is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), and Registered Nurse (RN), with 27 years of experience as a health care professional. Her initial exposure to health care was as a RN in dialysis and critical care settings in the Bahamas for five years. After undergraduate studies in social work at Texas Christian University, Rosena worked for three years in St. Louis, Missouri as a community-based social worker assisting mental retardation-affected adults develop independent living skills. She returned to Fort Worth in 1988 and spent the next eight years as a medical social worker in acute care and mental health settings prior to functioning as a social work educator at Texas Woman’s University for eight years. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Social Work and is a candidate for the Ph. D. in Health Education at Texas Woman’s University.

For the last two and a half years, Rosena has been employed in Community Health research, Quality Management, or Health Education positions in Home Health Care and university settings. She is currently employed as Quality Management Director to Apex Home Health Care and as a Research Associate with TWU, to assist the Texas Statewide Coordinated Statement of Need Committee, as they develop HIV/AIDS Initiatives in the State of Texas.

Rosena has served as a volunteer for the Sickle Cell Association, member of the Circle T Council for Girl Scouting Board of Directors for six years, and as a member of the Inaugural Executive Committee of the Black Alumni Alliance at Texas Christian University. She comes to GPRC to help with GPRC's youth leadership program that is geared toward bridging inner city youth from the Fort Worth and Denver areas with their Native American counterparts in the Great Plains Region.

Rosena Clarke-Turner is co-parent to two beautiful children, Valencia, 10 and Jay Edward, 7. She enjoys music and singing and one of her greatest joys is Kindergarten choir at First United Methodist Church with some 20 kids on a Sunday morning.

“Both the development of such a program and the leadership training focus, as the kids become ecosystem participants and are challenged to use self-help initiatives to care for themselves, their community, and the environment, are critical components of making the Buffalo Commons a practical reality.”

Ed is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota, where he lives. He works contractually for the "Wakanyeja Pawiciyapi, Inc." or Children First. This program, based out of Porcupine, SD, works with children with serious emotional needs. Ed has worked longtime in the human services field and with youth prior to working with "Children First.”

In addition, Ed is very active in the community. For Kyle District, he is the community advocate and liaison to the larger Tribal government in support of GPRC Oglala efforts to protect as Tribal Wilderness on the reservation the South Unit of Badlands National Park and the Grass Creek-to-Oglala Prairie Dog Complex. He also manages Knife Chief Community Buffalo Project. The Knife Chief project is fairly new. They have approximately 50 head of buffalo on land they lease from the Tribe.

Education:
AAS degree in Electrical Construction and Maintenance: Oglala Lakota College.
Currently working towards BS degree in Business Administration.

Previous boards Ed has been on:
Board of Trustees-Oglala Lakota College
Knife Chief Community-Chairman

Present Boards:
Wowasaki Ikicupi- “Taking the Power Back”, which “is a discussion work group that deals with issues facing our community and Tribe,” and now GPRC.

Dan Licht has over 15 years of work experience in wildlife management, with most of those years occurring in the Great Plains. He is the author of the landmark book ECOLOGY AND ECONOMICS OF THE GREAT PLAINS, [University of Nebraska Press]. He has also published numerous scientific articles on grassland wildlife. He long ago came to the realization that the conservation of biological diversity can best occur on large tracts of land with the full assemblage of native species and natural processes. He also came to the conclusion that the Great Plains provides a singular opportunity to restore a functioning ecosystem while still meeting the needs of the region's people and economies. His vision of the Great Plains includes many farms, ranches, and small towns, along with smaller refuges and parks, as well as a few large sites dedicated to the conservation of naturally functioning ecosystems. His hobbies include hiking the grasslands and badlands of the Northern Plains with his two young boys.

Dan’s favorite quote is from E.O. Wilson: “We should not knowingly allow any species or race to go extinct. And let us go beyond mere salvage to begin the restoration of natural environments, in order to enlarge wild populations and stanch the hemorrhaging of biological wealth. There can be no purpose more enspiriting than to begin the age of restoration, reweaving the wondrous diversity of life that still surrounds us.”

“The Great Plains is a vast land. That is the land's essence, and it is our opportunity. The region is big enough for the rancher, the farmer, the rural townsfolk, the Native American, and the outdoor enthusiast. It is also big enough for a few large natural areas that conserve semblances of fully functioning grassland ecosystems. We should establish such areas not only for the critters, but for ourselves. We need places where the soles of our boots get worn, places where wisdom and instinct matters more than technology, places where discovery and mystery is the norm, and places where the spirits of the past can connect with those of the future. We need for ourselves, as much as for the beasts, places where the bison's beard gets soaking wet in the morning dew, places where courting fritillaries can dance their aerial fights above dazzling fields of wildflowers, and places where ferrets can peak out of burrows and witness wolves trotting by. We need places where the distant horizon leads to another distant horizon, and that horizon leads to another horizon, and that horizon leads to ....”

with his wife Deborah, wrote the article "The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust" (Planning, December, 1987) which put forward the controversial Buffalo Commons thesis that has stimulated national debate about the future of the Great Plains. The Poppers' continuing Buffalo Commons work received the American Geographical Society's Paul Vouras Medal for regional geography in 1997, when Frank also received the Rutgers Presidential Award for Distinguished Public Service. Frank holds both a masters and doctorate degree from Harvard.

“I can never think of my favorite time or place in the Plains. The gunmetal skies of North Dakota winter mornings, June noons with the Kansas hills in glistening bloom, the somber-serene horizons of Staked Plains Texas any time of year – who could choose among these or any other forty choices the Plains always offers? One of the fine things about America is how it often gives you second, third, and fourteenth chances. The Buffalo Commons is a wonderful example. It is part proposal, part metaphor for a long-term series of land-use changes, and an appeal for rethinking Plains possibilities. We want to offer something to the people of the Plains, not take something away.”

Dr. Popper's Bio at Rutgers University
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

a Port Arthur, TX native, is a commercially successful artist and youth mentor who is very concerned with the state of health of our communities and the environment. She is particularly interested in the healing communication offered by art and compassion. Her work consists mainly of collages influenced with cubism. Color, texture and shape are the core of her collages. Inspired by images that she sees in her sleep, Evita translates these visions through mixed media, with various handmade papers, acrylic paints and found objects. Pulling from experiences and children's stories, she creates whimsical images that provoke laughter and also enrich the soul. Her work has been commissioned for the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, Dallas' Deep Ellum Film Festival, the 30th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the 2000 Daimler Chrysler calendar, and is sought by many in the entertainment and media industries as well as the homes of professional football and basketball players.

Evita mentors teenage girls who need help and direction and come from broken families. She takes these young women under her wing and works with them long term. Evita is a vegan member of the Black Vegetarian Society of Texas, and also a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Evita Tezeno graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas in 1984. Evita is helping GPRC network, raise funds, produce public and media awareness, and implement program work, as well as use the power or art and creativity in projects helping move the Buffalo Commons movement, and youth involvement in that, forward.

“Creativity is a noble word, like justice, or compassion. Its essence is a basic component of right living, for it is nothing less that a love of learning, a love of action, an echo of God’s creative power. Art in all of its many forms makes me feel connected to something grand. Exuberant movement and rotating images imply energy and space beyond boundaries of the applied surface.”

“Life as we now know it may be very chaotic, but if we concentrate on the little things, an open field, a small prairie dog, a beautiful sunset... if we work together to keep the things of Nature safe it would make this chaotic existence a little more pleasant. The Buffalo Commons project is one of these
components to a peaceful existence.”

www.evitatezeno.com

Coming soon...

An environmental advocate for more than sixteen years, Jarid Manos is a frequent contributor to the Fort Worth Weekly and has been published or written about in the New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, USA Today, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Denver Post, Congressional Quarterly, Houston Chronicle, Albuquerque Journal, Grist and many others. He is founder and CEO of Great Plains Restoration Council (GPRC), based in Fort Worth, TX, Denver, CO, and Thunder Valley, SD. He is also a health advocate and youth worker. Through his guidance, GPRC has helped found the new Ecological Health movement. A vegan athlete, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the Black Vegetarian Society of Texas. Mr. Manos resides in Fort Worth, TX, and he and Karla are parents to 9 year old Kaiden. His first book, Ghetto Plainsman, was released in January 2008.

Lorenzo Wilborn, GPRC Youth Director, has several years experience working with children in a diverse range of settings. A graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, specializing in Outdoor Education, he has had the pleasure of working with summer camps as an instructor for multiple activities such as rock climbing, canoeing, and rappelling. He served in the United States Army as a medic for three years before returning to finish his degree.

He began his teaching career in the Houston Independent School District for Camp Olympia Outdoor Education Center. He reports: “This unique environment allowed us to teach different subjects for the fifth graders who would stay with us for a week in cabins and use the outdoors instead of a classroom.

“I believe that student involvement in their own learning process is crucial. Therefore, I am a strong advocate for hands on learning. I hope to positively impact children with a desire to accumulate knowledge and to make learning an enjoyable experience.”

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Tarla Crumb is the Chief Development Officer for a Houston, Texas faith-based entity, and an educator. Born August 24, 1955, Tarla grew up in Des Moines, Iowa with her parents and two siblings. Tarla firmly believes that investing in youth is a way to invest in the future and that educators have a responsibility to facilitate learning for all.

Tarla attended public school in Des Moines graduating in 1973 for Abraham Lincoln High School. After high school graduation she matriculated to Fisk University, in Nashville, Tennessee graduating in 1977. Discovering a burning need to make a difference she enrolled in University of Tennessee’s Public Administration program where her MPA was conferred in 1978. Her focus and zeal in graduate school facilitated an opportunity for an internship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (LBJ/NASA-Houston), in 1978. This catapulted her career in the public sector.

Years later, Tarla heeded her call to make a difference in the lives of our children and began her teaching career in Houston’s Alief Independent School District. After teaching for 6 years, the opportunity arose to become a Central Office Administrator. Tarla’s educational career continued to the non-traditional public school arena where she served as Acting Superintendent of a Houston-based Charter School. Today, Tarla continues to impact the lives of our youth facilitating training sessions for Houston’s Educational Service Center (Region IV).

Tarla’s foresight and vision regarding education is reflected in the work manifested in her current position and contributions to youth. A significant portion of her time is devoted to meeting with community stakeholders and staying abreast of school districts’ needs, best practices, and environmental/societal implications for young people.

Lenon Phillips is the Physical Education and Health teacher, as well as the lead coach for the athletics program at Metro Academy of Arts of Science. Originally from Waco, Texas, he attended Baylor University where he received a B.A. degree in Sociology. He chose to pursue a Sociology degree because he has an interest in finding ways to understand society, and helping our youth function within it.

Lenon is currently in the process of attaining his teacher certification through the Texas Teachers program. He will be eligible to receive his full teaching certification this year in Physical Education. He plans to obtain a Masters in Education in order to continue the elevation of his service to our youth.

Lenon has worked with children for a total of 15 years. While in college he began working for the Boys and Girls Club and interacting with youth. He reports: “That particular experience opened my eyes to the plight that our youth have been facing. Since that time I have worked in various arenas of education, including teacher, coach, assistant principal at Alta Charter School, Houston, and principal at Varnett Charter School, Houston. This led me to wholeheartedly give myself over to the ever growing issue of a socially and educationally failing generation. My predominant goal is to fill underachieving students with the knowledge needed to enhance learning. I believe that our goal as educators is to extend the critical gift of teaching students how to learn.”

Bio coming soon...