Our Leadership and Staff

We are committed to helping anyone whose business involves the use of natural resources and to promoting the development of the next generation of natural resource professionals – lawyers, agency personnel, policymakers, judges – who will make natural resource policy and legal decisions in the coming years.

ed martin

Edward C. Martin Associate Vice-President and Director, Cooperative Extension and NRULPC Interim Director

Ed has been serving our state for more than three decades as a University of Arizona faculty member, Extension specialist and county- and state-level administrator.

Martin leads our 500+ team members and plays a pivotal role in collaborating with our scores of partners. With a strong focus on water and a background in irrigation research, he aligns with Arizona's most pressing concerns and ensures that Extension remains agile to adapt to evolving community needs. ecmartin@arizona.edu

Photo of John Lacy

John Lacy, Assistant Director, Mining

John is the director of the Global Mining Law Center and professor of practice at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law where he teaches courses related to the international mining industry. Lacy is a shareholder in the firm DeConcini, McDonald, Yetwin, & Lacy P.C., where his practice has focused on mining and natural resource law. 
jlacy@arizona.edu

Photo of George Ruyle

George Ruyle, Assistant Director, Natural Resources

George is a Professor Emeritus who worked as an Extension Specialist in the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment and as co-director for NRULPC and continues to hold the Marley Endowed Chair for Sustainable Rangeland Stewardship. Ruyle is an internationally renowned expert on appropriate and rational long-term natural resource use specializing in collaborative and adaptive rangeland livestock management. 
gruyle@arizona.edu

Stewardship of Public Lands Video

Colin McKenzie

Colin McKenzie, Mining Policy Outreach Manager

Colin is a law fellow at the Center, focusing on groundwater governance​, mining law and policy​, and rural natural resource issues​ through interdisciplinary engagement. He is currently active in supporting the NRULPC-affiliated Natural Resource Use & Management Clinic at the College of Law, as well as the College's Global Mining Law Center (collaboration with the University School of Mining and Mineral Resources). In these roles, Colin draws on prior experience as a groundwater hydrologist​, with significant experience in mining hydrogeology in Arizona and Chile. He serves, too, as a Trustee at MOCA Tucson. 
cpmckenz@arizona.edu

Taylor Rogers

Taylor Rogers, Agriculture Policy Outreach Manager

Taylor is a proud UofA Alumni. She previously worked for the Arizona Farm Bureau and the Office of U.S. Senator Mark Kelly's Office. She is the Agriculture Policy Outreach Manager for the Natural Resource Users Law and Policy Center. She is in charge of the Regulatory Round Up, the policy internship program, and outreach to agricultural stakeholders. tjrogers@arizona.edu

Photo of Sheila Merrigan

Sheila Merrigan, Communications Associate

Sheila helps with publishing the quarterly newsletter, maintaining the Center’s website, and managing listservs. She prepares progress reports, organizes Advisory Board activities, develops marketing materials and provides meeting reports. merrigan@arizona.edu

Affiliated Faculty and Staff

Affiliation is a faculty or staff joint appointment (that does not confer rank or tenure) within the NRULPC. These appointments recognize, encourage, and advance multidisciplinary collaboration among faculty or staff within the University of Arizona (Link to document) and other institutions.  If you are interested in becoming affiliated faculty or staff, please contact any of us

Affiliated faculty

Poto of John Barret

John Barret, Director of the Natural Resource Use and Management Clinic

Before joining the faculty at the law school, John was an attorney in private practice in Tucson for 10 years, where he focused on litigation, particularly in matters related to commercial contracts, real estate and natural resources.  He has also worked in the nonprofit world in both Illinois and Arizona, focusing on environmental arts, education, threatened rangeland and conservation. barrettj@arizona.edu

Photo of Michael Kotutwa Johnson

Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Ph.D.

Michael is a member of the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona whose research focuses on Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Land Use Management schemes related to food, energy, conservation and water. He is also a traditional Hopi dryland farmer and has given extensive talks on the subject. His scholarly works are published in academic peer reviewed journals as well as featured articles. He currently is an Assistant Specialist of Indigenous Resiliency with the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cooperative Extension, and the Indigenous Resilience Center.  kotutwa@arizona.edu

Photo of Ethan Orr

Ethan Orr, Cal Poly Pomona Dean of the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture

Prior to his appointment at Cl Poly Pomona, Ethan was University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Associate Director for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Economic Development. He was a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Education, Technology & Innovation and the School of Government and Public Policy. He oversaw the $62 million Water Irrigation Efficiency Program and was active in programing which addressed forest health, watershed management, soil health, irrigated systems, business development and crop production.

Jennifer Wendel

Jennifer Wendel, Associate Director Water Adjudication Program

Jennifer directs the Arizona Adjudications Project within the Natural Resource Use and Management Clinic. The Project represents claimants with small water rights in Arizona’s general stream adjudications. Before joining the clinic, Jennifer worked as an Attorney-Advisor for the Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, focusing on environmental, land use, and water matters. Prior to that, Jennifer worked as a Deputy Attorney General in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office where she represented the Idaho Department of Water Resources in the state’s general stream adjudications. jenniferwendel@arizona.edu