Meet Our Staff

Carolyn Campbell, Co-Executive Director

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Throughout the 30+ years that I have called Tucson home, I have been a passionate voice for Sonoran Desert land and wildlife conservation. I helped found the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection in 1998, responding to a need for a unified voice to advocate for the implementation of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Over the last 20 years, under my leadership, the Coalition has become the lead environmental advocate and facilitator on Sonoran Desert conservation planning.

The Coalition’s strength lies in its ability to leverage meaningful and long-lasting change through close partnerships with its member groups and local jurisdictions.  We continually try to connect the best available science with grassroots organizing and this has led to truly ground-breaking conservation successes in the Sonoran Desert and the Sky Island region.

The Coalition brings together and earns the trust of a wide variety of stakeholders and divergent interests and uses sound science and grassroots organizing to conserve the Sonoran Desert through effective land-use planning. I am proud that the Coalition has created a legacy in Pima County that includes ongoing implementation of the nationally-recognized Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan; preservation of hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and open space in Pima County; protection of critical wildlife linkages that connect the Sky Islands and desert seas; and, perhaps most importantly, a regional conservation ethic born from true collaboration and coalition-building.

I began my career after graduating from Arizona State University in 1982 with a B.S. in Political Science. I worked as a Congressional Aide to Representative Morris K. Udall in his Phoenix office from 1984-1990. I was the founder and State Chair of the Arizona Green Party from 1990-1998, and from 1994-1997 I worked as Chief Council Aide for Tucson City Councilmember Molly McKasson. In 1992, I was an Arizona Legislative Candidate.

Over the years, I have served on many local committees, including:

  • Vice-Chair, Pima County Bond Advisory Committee
  • Chair, SR 77 Wildlife Crossings Technical Advisory Committee
  • Member, Regional Transportation Authority’s Wildlife Linkage Working Group
  • Past Member of citizen stakeholder committees for Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, City of Tucson’s Resource Planning Advisory Committee, Pima Association of Governments’ Regional Task Force for Long Range Transportation, Regional Transportation Authority’s Citizen Advisory Committee, and the Town of Marana’s Habitat Conservation Plan
  • Founding Advisory Committee Member, Living Streets Alliance
  • Past Board Member: Arizona League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Buffers, KXCI Community Advisory Board, Center for Voting and Democracy, Tucson Community Land Trust, Tucson Small Schools Project (now City High School)

I am honored to have received the following awards:

  • Tucson Audubon Society, David Yetman Award for Promoting Conservation in Southern Arizona, 2013
  • Sky Island Alliance, Mike Seidman Memorial Award, 2011
  • The Nature Conservancy, Outstanding Conservation Achievement Award, 2009
  • Tucson Mountains Association, Conservationist of the Year, 2009
  • YWCA, Woman on the Move, 2008
  • UofA Women’s Plaza of Honor, 2006
  • Sonoran Institute, Collaborative Conservation, 2006
  • Tucson Weekly, Local Hero, 2003
  • Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Conservation Champion, 2003
  • Sonoran Institute, Local Hero, 2001
  • Tucson Citizen, “Who Runs Tucson,” 2001
  • The Nature Conservancy, Joseph Crutch Award, 2000