Debi Weissling

 

FoGC President

Debi holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Multidisciplinary Science from the University of the Incarnate Word.  Debi taught middle and high school science for 15 years before becoming a Secondary Science Specialist for Northside ISD.  She then became the Director of STEM initiatives and GE2MS, a math/science teaching program, at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After formally retiring, she continues to serve as a Field Supervisor and mentor for teachers seeking their Texas certification. Debi joined the Friends of Government Canyon Activities Committee in 2014 as the program reservationist and is presently serving on the Friends of Government Canyon Board of Directors.

Debi has been camping, exploring nature and rock hunting for as long as she can remember.  Her love for nature has spilled over into Government Canyon where she sometimes can be found in the fee booth, the dinosaur tracks (her passion) or leading hikes and children’s programs.  Debi and her husband, Dan, enjoy genealogy and traveling in their tiny teardrop trailer.  Debi and Dan feel especially lucky to have their six grandchildren all in San Antonio where they can expose them to the joys of nature.


 

Kyle Cunningham

 

FoGC Vice President

Kyle Cunningham has served as Co-Chair of the Government Canyon Coalition and was the founding Chair of the Government Canyon Natural History Association (dba Friends of Government Canyon). She first visited Government Canyon in 1980 and knew it was a special place that should be preserved. It took ten years of dreaming before the opportunity arose. Kyle has a bachelor of science degree of Texas A&M and a Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Texas San Antonio.  For the last thirty years Kyle has worked for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District Environmental Division. She has served as the Manager of the Public Center for Environmental Health for the last twenty years

Keri Neff

Keri Neff is a REALTOR® with a GREEN designation working in San Antonio. She is also the secretary of the US Green Building Council South Texas Region. Although by job she is focused on homeownership and equitable, sustainable practices in the built environment, she is equally committed to the stewardship of our unique natural environments and protecting our most treasured resources.  She hopes to educate the public on the benefits of nature and the simple things that each person can do to become better stewards of the environment.

Jonathan Smith

Jonathan Smith is an architect and outdoor enthusiast who spent his youth in the hills of rural Travis County hiking and mountain biking. While earning his architecture degree from the University of Texas, Jonathan spent summers as a mountain guide in New Mexico where he saw first hand the transformative impact of nature on people’s lives. Jonathan seeks to continue this ethos in his work as an architect where his projects seek to bring people in closer appreciation with their natural surroundings. Jonathan is a partner at Smithdish Architecture where he works alongside  his wife Cameron Standish to create timeless handsome spaces that draw inspiration from local climate, context, and their clients’ unique personalities.

Architect

Smithdish Architecture

Hillary Starkey

Hillary grew up in the hill country and has a great love for the outdoors and swimming in our local rivers and creeks. Having earned a Bachelor of Communication Design from Texas State University, she has a passion for art, print and editorial design. As the graphics manager at Lake|Flato Architects she helps showcase the firms work and culture through marketing pursuits, collateral pieces, web design and brand development. Hillary is married to Gus, who is also a FOGC board member and an architect at Lake|Flato. They have two small children and look forward to introducing them to the great outdoors and favorite swimming holes.

Gus Starkey

Gus is a project architect at Lake|Flato Architects. He enjoys design that not only speaks to its surrounding landscape, but also to a client’s interaction with that landscape. Gus grew up in the Texas Hill Country and has an appreciation and love for the local hills and rivers. He earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University and a Master of Architecture at the University of Washington. Here his architectural design approach was shaped with an emphasis on sustainability and place-specific craft and design.

Gus enjoys biking, running, wood working and spending time with his wife and two children.

Project Architect

Lake|Flato

Friends of Government Canyon
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of Government Canyon State Natural Area located near San Antonio, TX.