Implementation Team
KATHY HAWES
COORDINATOR, SOUTHEASTERN PARTNERSHIP FOR FORESTS AND WATER
Kathy Hawes is the Coordinator of Southeastern Partnership for Forests & Water and a champion for collaboration. Formerly Executive Director of Tennessee Clean Water Network and Coordinator for Mississippi River Collaborative, she has been a clean water advocate since 2012, with a devotion to bringing together public and private partners to achieve mutual goals for protecting cherished natural resources.
Kathy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a Master’s degree in Business Administration, and she has accumulated over 25 years of experience in both for-profit and nonprofit management. In addition to environmental interests, she advocates for more robust child development and animal welfare protections.
Lisa Lord
Conservation Programs Director, The Longleaf alliance
Lisa Lord is the Conservation Programs Director for The Longleaf Alliance. She leads the organization’s conservation and wildlife recovery initiatives, bringing strategic focus and purposeful engagement to the initiatives the organization participates in. She is also the Savannah River Clean Water Fund Program Director, focusing on conserving forests in the watershed to benefit clean drinking water. She holds a BS in Wildlife Science and M.Ed. from Auburn and a MS in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson. Lisa became a Certified Wildlife Biologist® with The Wildlife Society in 2013 and serves on several committees, including as the Co-Chair for the SE Section Conservation Affairs Committee for TWS and the SC Prescribed Fire Council. Lisa lives in Moncks Corner, SC but works in several states within the longleaf range including SC, GA and FL.
DEVIN ORR
NATURAL RESOURCES Protection specialist, South Carolina Rural Water Association
Devin is the Natural Resources Protection Specialist with the South Carolina Rural Water Association. Her role focuses on building collaborative relationships between the forestry and water sectors of South Carolina, as well as managing grants statewide.
Devin is a 2021 graduate from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Natural Resources. She spent her undergraduate years researching the success of floating treatment wetlands, restoration of longleaf pine plantations, and the impact of climate change on yellow perch populations. She also spent a summer semester in Sweden studying the many facets of sustainability within one of the world’s greenest countries. Devin’s passions are wildlife and plants, with a special interest in wetland restoration.
JULIA SCHMIDT
CoORDINATOR, TEXAS PARTNERSHIP FOR FORESTS & WATER
Julia Schmidt is Coordinator of the Texas Partnership for Forests and Water. Her role is to unite the forestry and water sectors of Texas to sustain and enhance healthy, productive Texas forested watersheds that provide safe, reliable drinking water and forest products.
Julia holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Stephen F. Austin State University and previously worked for the state of Arkansas as a Forested Watershed Specialist. During her time in Arkansas, she worked with the Arkansas Forests and Drinking Water Collaborative as well as the Arkansas Watershed Stewardship. Julia is passionate about the environment with special interests in wildlife and water resources. She hopes - through collaboration and persistence - to see improvements in the state’s forests and water.
Joy wasson
Coordinator, Arkansas Forests and Drinking Water Collaborative
Joy Wasson is Coordinator of the Arkansas Forests and Drinking Water Collaborative. Joy spent the previous 15 years as a Project Manager and Program Director for The Nature Conservancy’s River Conservation Program where she passionately assessed, surveyed, designed, and restored some of Arkansas’ most beautiful, and often highly impacted, river systems. Previous to TNC she was the Source Water Protection Technician for the Arkansas Rural Water Association and enjoyed helping rural water utilities develop source water protection plans. Joy has experience building meaningful partnerships and funding to support critical water quality improvement projects and has worked as a liaison between corporations and environmental organizations to arrive at win-win solutions for all involved to support conservation of The Natural State’s waterways. Joy is excited to tap into the passion Arkansans have for stewarding the resources within the “Natural State” and collaborating with the members of the Arkansas Forest and Drinking Water Collaborative to improve the state’s forests and drinking water.