Staff

Reggie is an innovative non-profit executive with more than 25 years of experience in consumer and environmental policy and advocacy. As former director of the Southwest Regional Office of Consumers Union in Austin, he has worked on legislative and regulatory advocacy for improved public and environmental health and safety, and for better low-income legal representation. At Consumers Union, he focused much of his efforts on alleviating food safety and public health and environmental problems relating to conventional agricultural and other food production practices. He oversaw advocacy and national online organizing on a range of issue including health care, financial services, energy, telecommunications, and other consumer issues. James is also a Navy nuclear submarine veteran.

Cyrus Reed, Ph.D., Conservation Director

Cyrus has a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus on water policy and the dispute over the Rio Grande water with Mexico. Prior to becoming conservation director, he served as Sierra Club's lobbyist on energy and air quality issues during the 2005, 2007 legislative sessions, and directed the Texas Center for Policy Studies, an environmental policy and advocacy organization based in Austin, for five years. He is presently working on energy issues and their impacts. Cyrus has also worked as a journalist and has spent considerable time in Mexico, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Ruthie Redmond, Water Resources Program Manager

Ruthie’s goal is to advance Texas toward a more environmentally sustainable future. To that end she earned a B.S. in Geography - Resource and Environmental Studies with a minor in Economics from Texas State University, San Marcos and takes pride in her various roles stewarding the protection and responsible management of our natural resources. Ruthie is the Water Resources Specialist for the Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter where she works with a team of water resources professionals on the Texas Living Waters Project. Her work focuses on water policy issues across the state including water conservation, drought response, sustainable groundwater management, and bay and estuary protection. Prior to joining the chapter, she was a Natural Resources Specialist in the Water Availability Division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Kristal Ibarra-Rodríguez, Volunteer Coordinator

After serving as a long-time volunteer with the Sierra Club at both local and national levels, Kristal now works with Lone Star Chapter volunteer leaders and staff to develop and implement outreach programs that support the work of existing volunteers and aim to recruit new ones. Prior to this role, she conducted outreach on waste management practices in California with successful efforts toward achieving the ambitious goal of 75% waste diversion from landfills by 2020. Kristal is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, her home island, where she studied General Science with particular focus on Environmental Education and Sociology.  

Greg Harman, San Antonio Clean Energy Organizer 

Prior to joining the Sierra Club, Greg Harman worked for more than 15 years as a reporter and editor, writing extensively on environmental health and justice struggles in Texas and beyond. His work has appeared in the Austin Chronicle, Guardian Sustainable Business, Indian Country Today, Yes! Magazine, and Texas Observer, among many others, He has been honored by a range of media and environmental organizations. He was selected by the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter for its annual environmental reporting award in 1999 and 2009. His knowledge of San Antonio's many environmental challenges and opportunities is informed by his time as a staff writer and editor at the San Antonio Current, where he worked from 2007 to 2012. He is a former contributing editor for Texas Climate News and current a Master’s candidate in International Relations (emphasis on conflict transformation) at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

Neil Carman, Clean Air Director

Neil is involved in a broad range of Texas air quality issues including: reviewing emissions and technical data on industrial sources of air pollution and particularly their impacts on communities of color and low-income neighborhoods; commenting on one-hour ozone nonattainment programs;  implementation of the new EPA eight-hour ozone standard; EPA's Title V federal air operating permit program; educational outreach to Sierra Club members on local air quality; evaluating air toxics monitoring around industrial sources; working with citizens to train them how to take air samples near industrial sources; and more.

Matt Johnson, Communications Manager

Matt is responsible for developing and executing the Lone Star Chapter's 
communications plan that advances the Sierra Club mission through strategic communications promoting its campaigns and other advocacy efforts. Prior to joining the chapter, Matt was a Sr. Account Executive at the clean technology communications and market intelligence firm Mercom Capital Group. He also worked for Public Citizen’s Texas Office and the Environmental & Energy Study Institute. In 2009, he was selected to represent consumer interests on the Austin Generation Resource Planning Task Force, and organized the Clean Energy for Austin Coalition in 2010. Matt is a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Zimbabwe) and holds an MA in Sustainable Development from the SIT Graduate Institute as well as a BA in History from Augustana College. 



Larisa Manescu, Communications Coordinator

A first-generation Romanian American raised in Canada, Larisa graduated from UT Austin in 2015 with double majors in journalism and international relations. A freelance writer and editor with an activist heart, she believes in the power of media, art, and activism to work together to educate, inspire, and ultimately shift the status quo on all matters of social justice. She's grateful to work with a team that understands and emphasizes matters of environmental justice in Texas and the world over. In her free time, you can find her dancing in hip-hop classes around the city, volunteering with Boss Babes ATX (a nonprofit/collective promoting self-identifying women in creative industries and the arts), or searching for a good horror flick to enjoy. 

Natalie Martinez, Administrative Assistant

Natalie graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, with a dual degree in Clinical Nutrition and Culinary Arts and Business Management. While in school, she became an advocate for supporting sustainable farming and restaurant practices, while exploring the health and environmental benefits of the plant-based diet. After graduation, she ran a small nutrition program called Nourish Nutrition Solutions that offered free plant-based cooking lessons, recipes, and nutrition plans, while emphasizing the importance of living green in your kitchen and beyond. Natalie's responsibilities include administrative and general office duties, assistance in coordinating chapter activities and meetings, interaction with volunteers, and response to inquiries from members, volunteers, and the general public. 

Dr. Ken Kramer, Chapter Director (Retired)

Ken is retired as Chapter Director and volunteering as Chair of the Water Conservation Committee for the Chapter Executive Committee. Ken has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University and his special area of interest during his academic career teaching and conducting research at Texas state universities was environmental policy and administration. He has 25 years experience working on water and other environmental issues as an academic, an environmental group leader, and public policy specialist. He has been appointed to numerous task forces and advisory committees by Texas state officials, including the Governor of Texas and the Speaker of the Texas House.