Grownup Board of Directors
The Global Warming Express (GWE) is guided by a small group of dedicated grownups who are teaching the kids how to be heard — how to organize; how to press for environmentally friendly policies; and how to influence public perception of climate issues through performance, writing, and illustration.
Esha Chiocchio is a sustainability consultant and serves on the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission, where she chairs the energy committee. She is the author of Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for Santa Fe and a founding member of Got Sol, a volunteer organization that promotes renewable energy. She is also a documentary photographer who has worked internationally for numerous publications, including National Geographic and Newsweek. Chiocchio served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa, and holds BAs from the University of Colorado in Anthropology and French and an MA from Goddard College in Sustainable Communities. She is the mother of Zubin and Ciela.
Mike Hopkins has had a high-tech career in Silicon Valley where he worked for a variety of tech companies, both startups and well-established organizations. Now retired, Mike brings a set of business organization skills to The Global Warming Express and a passion for bringing kids into the conversation about climate change. Mike’s goal for GWE is to grow the program to reach the entire state of New Mexico and eventually to make it a national program through partnerships with other non-profits.
Maria Hondros has worked for many years at green energy companies and is closely involved in bringing green energy solutions to community projects. One of her projects involved working with GWE kids at Acequia Madre Elementary School in Santa Fe to fund and bring solar energy to the school. She is in the fortunate position of working in an industry that is consistent with her values and the planet’s future.
Ken Hughes is a Clean Energy Specialist at New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where he manages the Sustainable Building Tax Credit program and facilitates meetings of the Energy Efficiency Working Group. He has served on Santa Fe’s Planning Commission and Mayor Gonzales’ Transition Team addressing energy, water, wastewater, and recycling. Hughes is Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter, and has traveled to Oslo and Copenhagen to attend climate change conferences. You can see him biking around Santa Fe, a habit he has exercised for over 40 years.
Heather Karlson has followed climate issues since Bill McKibben first brought them to public attention in the late 1980’s. She holds a BA in Psychology from Middlebury College and an MS in Environmental Science from Antioch University New England and has worked with youth in a variety of settings, including providing environmental education in schools and outdoors at a museum and an arboretum in Maine. She has served on the board of a chapter of the National Audubon Society and of a land trust in Vermont. She helped to design and develop the school garden at Acequia Madre Elementary School and is currently the writer and editor of an email newsletter on climate issues relevant to New Mexico and beyond. Heather has been active in several political campaigns in support of candidates who recognize climate change as a top priority. When not working on climate issues, she manages a family medicine office and is also a landscape painter and an avid hiker.