Science Moab Board of Directors
Kristina Young, PhD, Board Chair
Research Associate (post-doc), USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range
Kristina is an ecologist and place-based science communicator studying the semi-arid ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau. She has spent the last decade working in deserts across the American Southwest and was selected as a Wyss Scholar for Conservation of the American West for my research on dryland restoration. Kristina is the founder of Science Moab and is passionate about engaging communities with regional science. Her writings on drylands can be read in Forbes.com Science, High Country News (reprinted in Mother Jones), the Salt Lake Tribune, and The Dust Magazine. Kristina spends her free time running rivers and exploring the canyons around Moab, UT.
Brett Sutteer, Board Secretary
Owner, Moab Cliffs & Canyons
Brett is a true Utah native. His father’s family was raised on the Ute reservation in eastern Utah as mixed-blood members of the Uintah-Ouray Band of the Ute Tribe, while his mother was raised in Central Utah, a descendant of Mormon settlers whose roots are traced to the LDS prophet Joseph Smith. In 1985, as a proficient rock climber, mountain biker and backcountry skier, Brett discovered Moab. Here, he channeled his passion for these sports and the region into different outfitting businesses and guide services that helped usher in the development of Grand County’s recreation-tourism infrastructure. He carried this low-impact mind-set into his experiences working on over a hundred film and photo productions, which lead him to contribute to the Bureau of Land Managements’ Third Party Compliance Monitor program, of which he has been a part since its inception. This program provides environmental oversight on all photographic, TV, and movie productions. As the Climbing & Canyoneering Representative for Trail Mix, Grand County’s trail building and advocacy group, Brett has advocated for and helped instigate sustainable group-size use-limits for commercial guide services on BLM lands. Brett is the owner and progenitor of Moab Cliffs & Canyons, which he opened in 1999. His involvement with Science Moab has closed a personal loop of promoting scientific education to the public for nearly 35 years.
Sophia Fisher, Board Treasurer
Reporter, Moab Times-Independent
Sophia is a journalist and a former AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for Science Moab. As a VISTA from 2020-21, she provided the fledgling organization with broad administrative and programmatic support while building organizational capacity. As a board member, Sophia is excited to continue bolstering local science access while ensuring a sustainable yet ambitious organization. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Sophia first came to Utah to work for a conservation corps. Now a reporter for the Moab Times-Independent, Sophia is passionate about producing accessible, evocative information to mold a better world. In her free time, she loves backpacking, reading, cloudspotting, seeking out desert nooks, and ogling cool cryptobiotic soil.
Sue Bellagamba, Board Member
Canyonlands Regional Director, The Nature Conservancy, Utah
For more than 30 years, Sue Bellagamba has been working with the Conservancy to conserve the lands and waters of southeastern Utah. Today, Sue leads the Conservancy’s projects in this region as the Canyonlands Regional Director. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University in 1979. Shortly after graduating, she arrived in Moab, Utah, to work for the Bureau of Land Management as the Westwater River Ranger, initiating her love of rivers and red rocks. Her current work includes working on Colorado River issues focusing on projects that balance water needs, improve water infrastructure and operations for environmental flows and addressing Tribal water issues. Sue also oversees the Conservancy’s projects at Canyonlands Research Center working closely with researchers with the aim of providing land managers with science driven solutions to adapt to climate change.
Past Board Members
Travis Nauman
Travis is a research soil scientist who works with government agencies, universities, NGOs, and grassroots movements to advance science to do good. As a scientist, Travis focuses on the vital soil resource and how we can manage soils and ecosystems in a sustainable, but practical fashion by developing modern digital data and tools for both managers and modelers. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer reviewed articles and has served as a reviewer for 15 different scientific journals. One of Travis’ major goals is to connect people around science to help build a community connected to each other and to the earth systems we share. Travis has lived in Moab since 2015, and was born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. He has spent much of his life exploring and studying the Colorado Plateau and mountains of this country – his passion for science only rivaled by the freedom of the hills, especially when skis or bicycles are involved.
Marshall Dvorscak
Marshall is a father of 3, husband, outdoor enthusiast and small business owner from Cody, Wyoming. He has called Moab, Utah home since 2005. Marshall spent his early years in the outdoors with his parents on all different kinds of outdoor trips in all kinds of different weather conditions. Those early trips inspired a life spent out of doors. He, along with his wife Nicole, have tried to pass that same early love of wild places to their 3 daughters through rafting, skiing, camping, hiking, and playing music. Marshall plays guitar and Nicole and their 3 daughters play the violin.