BRWA Directors

Susan Staley

Board of Directors President

Susan Staley is a native of Indiana and moved to Georgia in 1992. She travels the southeast doing arts shows with her stained glass and is a musician, playing in several Athens area bands. She also has booked music around town, for the Athens Folk Music & Dance Society, Athfest and Athens Farmers Market. Susan married and moved to the Broad River in 2010. Her husband, Jim Beall, is a founding member of BRWA and has lived on the river for over 30 years. They have a 265 acre conservation community shared with 5 other families and together they own a mile of river frontage along the Broad. She joined BRWA board in 2015..

Joe Lawrence

Vice President

Broad River Watershed Association Board Member.

Quint Newcomer

Treasurer

Quint moved to Georgia in 2005 to become the first Director of the University of Georgia’s Costa Rica campus and programs. He served in this position for 11 years until June 2016, and remains adjunct faculty at the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. He is currently the Director of Sustainability and Business Administration for Architectural Collaborative, an architecture firm based in Athens. When Quint moved to Georgia, he and his wife, Lori, lived for five years on the Peyton Ferry Farm on the Broad River. He’s been a member of BRWA since 2006. As part of the BRWA Board, Quint is interested in helping to build relationships with UGA and other higher education institutions and to work on research and outreach initiatives that help us to better understand how BRWA can most effectively engage landowners throughout the watershed. Prior to coming to Georgia, Quint earned a PhD in Social Ecology and a Master of Environmental Management at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a Master of International Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. While at Yale, he studied, taught, and carried out research on incentive mechanisms for private forestland conservation, payment for ecosystem services, and establishment of biological corridors in Costa Rica. He co-edited and co-authored chapters in the 2007 book, Emerging Markets for Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Panama Canal Watershed and the chapter, The Monteverde Cloud Forest: Evolution of a Biodiversity Island in Costa Rica, in the forthcoming book, Biodiversity Islands: Strategies for Conservation in Human Dominated Environments. Prior to attending Yale, Quint lived and worked for most of the 1990s in Costa Rica. His positions included certification manager and business development consultant for a plantation timber and wood products company, executive director of the Monteverde Institute, and country coordinator for the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. As Director of the Monteverde Institute, Quint helped to craft and was a signatory to the first reciprocal conservation easement registered in Costa Rica

Chris Wagoner

Secretary

Patrick Phelps

Director

Broad River Watershed Association Board Member.

Coy Wehunt

BSA in Agronomy from the University of Georgia. Live with my wife Karen on Lake Clark Hill's northern most end where the Broad River enters the lake. Having started paddling in the late 70's ,I have seen a lot of change, gear, boats, and most importantly, the number of people using the rivers. Around 8 years ago I joined the Broad River Watershed Assoc. to give my voice and time in preserving the character and use of the river. Member of Chattahoochee River Keeper, Savannah River Keeper and American White Water

Krista Faw

Director

Broad River Watershed Association Board Member.

Alisa Claytor

Director

Broad River Watershed Association Board Member.

Sam Bearden

Director

Sam was born in 1953 to parents stationed in San Diego California with the Navy. Sam returned with his parents to their home town, Atlanta GA. He grew up in South Dekalb county, graduating from high school, and attending college at Georgia Tech and Georgia State University. After a college career that began as a Biology student, Sam eventually became an art and design student. Sam graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Georgia State and later a Masters of Architecture from Georgia Tech. His work career included jobs as a luthier, architectural woodworker, cabinet maker and stained-glass artist before becoming an Architect. Sam became a Registered Architect and a LEED certified Architect after passing the board and sustainability exam. Sam and his wife Kathryn King and lived and worked in and around Atlanta from 1978 to present. They now reside in Avondale Estates. His Architecture career started as an intern in 1985 and continues as a practicing Registered Architect. Sam retired from commercial work with Lord Aeck Sargent Architects in 2019 and continues to do residential and volunteer projects. Sam and Kathryn recently built a small house on the Broad River as it flows into the Clarks Hill Reservoir. They spend time exploring the Broad River and are would like to work to keep it safe and clean for future generations. Supporting the Broad River Watershed Association is an excellent path to support this end.