Meet Our Board
Christopher S. Jones, Ph.D.
President of Driftless Water Defenders, Author, and Researcher
Notable Works
The Swine Republic 2023: Chris explores the immense agricultural production in Iowa and the heavy toll it’s taking on soil, wildlife habitat, loss of public parks, air and water quality. '
Follow Chris’ blog where he writes articles about the intersectionality between the natural and agricultural worlds.
Chris Jones received his B.A. in chemistry and biology in 1983 from Simpson College, Indianola, IA. He received his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry in 1986 from Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. Since receiving his PhD, Chris has held several esteemed positions, including, but not limited to, Lab Supervisor at Des Moines Water Works from 2003-2011, Environmental Scientist at the Iowa Soybean Association from 2011-2015, and a Research Engineer & Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Iowa from 2015-2023. Chris’ research interests span from contaminant hydrology, nutrient and sediment transport, to agriculture and water quality. In his free time, Chris is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, gardening, and mushroom hunting.
Terri Mozzone
Treasurer of Driftless Water Defenders
A long-time resident of Highlandville, in Winneshiek County, Terri Mozzone’s versatile career has been marked with a constant theme: her concern about the environment and the foundational importance of clean water. A summa cum laude graduate from Luther College in Decorah, IA, earning a B.A. in English, with an emphasis in writing, her researching and writing skills have been essential to the positions she has held over the years—ranging from project manager, to paralegal to freelance writer. Her writing experience includes several years spent researching and writing company profiles of industry-diverse Fortune 1000 companies for publication in a series of reference books for libraries and business schools, published by the Detroit Press. Hired by an energy auditing company in Minneapolis, she researched and wrote a complex grant proposal for submission to the utility, Xcel Energy, that provided the funding for launching the successful startup. While living in St. Paul, MN she worked as a writer for the Minnesota Senate, attending and covering hearings in the Judiciary, Crime Prevention and other committees, before becoming certified as a paralegal and working for a large international litigation law firm. As a project manager Terri was hired to research and coordinate with managers, contractors, and numerous others to execute the interior building design, equipment needs, and restoration for the Oneota Food Coop in Decorah. In Portland, Oregon she worked as a project manager for Portland Energy Conservation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancement in energy use, generation and policy.
Terri describes herself as project-oriented, with a passion for nature, hiking with her adult children in the West and Pacific Northwest, organic gardening, design and protecting our environment. Her clean water advocacy is based on the conviction that water quality is the number one issue confronting Iowans: “All other issues are dependent upon having a livable planet for our existence.”
Mary Damm, Ph.D.
A prairie ecologist and farm owner, Mary Damm manages 120-acre Prairie Quest Farm near McGregor, where she raises cool-season pasture as habitat for grassland birds. The intent is to manage the pasture as a grassland ecosystem favorable to rare, breeding birds like Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Sedge Wrens. Her farm is located in the Bloody Run Creek valley in the Driftless Region, five miles down valley from Supreme Beef, one of the largest cattle feeding operations in Iowa. Central to her practices is rotational grazing. Mary rents the pasture to a neighboring farm family who move their cattle from paddock to paddock according to conditions of land, water, soil, and grass. The system mimics the grazing patterns of wild herds of bison, which trampled plants into ground-protecting litter that provided sufficient cover for rain to soak into the soil. Manure and urine fertilize the growth of existing plants and germination of new plants without running off into streams or soaking into groundwater.
“Grassland birds have declined by 53 percent in the past 50 years, in part from the conversion of diversified farms with long-rotation crop plantings and livestock to intensively managed farms of corn and soybeans,” Mary says. “However, some grassland birds can successfully nest and raise young on rotationally grazed livestock farms. Bobolinks have nested on the pastures and hayfields of Prairie Quest Farm for the past fifteen years, and their nesting success has been researched for the past ten years.”
Mary earned her Ph.D. in biology from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where her research examined endangered black-soil tallgrass prairie in Iowa, comparing plant diversity and soil nutrients soil between native and restored prairies. She researched plant diversity in alpine grasslands for her MS degree at the University of Colorado. Born and raised along the Ohio River in Evansville, Indiana, Mary worked as a plant ecologist with field experience in grassland, forest, riparian, and tundra ecosystems in Colorado, Indiana, and Missouri. She enjoys hiking, bird-watching, swimming in lakes, listening to singer-songwriter and classical music, and eating healthy meals
Attorney to the Board
James Larew, Esq.
Registered agent for Driftless Water Defenders and Attorney at law
For more than thirty years, Attorney Jim Larew has had the privilege of providing legal services to Iowans throughout the state.
As an honors graduate of both Harvard University and the University of Iowa College of Law, Jim practices law over a broad range of civil and criminal matters including employment, civil rights, family law, environmental law, and property law.
Jim tried many cases in state and federal courthouses in Iowa and Illinois, and argued appeals before the Iowa Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits.
From 2007-2011, Jim was called to serve as General Counsel to Iowa Governor Chet Culver, and also served as Policy Director and Chief of Staff in the Office of Governor.
Upon his return to private practice, Jim expanded his general law practice in Iowa City to include an office in Des Moines. He broadened the focus of his law practice to include advocating for the interest of Iowa policy holders against insurance companies who acted in bad faith; against environmental polluters; and against owners of nursing homes and care facilities who injured residents through indifference or neglect.
