocacy community for 35 years, previously served as Executive Director of Audubon Canyon Ranch, a nonprofit conservation education organization dedicated to protecting lands in northern California through habitat preservation, public education and conservation science. During his four and a half years at ACR, Scott created long‐term financial health and stability for the organization and successfully negotiated the transfer of more than 3,000 acres of wild lands, more than doubling the nonprofit’s Preserve system.

Prior to his work at ACR, Scott served as interim Executive Director and conservation director for California Trout, headquartered in San Francisco, California’s leading nonprofit protecting and restoring California’s wild trout and steelhead. In his role as CalTrout’s Executive Director, Scott managed a multi‐million dollar budget, and was responsible for budgeting, strategic planning, and board governance.

Before leading the conservation work of California Trout, Scott served as Executive Director for the Marin Conservation League, a nonprofit working to preserve, protect and enhance the natural assets of Marin County, California.

Scott’s professional conservation career began in 1980 as an intern with the National Wildlife Federation, where he held a number of positions, including staff scientist, lobbyist, director and vice president. Following a 21‐year career with the NWF, Scott served as the director of conservation programs for The Nature Conservancy’s Alaska Chapter.

MEMBERSHIP MANAGER

Kelly Liska

Kelly was born in Tucson and is in love with the ecology of the Sonoran Desert. After studying Conservation Biology at Arizona State University, she moved back home and got involved in youth advocacy for climate justice. She wants to fight for social change and is fascinated by intersections of people and the environment. Kelly is a new gardener and has so far had success with radishes, Armenian cucumbers, and Guajillo peppers.

Garden Maintenance Lead

Didace Mugabonake

My name is Didace Mugabonake and I am from Rwanda where my family made their living growing bananas and coffee. I had my first farm of 360 coffee trees when l was 15 years old. I also used to grow onions in high school in order to support my family and pay my school fees. In 2017, a year after graduating from college, l introduced a tree tomato (tamarillo fruit trees) project on two hectares with 1,600 tamarillo trees. I moved here to Tucson with my wife in 2018. We both have a passion for gardening and have been enjoying spending time in our plot over at St. Demetrios where we started gardening in the fall of 2018.

In 2019, I began volunteering as a Co-Coordinator of St. Demetrios garden, where I have spent a lot of time maintaining the garden plots. I look forward to continuing this work and much more as Maintenance Lead, not only at St. Demetrios, but all garden locations with CGT.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Natalie Shepp

Natalie Shepp has been with the Community Gardens of Tucson since 2009, when she started the Highland Vista garden in her neighborhood park. She held the position of Site Coordinator for ten years and then joined the CGT board in January 2021. Natalie is also the Senior Program Manager for Outreach and Education for the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ), where she leads efforts to improve air quality and environmental sustainability in Pima County. Over the last decade, she has worked extensively with young people and adults, coordinating health and wellness education through the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s 4-H programs, including the Tucson Village Farm. Natalie graduated from the University of Arizona with a BS in Environmental Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Public Health.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Dwayne Arnspiger

Dwayne Arnspiger has been in the Tucson horticulture community for nearly 30 years. Born and raised in southern New Mexico to a ranching family, gardening and agriculture has always been a major part of his life. Upon relocating to Tucson, he started working in ornamental horticulture for both residential and commercial properties. About 15 years ago, he also took up ceramics and began producing handmade mosaic tile for public art and residential applications. Both fields allow him to pursue his passions for plants and art. He is honored to join the board of directors for Community Gardens of Tucson.

BOARD MEMBER-AT-LARGE

T Larson

T Larson is a Science educator with a passion for hands-on learning. They started their work gardening with students during their time at Tucson High School. After their service through Americorps at Tucson Village Farms, T went on to work with the Community and School Garden program as a Program Coordinator, overseeing the management and use of multiple school gardens. Along the way, they worked closely with administrators and teachers to integrate the garden curriculum into the classroom. T joined the Board of Directors for Community Gardens of Tucson in 2021 and is currently working as a freelance educational and irrigation consultant.