Meet the Speakers
Brooke Wheelock
Brooke is a Partnership Program Manager with the Forest Service on Tonto National Forest and has spent the last 5 years developing valuable partnerships in pursuit of mutually beneficial and mission oriented project work. Brooke also supports a Type 2 Incident Management Team as a Public Information Officer for Wildfires. Previously, she has worked with various federal land management agencies including, The National Park Service and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Brooke holds a Masters degree in Education and enjoys exploring new ways to provide meaningful experiences to the public that encourage stewardship of Public Lands. Originally from Oklahoma, Brooke now calls the desert home and spends her free time exploring with her two dogs.
Vashti “Tice” Supplee
My 29 year career with the Arizona Game and Fish Department included experiences in research, habitat management, game management and urban wildlife. My “second” career with the National Audubon Society is focused on birds and their habitats. Arizona and the Southwest is my home, and I have professional relationships nationally and internationally, primarily in the western United States and northern Mexico. I have retained my interest in game wildlife through volunteer commitments with Arizona big game conservation organizations. Wildlife conservation in the American Southwest demands partnerships and collaborative work to achieve success. My work at Audubon includes administration of the Arizona Important Bird Areas program. Sites that are critical to a complete life cycle for resident and migratory birds are given this status.
Claire Miller
Claire Miller started her Natural Resource Management career in the City of Phoenix in 1987 as Park Ranger – one of the first mounted patrol rangers in a newly developed program for the City of Phoenix mountain parks and preserves. She is a nationally certified mounted officer. In 1999, she left the City of Phoenix to become the first Preserve Manager for the City of Scottsdale, Arizona’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve. In the Scottsdale manager position, she was integral in the development of several trailhead facilities and a network of approximately 200 miles of natural surface trails. She returned to the City of Phoenix in 2014, as a manager (and now Supervisor) for the 21,000-acre Phoenix Sonoran Preserve system.
Miller received her B.A. in Outdoor Recreation from the University of New Mexico in 1983, and attended graduate school at Arizona State University in Natural Resource Management. Throughout her career, she has served on many boards, including CAZCA, the Arizona State Committee on Trails, the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association, the Network for Arizona Trails and the North Valley Outdoor Network.
Sarah Webber
Deputy Director, Arizona Parks and Trails
Sarah Rose Webber is the Deputy Director of Arizona Parks and Trails, the state agency that oversees, preserves, and protects over 33 state parks and natural areas, and includes the State Trails Program, the State Historic Preservation Office, outdoor-related grant programs, and statewide outdoor recreation planning.
Prior to this position, Sarah served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the State of Arizona under Governor Ducey. In that role, she managed the governor’s cabinet and oversaw all state agency operations. She also served as the State Infrastructure Coordinator for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation and Director of the Government Transformation Office while COO.
Sarah earned her master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern Utah University. Sarah previously worked at a rural shelter.
Sarah currently serves as a Trustee on the Arizona Retirement System Board and as a board member of the Phoenix Theater Company. She is a member of the 2023/24 Arizona Forward Emerging Sustainability Leaders cohort. Sarah recently was selected to serve on the CAZA Steering Committee and National Forest Fund Northern Arizona Forest Fund Advisory Council.
Sarah has a great love for Arizona’s diverse ecosystems and enjoys hiking, running, rock climbing, mountain biking, camping, backpacking, triathlon and all activities outdoors. Sarah is a certified yoga instructor and she enjoys teaching yoga at nonprofits and outdoor nature spaces in her spare time.
Laurel Arndt
Program Manager, White Tank Mountains Conservancy
Laurel Arndt is an environmental and urban planner with over 25 years of experience in natural resource management, research and policy analysis, open space planning, conservation advocacy, community engagement, collaboration and coalition building. Laurel holds a B.S. in Business and a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning, both from Arizona State University.
Over the course of her career, she has served in many roles as a planner. She has sat on County and State Parks Boards as a Commissioner or Board member advocating for open space conservation since 2000. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge in environmental planning, state trust land management, transportation, land use planning and development, sustainable recreational planning and environmental review processes (NEPA).
Laurel is an avid outdoorswoman who enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and mountain biking.
Tickets
Register for Women Leaders in Parks & Natural Resources!
Join us for the CAZCA Speaker Series event, Women Leaders in Parks & Natural Resources! Esteemed speakers Kim McCue, Claire Miller, Tice Supplee, Sarah Webber, & Brooke Wheelock will share their insights and expertise on the conservation and natural resources fields!
