Utah Rivers Council has an active volunteer board of directors that provides passion and expertise for protecting Utah’s rivers and independent oversight and monitoring of our staff and financial resources.
Meet our Board of Directors
Robert Fry, Chairman, is an outdoor gear designer, business leader, and marketing expert with decades of senior leadership experience with a variety of outdoor companies. Brands he’s held executive leadership positions include The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Black Diamond, and Kathmandu among others. Robert has received multiple college degrees in art and design, and he’s worked for several years as an exhibit developer for the nonprofit museum the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Beyond his professional life, and arguably far more important, is his love of the outdoors and deep celebration of biodiversity. Robert is an avid skier, cyclist, fly fisher, and peak bagger who reflexively examines any body of fresh water for what might live there. This means random and annoying (to his wife and daughter) stops along creeks, rivers, and ponds throughout the great state of Utah.
Claire Geddes is one of Utah’s most accomplished and passionate citizen activists with a long history of successful advocacy campaigns with utility legislation and regulation in her 30+ years of leadership. Claire is a tough, thoughtful and compassionate Utahn who advocates for people from all walks of life, particularly ratepayers who are not able to devote the time and effort required to speak out to ensure Utah has affordable utility policies. Claire has also been an outspoken leader on nuclear waste issues in Utah, working to clean up Utah’s toxic past with dedication and focus for many years. She is well-respected among all circles for her advocacy expertise, ethical leadership and clear voice of reason at the Utah Capitol.
Dave Mock is an experienced venture capitalist and owner of the very popular Boulder Mountain Lodge. Dave is serving his second term on our Board of Directors after a 5-year break working in New York and other parts of the country. Dave is the founder of a small philanthropic foundation.
Annie Payne is a lifelong activist having been raised in a strong family of citizen advocacy against nuclear testing and in advocating for homeless children. Annie graduated with honors from Utah State University in Political Science, Women’s Studies and Spanish and is an experienced outdoor guide in all manner of adventure sports, including being a seasoned river guide for 15 years running clients down the Colorado, the Green, the San Juan and the Salmon Rivers. Annie was the President of the Colorado Plateau River Guides and she also spent 15 years as the administrator for the Utah Guides and Outfitters. Annie founded a charity supporting the needs of homeless children in their scholastic careers and has enjoyed an eclectic array of travel, work and diverse hobbies.
Elizabeth Weight, Secretary, is a sixth generation Utahn with strong family roots in Sanpete County. It was there that she gained her impressions about and interest in Utah water, climate, and the human impact on our environment. She grew up in Brigham City and Bountiful and earned degrees from USU and the University of Utah. After a 32-year teaching career, she was elected to the Utah House of Representatives to serve residents in West Valley City. Since leaving the legislature, she continues in various community volunteer positions, especially to grow awareness of civics and the Great Salt Lake. She enjoys spending timeless days at a family cabin in the mountains above Midway, Utah.
Mark White received a BS degree from the University of Utah and an MBA from Utah State University. He began skiing and running rivers at a young age, and eventually became a member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, and one of the country's top whitewater kayakers. Mark is recently retired, having worked most recently as Visit Salt Lake's chief sales & experience officer.
Brooke Williams’ life has been one of adventure and wilderness exploration. Earlier, this meant skiing and climbing in some of the great mountains of America and wandering the cliffs and canyons of the Colorado Plateau. Lately, during long solo walks he’s become familiar with his own vast and complex inner wilderness. His writing has documented his effort to understand the importance of wildness in modern life. His conservation career spans five decades, most recently with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. He has an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. He and his wife, the writer Terry Tempest Williams, and their dog, Winslow live near Moab, Utah in Castle Valley, where they raise rabbit brush and sage, watch light, wait for rain.
Caralee Woods graduated with honors in Political Science and English from the University of Texas-Austin. Most of her career was spent working for HarperCollins, calling on university professors across the U.S. and Canada. She spent 20+ years living in airports and travelling a large geographical region and ended up managing nine sales representatives. Caralee can’t remember a time she wasn’t into politics; soon after coming to Kanab she became the Kane County Democratic chair, stepping down only recently to encourage new leadership. For two years she reported for the local newspaper, which is an education in itself. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, watching the many kinds of birds—especially ravens—she attracts to her land, hiking, and cooking.
Meet our Staff
The Utah Rivers Council staff work together on issues that affect Utah’s river ecosystems. Our staff are advocates for Utah’s rivers and water conservation. We provide a range of skills and experience to achieve the Utah Rivers Council’s mission and we’re passionate about engaging the Utah public in the decisions being made about our aquatic ecosystems and our water supply.
Zachary Frankel – Executive Director
Zach Frankel received his B.S. in Biology at the University of Utah and is the Executive Director of the Utah Rivers Council, which he founded in 1994. Zach has led many exciting campaigns to protect Utah’s rivers and is an expert on water policy in Utah. Zach lives with his family and their horses in the Salt Lake Valley and enjoys writing, making short films and all manner of outdoor sports.
Alta Fairbourne — Community Water Organizer
Alta is passionate about the intersection of conservation and social justice, and she is committed to building a career that advances both. As the Community Water Organizer, Alta supports Utah Rivers Council’s campaigns through legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing, and engagement with the community. Alta received her Honors Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a minor in Political Science from the University of Utah. In her free time, she loves exploring Southern Utah’s red rock canyons, skiing in the Wasatch, reading, and cooking meals to share with friends and family.
Email Alta
Joe Roberts — Advocacy Marketing Manager
Joe is an obligate storyteller, editor, and poet who has lived in Salt Lake City for most of his life. In addition to serving as the Advocacy Marketing Manager at Utah Rivers Council, Joe is also a senior staff writer for SLUG Magazine, a member of the League of Utah Writers, a volunteer for the International Rescue Committee, and part of Inkpot Literary Journal's reading team. Joe received his bachelor's degree in Writing Studies from Utah Valley University in 2016. While earning his degree, Joe volunteered as an editor for several student literary journals and worked as a tutor at the UVU Writing Center. Joe has two published poetry collections, one from Moon In the Rye Press and another from Bottlecap Press. With his free time, Joe hikes the Wasatch Front with his partner, Brooke.
Asha Pruitt — Conservation Writer
Asha is a writer, editor, and multimedia producer who is passionate about storytelling in all forms. She returned to her hometown of Salt Lake City after many years in the Bay Area, where she received her BA in Global Studies and Journalism from UC Berkeley. Her writing portfolio spans cultural criticism, environmental reporting, and LGBTQ coverage. As the Conservation Writer at Utah Rivers Council, Asha drafts Liquid Courage episodes and supports the marketing team in spreading the word about critical water issues. Asha is also a radio producer at KRCL, covering local politics and grassroots activism on the weekday program RadioACTive. She spends her free time climbing, backpacking, sewing, and crocheting.
Thomas Cooper — Research Intern
Born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Thomas began his work as an environmentalist following in Greta Thunberg’s footsteps by organizing Fridays for Future school strikes for climate in high school. Today, Thomas is developing his skills at the University of Utah studying Political Science and Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations. At Utah Rivers Council, Thomas researches the interactions between water, policy, and ecosystems. Outside of work, he loves to play outside across Utah and Colorado. Some of his favorite places are the Mount Zirkel Wilderness, North Wash, and Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Charlotte Teuscher — Grassroots Organizer
As an avid environmentalist, Charlotte is committed to protecting our planet and the life that inhabits it. She grew up in the mountains of Northwest Colorado with an appetite for environmental and social justice. She brought these passions with her to Salt Lake City when she enrolled at the University of Utah. Charlotte graduated from the U in 2026 with her BS in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, and she’s stoked to put her degree to work by educating, engaging, and mobilizing our community. She spends most of her free time trail running, climbing, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, backpacking, and repairing the inevitable holes in her gear.
Kara Blanchard — Seasonal Grassroots Organizer
Kara is extremely passionate about understanding how Earth's systems work — and how they can be protected through science, policy, and advocacy. She is about to graduate from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Environmental Geoscience and Atmospheric Sciences. During her time at the U, she has worked as a researcher studying saline lake system oscillation in the western hemisphere, and she has served on the executive board of the U of U Backcountry Squatters — an inclusive outdoor club for women and non-binary individuals. At Utah Rivers Council, Kara works to recruit volunteers and bring the community together to fight for climate justice. Kara is an avid skier, climber, crafter, jokester, tumbler, and the lead singer/keyboardist of a local band.