FRIENDS OF THE WARREN FERRIS CEMETERY

2022-2023 Board of Directors and Board of Advisors
Board of Directors

President: Juris Laivins

Vice President: Julie Fineman

Treasurer: James Jordan

Secretary: Barbara Brault

Education Director: Patty Griffin

Budget Director: Darryl McNair

Event Coordinator: Lee Glenn

Sharon Van Buskirk: Communications

Dallas City Liaison: John Hampton

FWFC Board of Advisors

Sue Chenault: Chenault Descendant

Josette Collins: Interior Designer/former owner Scott & Cooner

Kim Conrow: Former President, Native Plant Society of Texas

Harryette Ehrhardt: Former Texas State Representative

Chris Freeman: President, Professional Surveyors of Dallas, Chapter 5

Joanne Hampton: Former President, Dallas Preservation Society

Pam King: Grant Writer

Dr. George Keaton Jr.: Founder/Executive Director, Remembering Black Dallas, passed away

Faye McCurry: Ferris Descendant, Founder - Fruit of the Earth

Kathy McCurry-Fulton: Ferris Descendant & V.P. New Product Development Fruit of the Earth

Mike McKool: Principal/Chairman, McKool

Erin McKool: Attorney

Donald Payton: Genealogist

Kathy Ann Reid: Cemetery Committee Chair, Dallas Pioneers Association

Susanne Starling: Historian, Warren Ferris Biographer, passed away

Mack Turner: CEO, Texas Conservation Alliance, passed away

Constellation of Living Memorials Board of Advisors

Harryette Ehrhardt, Ph.D. – CLM Advisor – Social and Economic
Educator and Former Texas State Representative. Harryette is a founder of the Dallas Historic League and is a tireless supporter of the preservation of historic communities in the region. During her career she has worked as a teacher and school principal and later taught at SMU, where former First Lady Laura Bush was once her student.

Kathrine Singleton, Chief Preservation Planner, Office of Historic Preservation, City of Dallas – Historic Preservation Component

Shaniqua Commings – Remembering Black Dallas board and founding member- Equitable Historic Component

Victoria Clow - Cemetery Archaeologist, President of Preservation Dallas - Cultural/Historic Preservation Component

Olivia Shaffer, M.S. Entomology: CLM Environmental Advisory Group & Survey Design Consultant. A graduate of the Washington State University Entomology program, Olivia strives to apply her history in field research and passion for environmental stewardship to public programs. Her work focuses on determining the effects of human-mediated landscape change to native bee communities in both urban and agricultural environments. Her research supports a large body of literature indicating that small-scale urban habitat can greatly benefit pollinators. As an experienced outreach event coordinator, Olivia continually seeks opportunities to share her passion for insects, ecology, and art to a diverse group of all experience levels.
Ian Watkinson Ph.D. – CLM Advisor – Environmental component
Southampton University, UK, Ph.D. Steroid Biochemistry, Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London
Ian has spent over 4 decades working in the sciences, and has become an expert naturalist, adding value everywhere he has lived. Ian led the restoration of a section of the Colorado River where it passes through Yuma, AZ. The effort included removing invasive species and replanting with natives, adding walking trails, a solar demonstration garden, hummingbird garden, burrowing owl habitat, picnic ramada areas, a small lake, and other improvements for the community, thereby creating the 110-acre West Wetlands Park, a jewel that is beloved by the citizens of Yuma, AZ.

Chris Helzer – CLM Advisor - Environmental component
Chris is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, where he conducts research and evaluates prairie management and restoration work. He is also dedicated to raising awareness about the value of prairies and the natural world through his photography, writing and presentations. Chris is author of The Prairie Ecologist blog, and two books: The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter.

Sandra Alcaraz, Ph.D. – CLM Advisor - Environmental component
Sandra has spent more than 35 years of her career involved with entomology and agriculture research programs. She has exceptional analytical abilities but is ever more skilled with engaging others and building consensus in diverse environments. A native to Colombia, she excels in seeing the big picture and how small local changes can lead to paradigm shifts worldwide.

Samuel Discua-Duarte Ph.D – CLM Advisor - Environmental component
Samuel ‘s education and experience is particularly relevant to his advisory role for the CLM project, having studied the impact of land use on native pollinator communities in Texas, and completing his doctorate with a dissertation on Scale-dependent Bee Diversity Patterns (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) and Plant Attractiveness to Pollinators in the Texas High Plains. Samuel’s diverse experience in Honduras and the United States gives him perspective for this ambitious program.

Consultant to the Board: Madeline Mellinger – Madeline has served as an advisor to the U.S. Congress, National Academy of Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal and state Extension Service and various universities. Beginning in 1992 she was appointed by three successive U. S. Secretaries of Agriculture to the National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council. Since 1997, Madeline has served as the appointed UF delegate to the Council for Agriculture Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and she is presently the liaison to the Extension Committee on Policy. She was a founding member of the Foundation for Environmental and Agricultural Education (FEAE) and is serving her second year as President.

julie@julieannfineman.com