- Hugh Aljoe
- Robert J. Potts
- Clint Josey (Advisory Member)
- Kathy Smyth
- Leslie C. Rauscher
- Laura Whiting
- Dr. Richard Teague
- Melissa Bookhout
- Dr. Bonnie Warnock
- Will Juett
- Dr. Carlos E. “Lalo” Gonzalez (Advisory Member)
Hugh Aljoe
Hugh Aljoe serves as the Chairman of the Board for Dixon Water Foundation. He also director of ranches, outreach and partnerships at Noble Research Institute, where he focuses on regenerative management of range and pasture, high stock density grazing and holistic ranch management.
He has been associated with Noble since 1995 and, before joining, managed a 3,000-acre, 1,500-head cattle operation in Texas. Hugh received his master’s degree in range science from Texas A&M University with an emphasis on grazing management.
Robert J. Potts
Robert J. Potts was chairman of the board from 2017-2025. From 2007-2023, Potts was the President and CEO for the Foundation. From 2004 through the summer of 2007, Potts was the General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority, a regional regulatory agency created by the Texas Legislature to manage, enhance, and protect the Edwards Aquifer which spans eight counties in south central Texas, serves as the primary water source for more than one and a half million people, and supports numerous springs in the area, including the two largest springs west of the Mississippi River.
From 1993 to 2004, Mr. Potts worked at the Nature Conservancy where he held several positions including State Director of Texas and Vice President for the South Central Division, managing the conservation work in Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Mr. Potts previously practiced law with the firm of Baker and Botts in Houston, where he focused on international and corporate issues. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University in 1984 and a B.A. degree from Baylor University in 1980.
Clint Josey (Advisory Member)
Clint Josey was the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Dixon Water Foundation from 2005 to 2017. Clint was born in Fort Worth, TX and moved to Dallas at 8 years old. He graduated from Texas Country Day School, which is now St. Marks School. After graduation he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The United States Naval Academy, The University of Texas and Southern Methodist University. Clint has a degree in Petroleum Engineering and a Masters degree in Mathematics. He served 3 years in the US Navy, and he worked as a Petroleum Engineer in the oil fields.
Clint purchased the Leo Ranch in 1974 and has practiced Holistic Management principles since attending an Allan Savory course in 1983. Mr. Josey was also Chairman of the Board for the Discovery Foundation. He is very proud of his 6 great grandchildren.
Kathy Smyth
Kathy Smyth, Vice-Chairman and Vice President, has had a lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation, and believes in conservation through good land management. She has been involved with non-profit organizations with conservation missions. She has served on the board of the Galveston Bay Foundation, the Bayou Preservation Association, The Wildlife Center of Texas, the Texas Land Trust Council, the Bayou Land Conservancy, the Houston SPCA, and is currently on the advisory board of The Nature Conservancy and Houston Audubon. She worked for The Nature Conservancy from 1999 until 2004.
Mrs. Smyth grew up in North Carolina, and developed an appreciation of good land stewardship from spending summers in the country with her grandmother. She has a Master of Science from the University of North Carolina. She lives with her husband David in Houston and is the grandmother of twins.
Leslie Rauscher
Leslie Rauscher has served on the Board of Directors since December 2007. With over 27 years of environmental experience, she has worked extensively with North Texas municipalities, as well as state and federal agencies across Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Her expertise spans water quality program administration, policy implementation, regulatory oversight, and natural resource management.
In addition, she brings more than a decade of experience developing and leading public outreach initiatives focused on a wide range of environmental issues. She is passionate about environmental education and regenerative agriculture and continues to volunteer her expertise to support the Foundation’s mission.
As the only vegetarian on the Board, she also champions the role of planned grazing as a tool for effective watershed management, environmental sustainability, and the promotion of healthy food systems. A graduate of Texas A&M University at College Station, Mrs. Rauscher resides with her family in Dallas.
Laura Whiting
Serving on the Board of Directors since 2005, Laura L. Whiting is proud to be associated with the Dixon Water Foundation’s forward-thinking ranchers and conservationists.
Ms. Whiting is a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, an Am Law 200 firm and one of the Southwest’s largest full-service law firms. She focuses her practice on environmental permitting, compliance and enforcement defense for heavily-regulated industry and land developers. She also has extensive experience with incident investigations, regulatory advocacy, and product stewardship requirements under state and federal environmental laws, as well as due diligence and cost-effective remediation.
Prior to joining Gardere in 2016, Ms. Whiting served as Senior Counsel for Occidental Chemical Corporation, a leading manufacturer of chlorine, caustic, vinyl chloride monomer, PVC resins, and silicates. For over 10 years, she provided leadership and support for business functions critical to the safe production of useful chemical products. She started her legal career in the oil & gas practice at Gardere & Wynne (now Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP), when oil was $10 a barrel, and transitioned to an environmental practice, serving as Assistant Regional Counsel with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an associate at Winstead, Sechrest & Minick, a lawyer-on- loan for American Airlines, and a partner at Hunton & Williams, formerly Worsham, Forsythe & Wooldridge.
Through years of practice at the intersection of industry and the environment, Ms. Whiting firmly believes that our future depends on marshaling the benefits of science, technology and the unwavering commitment to the protection of our natural resources. She is a Texas State Trustee for the Nature Conservancy, and previously served as Chairman of the Environmental Health Commission for the City of Dallas, as Chairman of the Dallas Nature Center, now Audubon’s Cedar Ridge Preserve, and in various capacities in professional organizations. Ms. Whiting earned a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. She and her husband Simon have two sons, George, in college, and Harry, in high school.
Richard Teague
Dr. Richard Teague is Professor Emeritus of Grazing Ecosystems Ecology, having retired in January 2021 from the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University. Since 1991 he, with his research partners, has conducted research from his Texas base exploring the hypothesis that using Holistic Planned Grazing improves soil health and is a sustainable base to improve ecosystem function and increase net farm profits. To accomplish this, he partnered with farmers who have improved the environment and excel financially. They used a systems-science, multi-discipline framework to find the best grazing management for regenerating soil health and function, delivering ecosystem goods and services, and improving farmer livelihoods and social resilience.
His website is: https://vernon.tamu.edu/research-project/grazing-ecology-management/
Melissa Bookhout
Melissa Bookhout’s roots in agriculture run deep, shaped by generations of family ranching and a lifelong connection to the land. Born in Dallas, she spent countless weekends alongside her father and grandfather on their ranches, where she developed an early love for cattle and conservation. Her grandfather raised longhorn cattle and buffalo on a ranch in Carrollton, and in 1974, her father purchased land in Leo, Texas. That land eventually became the 970-acre Leo Ranch, where the family raised beef cattle that is now part of the Dixon Water Foundation.
In 1994, Melissa and her husband Tom moved to the ranch to raise their two children and continue the family legacy. Her commitment to stewardship led her into ranch administration and environmental education. In 2005, she began working for Dixon Ranches, Inc. as Secretary and Treasurer. That role soon transitioned to the Dixon Water Foundation, where she later served as Treasurer, Secretary, and Education Coordinator.
Melissa retired in 2022 but continues to stay involved as a board member for the Dixon Water Foundation.
She is passionate about sustainable agriculture and watershed health, and her work reflects both personal conviction and professional leadership rooted in care for the land and future generations
Bonnie Warnock
Dr. Bonnie Warnock is a Professor and serves as Dean of the College of Agriculture, Life, and Physical Sciences. Bonnie teaches the range and soils courses and advises students within the Range Management and Agribusiness Management concentrations. She also serves as an advisor for the Student Chapter of the Society for Range Management. Her research interests are focused on restoration and its tie to sustainable ranching, with projects in grassland restoration, riparian restoration, grazing, and fire.
Bonnie received her PhD in Soil Science from Texas A&M University, where her dissertation focused on restoring saline soils utilizing halophytic plants. She received her MS in Range and Wildlife Management from Sul Ross State University where she studied banded grassland vegetation. She also completed her BS in Range Science from Sul Ross State University.
Bonnie is also actively involved in production agriculture through her and her family’s ranches.
Back to top
Will Juett
Will Juett has been with the Dixon Water Foundation Board of Directors since 2025. He is currently managing Lykes Bros. Inc.’s Texas operations including the O2 Ranch in Brewster and Presidio Counties. The land is managed for cattle, hunting, and farming operations.
In his previous job, he was the team leader of the USDA Soil Survey offices in Marfa, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Here he oversaw the soil survey operations of over 13 million acres in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Mr. Juett has a long history of working with Dixon Water Foundation ranches in Presidio County. He has benefitted greatly from working with Foundation staff and is extremely honored and excited to continue that as a member of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Juett has a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife from Texas Tech University and a master’s degree in Range Management from Sul Ross State University. He lives in Alpine, Texas with his wife Angela and two children, Hannah and Jack.
Carlos Gonzalez (Advisory Member)
Dr. Lalo Gonzalez serves as the Nau Endowed Professor of Habitat Research and Management and Associate Director of Research at the Borderlands Research Institute, as well as Assistant Professor in the Natural Resource Management Department at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas.
Born and raised in a ranching community, Lalo grew up deeply connected to ranching traditions that instilled in him a lifelong appreciation for working lands and the people who steward them. His academic and professional journey has centered around improving rangeland restoration and wildlife conservation across the Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas. He earned his B.S. in Wildlife and Range Management from Texas A&M-Kingsville, where he worked with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. He later received an M.S. in Natural Resource Management from Sul Ross State University and a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University.
His research focuses on bridging ecological science with land stewardship, with emphasis on habitat restoration, rangeland ecology, and livestock grazing systems. Lalo works closely with landowners, agencies, and conservation partners to develop science-driven solutions that sustain both agricultural production and ecological integrity.
Through his role at the Borderlands Research Institute, Lalo is committed to training the next generation of conservation professionals and supporting landowners in maintaining resilient and productive landscapes across Texas.
