Sustainable Tucson Board of Directors
Duane Ediger
Duane began installing solar in Chicago and brought that skill to Tucson in 2015. He finds joy in facing head-on the climate crisis, a drying Colorado River and the hubris that brought them on. By accepting responsibility for these conditions, and by energizing human capacities such as wonder, invention, experimentation, mutuality, collaboration, generosity and restorative justice, he hopes to seed better relationships and outcomes.
An active member of ST’s Energy Transformation Working Group, Duane promotes harvesting renewable energy close to where it will be used, uprooting unsustainable habits, and living into the limits and rhythms of a Sonoran Desert biosphere and watershed that can survive our human locuras (insanities). Duane is a co-founder of the Electrify Arizona program and has invented tools used in solar installation. He speaks (and sometimes interprets) Spanish and English.
David Eisenberg
David co-founded and has led the Tucson-based nonprofit Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT) since 1992. His experience with concrete, steel, masonry, wood, adobe, rammed earth, and straw bale construction has grounded DCAT’s work on codes and standards. He served on the U.S. Green Building Council Board of Directors and founded and chaired their Code Committee for many years.
David played a leadership role in the International Residential Code standards for Strawbale Construction, Light Straw-clay, Cob Construction, Hemp-Lime Construction, and Tiny Houses. His award-winning work has dramatically expanded the potential for green building not only across the U.S. – on public, private and tribal lands – but internationally as well. David’s diverse background includes co-authoring The Straw Bale House book and being the trouble-shooter on site for construction of the high-tech cover of Biosphere2. He serves on the boards of Green Advantage and the Tucson 2030 District as well as with Sustainable Tucson.
A Tucson local for over 60 years, Tres has deep roots and connections within the community. His entire family lives in Tucson. While his professional background lies in engineering physics and more than four decades in residential property management, his true passion lies in ensuring Tucson’s long-term sustainability. For over 40 years, Tres has been a driving force in community organizing for sustainability, including co-founding Sustainable Tucson in 2006 and serving on the Board ever since.
Tres’s dedication is evident through a number of initiatives: co-chairing a transportation planning, spearheading tree-planting projects, co-founding the Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Tucson, advocating for water harvesting policies, organizing volunteer home repair programs, and now promoting the Green Retrofit to rehabilitate the County’s aging housing stock.
Stuart Moody, MA
Stuart grew up writing to elected officials about air pollution and wilderness protection. In Marin County, he led the Rethinking Plastics campaign, putting plastic reduction on the environmental agenda. Accomplishments included five municipal ordinances and resolutions, waste-reduction policies in numerous organizations, and tons of plastic bags replaced by reusable containers in local markets. He served as Green Schoolyard Coordinator for a school in San Rafael, where students studied plants, wrote poetry, and learned about sustainability.
Since arriving in Tucson in 2012, Stuart co-convened the Shade Tucson coalition and co-founded BaRN (Building a Resilient Neighborhood). He now manages training for ST’s Ambassadors of Sustainability. Stuart brings to this work his experience in deep listening and a solution-centered approach to negotiation. In his spare time, Stuart enjoys getting around on his e-bike and teaching music at Khalsa Montessori School.
Paula Schlusberg
Paula has been active with Sustainable Tucson almost since its beginning in 2006, serving on the Core Team and now on the Board of Directors. She was co-chair or chair of Envision Tucson Sustainable Festival for 7 years; for many years she has also organized ST tabling at community events. Currently she is active with Sustainable Tucson’s Zero Waste Working Group, with a particular interest in reducing plastics production and use.
An East-Coast transplant happy to escape Syracuse winters, Paula has lived in Tucson since 1999. She is retired after a long career as an English as a Second Language (ESL) professor and an ESL textbook editor. Her love of the desert stretches back many years and strengthens her commitment to working to preserve our beautiful Sonoran Desert home.
A long-time Tucsonan, John A. “Skip” Laitner is an award-winning energy and resource economist who works with national and international colleagues and policy leaders to promote local jobs and prosperity through greater energy and resource productivity. He has produced over 360 publications, including book chapters, journal articles, reports, and conference papers. He is a frequent speaker who has been invited to speak in 10 countries. He also serves as advisor to several groups, is an occasional adjunct faculty and graduate student mentor, and is principal of Economic and Human Dimensions Research Associates.
Skip’s career includes high level positions with the US EPA, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences. His current focus is developing new energy metrics that build a positive case for the “Economic Imperative of Energy Productivity,” catalyzing Sustainable Tucson’s latest project, “Summit on Investment in People and Infrastructure”.