About

Cristina A. Jones, Arizona: Cristina’s lifelong interest in reptiles was cultivated through the numerous hiking and camping trips throughout Arizona where her parents taught her that wildlife is wondrous and worthy of study. Her passion with turtles was ignited when she encountered her first Sonoran desert tortoise on a hike at age four, and began her fascination with natural history and conservation of desert reptiles. Cristina earned her B.S. in wildlife science and M.S. in wildlife ecology at the University of Arizona. For her M.S. thesis research, she evaluated the prevalence of Mycoplasma agassizii in wild and captive Sonoran desert tortoises in Arizona. Cristina held the position of Turtles Project Coordinator with the Arizona Game and Fish Department from 2006 – 2021, where she led multiple inter-agency/inter-organizational working groups, and collaborated with turtle biologists and citizen scientists within Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), Desert Tortoise Council, and the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation to identify, coordinate, and conduct priority research and implement conservation actions for turtles in Arizona and the southwest. In 2021, Cristina accepted a position as a Biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service within the Southwest Region. She serves as a Project Manager and leads Species Status Assessment Teams to gather, analyze, and report on the best available scientific information for use in making decisions on whether or not a species warrants listing protection under the Endangered Species Act. Cristina is a co-chair and a founding member of Southwest PARC, a co-founder and co-chair for the PARC Turtle Networking Team, serves on the Training Committee for the Desert Tortoise Council, a Board Member of the Turtle Survival Alliance Foundation, on TSA’s Field Conservation Committee, and program co-chair for the annual Symposium on Conservation and Biology Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. Her professional goal is to maintain a position in wildlife conservation and management which utilizes her knowledge, leadership, organizational skills, and enthusiasm to encourage and promote innovative ideas to assure the survival of viable populations of native turtle species throughout their range.

Jared Holmes, Texas: Jared is an American Ecologist and Zoologist. He has authored scientific papers, pamphlets, manuals and technical documents on a variety of subjects dealing with the natural world and in the field of science education. He has been a contributing scientist on the PBS Show NOVA, featured in TV episodes on the Outdoor Channel, and on various podcasts. More importantly he has been educating landowners and underserved children for over 15 years on the importance of nature and ethical land stewardship. Jared has a passion for connectivity. Getting landowners/stewards (and anyone who wants to listen) to feel and understand their landscape, how to work with it, not against it the way nature intends. He is also the lead biologist for Origin Ranch, a 350 acre regenerative ranch and rangeland restoration project where they have been raising and grazing in Mother Nature’s image since 2020.

Clint Henke, Colorado (Treasurer): Clint’s interest in reptiles and amphibians, particularly snakes, goes back to his childhood. Clint spent his early summers in a nearby creek looking for local gartersnakes and whatever other unique creatures he could find. As an undergrad at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, not much had changed. Clint explored the southwestern Colorado landscape constantly in search of various cold-blooded creatures. Clint kept a few pet snakes at Fort Lewis’s Biology department and was the “go-to” guy for any reptile and amphibian questions for both students and professors. As Clint worked on his bachelor’s degree, he spent his summers interning at the Denver Zoo. During that time he got to know some well-known herpetologists and spent one summer after receiving his Bachelor’s degree in biology with Hobart Smith and David Chiszar conducting reptile and amphibian surveys in portions of the American Southwest and northern Mexico. Clint also was occasionally invited as a guest lecturer at Fort Lewis’s Desert Biology class – where he gave lectures on adaptations of reptiles and amphibians to a desert environment. Clint attended graduate school at the University of Colorado where he focused on comparative water loss tolerance in three species of gartersnake, which was the focus of his Master’s Thesis. Clint is currently a senior wildlife biologist for ERO Resources where he assists a variety of private, and government agencies with environmental regulatory compliance. Clint is a SWPARC steering committee member and previously served as co-chair for the organization.

Lawrence L. C. Jones (Secretary): Larry received his B.S in Zoology and  M.S. in Biology at California State University, Long Beach. Although he hailed from southern California, he had a joint career in the Pacific Northwest and Arizona. For his first half-career, he worked for the Pacific Northwest Research Station, Olympia, WA, where he worked primarily on Pacific Martens, Northern Flying Squirrels, and stream-associated amphibians, particularly Dicamptodon, Rhyacotriton, Ascaphus, and Plethodon vandykei. In the Northwest, he founded the Pacific Northwest Amphibian and Reptile Consortium, which became a model for the development of PARC. The gloomy weather and lack of “dry herps” led him to seek employment in southern Arizona, where he finished his 30-year stint as a federal Wildlife Biologist. In Arizona, especially after retirement, he worked most extensively with lizards, with some scorpion work on the side. He was a SWPARC co-chair for several years, then after a hiatus, came back into the fold. He is a Reserve Keeper II in the Herpetology section of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Currently, he is doing independent research through the Southwest Zoologists’ League on climate change and roadside ecology of lizards in public lands near Tucson. The research includes radiotelemetry of Gambelia wislizenii and Dipsosaurus dorsalis. Larry has over 110 published titles, including five books, most notably SWPARC Habitat Management Guidelines, Lizards of the American Southwest, and the two-time gold-medal winning Venomous Animals of the United States and Canada. When not chasing lizards, he is usually playing with his Dalmatians, who also share his love of lizards.

Tessa Cafritz, California: Tessa has dedicated her career to advocating for the often misunderstood reptiles and amphibians, aiming to give voice to nature’s unsung wonders. Currently pursuing her master’s degree in teaching biological science from Miami University through the Project Dragonfly program, Tessa focuses on understanding public perception of these fascinating creatures. Her graduate and professional experiences have taken her across the country, emphasizing the crucial role of connecting individuals with their surrounding flora, fauna, and fungi. Excited to contribute her expertise, Tessa serves on the Southwest Region Steering Committee for PARC, an organization she has long admired and followed. She eagerly anticipates collaborating with and learning from the dedicated team. Additionally, Tessa is leading the charge for Wild Turtle Week 2025 in an effort to spread the word about native wild turtles! Presently, Tessa serves as the Naturalist and Volunteer Program Manager at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center.

Becca Cozad, Arizona: Originally from Houston, Texas, Becca’s interest in wildlife began with a childhood obsession with frogs. She later earned her B.S. in Biology from Emory University and her M.S. from the University of Georgia, where she investigated health and disease in translocated gopher tortoises. She has spent more than a decade working with reptiles and amphibians. Before moving to the Southwest, her work focused on translocated gopher tortoises and longleaf pine habitat restoration in Florida. Becca is active in several herp conservation groups, including Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), Southeast PARC, Gopher Tortoise Council, and Turtle Survival Alliance, where she has held leadership positions and focused on mentoring and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Southwestern Program Coordinator for Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, Becca currently manages on-the-ground projects and collaborations for the conservation of native herp species and their habitats in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Nevada.

Robert Delph, Utah: Robert is an entomologist / wildlife biologist with the Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands contracted through U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.  He supports the DPG environmental program, managing wildlife projects from herpetofauna, bats and small mammals, including many invertebrate studies from pollinators to long term arthropod inventory and monitoring projects.  Robert has 24 years of experience conducting and managing invertebrate related monitoring projects with NPS, USFS and DoD in the southwest region.  He has 14 years of experience conducting wildlife management-based projects with an emphasis in herpetofauna on DoD lands.  His primary focus is facilitating INRMP goals and objectives through ecosystem function.  He believes everything is connected and that ecology and habitat-based management is the best way to protect and conserve natural resources and the wildlife within it.  Robert has hosted multiple lectures and outreach events using live arthropods and herpetofauna as examples to educate the public about biodiversity, earning him the nickname “Bug Bob”, which he wears proudly.

Brad Jost: Brad Jost currently serves as a Wildlife Biologist for the BLM Headquarters Division of Wildlife Conservation, Aquatics, and Environmental Protection. At BLM HQ, Brad works on a variety of taxa and issues, including reptiles, amphibians, bats, pollinators, and energy development. Brad also serves as a BLM representative on the PARC FASC. Brad has also previously served as the Wildlife and Riparian Program Lead in the BLM-Wyoming State Office, as a Wildlife Biologist for the BLM-Owyhee Field Office in Idaho, and as a Rangeland Management Specialist for the U.S. Forest Service in California. He received a B.S. in both Wildlife Science and Rangeland Resources from Utah State University and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Management.

Grace Laskey, New Mexico: Grace’s passion for herpetofauna began at a young age as she grew up in Southern California catching critters. She earned her B.S. in Zoology from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2023. During her time in college, she worked at the university’s amphibian research lab. She is currently a field biologist for the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy (ARC) based out of New Mexico. She previously worked on various projects including studying movement patterns in Mexican Garter Snakes, habitat use in Flat Tailed Horned Lizards, and the effects of urbanization on Gila Monsters and snakes.

Sean McMullen, Colorado: Sean is the Treasurer and SWPARC liaison for COPARC (Colorado Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation). Sean’s interest in reptiles and amphibians began at the early age of 6, and much to the consternation of his immediate family, it was more than just a phase. Sean has worked in multiple different fields that heavily involve the study of herps such as a technician with Jefferson County Open Space, a biologist for Adaptation Environmental Services, and for the last four years, an agent for the Bureau of Animal Protection and Welfare with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. Sean has a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Colorado State University and is actively working on a Masters in Business Administration. Sean brings knowledge and understanding of the world of herps to his animal welfare team, and is actively able to assess animal husbandry conditions and advise others during animal welfare related court trials. Sean actively helps plan and lead COPARC field surveys and is a big proponent of anti-poaching enforcement and legislation within the State of Colorado. 

David McNaughton, California: Dave is a Natural Resources Specialist for the US Navy at NAVFAC Southwest in San Diego, CA. He previously worked in Pennsylvania at Fort Indiantown Gap, and in wetlands consulting. He has tracked spotted turtles, mark-recaptured wood, spotted, and box turtles, swabbed snakes and amphibians for fungal diseases, coordinated counties for the Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey, and has helped educate the public through the San Diego Herpetological Society and the Lancaster (PA) Herpetological Society. He now serves as the DODPARC representative on the national PARC JNSC. He earned his B.S. in Environmental Studies at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and he has written several DODPARC Best Management Practices documents and other Federal tools and strategies.

Jonathan Young, Nevada: Jonathan is a native of southern California where he grew up exploring the various environments from the ocean to the Mojave Desert. When he was young, he was obsessed with catching snakes and lizards. He is currently a wildlife staff specialist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife in the Biodiversity (non-game) division focusing on implementing the State Wildlife Action Plan and coordinating the team of biologists doing the fun work in the field. His current role involves the reinvention of Nevada’s reptile program where he hopes to continue to build on past work conserving the state’s rich reptile diversity.