The WVWA is excited to welcome Parc Smith, Marcus Gary and Jason Pinchback to the 2013 WVWA governing board. We are honored by the addition of these three dynamic young conservation leaders to guide the future development and direction of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association. WVWA is blessed by your service and dedication to make positive change in our communities.
Thank you all for your commitment!
Parc Smith
Parc started with American YouthWorks in 1995 as a teacher and crew leader for the Environmental Corps and later filled roles as a program coordinator and most recently as Director of Environmental Corps and part of the Senior Management Team for the entire organization. With over 17 years experience in trail design and construction, parks, and conservation work, Parc was awarded State Trail Worker of the Year in 2004 at the American Trails National Trails Symposium and Trail Designer and Project Director for 2009 National Recreation Trails Coalition award winning "Southwest Keys Trail" for Accessibility Enhancement Project of the Year. Parc leads workshops and speaks at national conferences on national service and youth conservation corps involvement in land management, trail building and project-based outdoor education as a model for transforming lives of at-risk youth to youth "at-promise." He serves on the Department of Interior 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Advisory Committee, Texas Recreation Trails Grant Review Committee and several regional advisory boards. He grew up in Stephenville, Texas, graduated from Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas and has called Austin home since 1995.
Jason Pinchback
Jason began his work in water resource management as a volunteer for the Clear Clean Colorado in 1988 where he experienced first hand how individuals working collectively can make a difference in local communities. Since then he has earned a BS and Masters in Applied Geography (MAG), coordinated water monitoring activities at the Lower Colorado River Authority, and served as a director at Texas State University’s River Systems Institute. Jason has over 18 years professional natural resource management experience and he currently serves Texas coastal communities at the Texas General Land Office’s Coastal Resources Department. Jason has also served as a board member for the Austin Youth River Watch, volunteered to improve services to homeless, and helps where he can with other local charities.
As a board member for the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, Jason aims to support the mission through preserving property owners’ rights to have available water for their home and business uses while conserving and enhancing Cypress Creek flows through a healthy Jacobs Well aquifer system.
Jason is married with three children and they live in Henly, Texas. They enjoy gardening, permaculture and aquaculture projects, all while living exclusively from rainwater harvesting.
Marcus O. Gary, Ph.D., P.G
Dr. Marcus Gary is a karst scientist who specializes in conducting hydrogeologic investigations to expand the understanding of karst forming processes, and study the implications that karst geology has on natural resource management. Dr. Gary received his Ph.D. in hydrogeology from the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin in 2009, and a B.S. degree from the same institution in 2001. His dissertation focused on defining the geological processes that formed one of the deepest phreatic cave systems in the world, Sistema Zacatón. This multi-disciplinary research included studies utilizing geophysics, geomicrobiology, hydrology, field mapping, geochemistry, and numerous related topics. Most notably, Sistema Zacatón was explored by the DEPTHX probe, also known as the Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer. This instrument was developed and tested with over 5 million dollars of funding from NASA, and Dr. Gary served as the co-project PI. The DEPTHX probe produced an unprecedented spatial dataset used to characterize the 1000 foot plus deep underwater cave system. Dr. Gary also worked for 8 years as a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, 4 years as a private environmental consultant, and is now currently a senior hydrogeologist for the Edwards Aquifer Authority in San Antonio, Texas and an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Austin, teaching Applied Karst Hydrogeology. Prior to his career in geosciences, Dr. Gary was a commercial diver, working for over 8 years in the offshore oil industry, conducting marine archeological surveys, managing hyperbaric medical facilities, exploring underwater caves, and recovering ICBMs for the U.S. military in the south Pacific. He is the proud husband to his wife Robin and father of son Jake.
