Staff and Interns

Dr. Elizabeth Dougherty inspires people to fall in love with water. Since receiving her PhD in Anthropology in 2003 from the University of Pennsylvania. Dougherty has worked nationally and internationally promoting fair trade, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture. Discovering watersheds, water conservation and reuse was like finding a fountain in the desert for Dougherty and she founded Wholly H₂O in 2009, leading to a renaissance of water reuse systems and technologies going mainstream in California.

Tony Madrone is the Grants and Operations Manager at WhollyH2O, where he utilizes his extensive experience in environmental resource management, project planning, and grant writing. With a background that includes his work at Indra Designs, Tony brings a holistic approach to sustainable water solutions, focusing on restorative resource management. At WhollyH2O, he manages operations and secures critical funding to drive water conservation efforts across California. Tony’s deep commitment to ecosystem health and collaborative problem-solving ensures impactful water management strategies that balance ecological and community needs.

Christopher James is a fourth generation northern Californian and raised swimming in ice cold mountain streams and drinking water straight from the river. Coming from an HR and web content background, he also enjoys mini golf, foggy beaches, and shifting paradigms. The world changes when we see it anew.

With academic training in cultural ethnography and archival history, and interests in landscapes and ethnobotany, Yasmin has worked for the National Park Service, UC Berkeley Folklore Archive, and in Cultural Resource Management, supporting prehistoric and historic archaeology, museum collections, and tribal consultation in the state of California.

UC Berkeley alumna Holly has 5+ years of experience as an educator and writes freelance. Growing up amidst manmade lagoons and landfill, she knows firsthand how critical environmental education is to public welfare. When she’s not teaching or researching, you can find her foraging for native foods or scrambling around local parks.

Jordan Bush is a waitress from Stockton, California, and moved to Oakland to study Public Health at San Francisco State University. From her studies in health and environmental health, she gained an interest in watersheds and the symbiosis of human action and nature. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, baking, hiking, and learning more about nature.

Elaina, a high schooler in Walnut Creek, is a swim coach who loves theatre, going on hikes, and camping. She has always been curious about the wildlife around her and is constantly learning more about the history of East Bay’s watersheds every day.

Growing up, Daphne’s primary contact with the landscape was through water, whether she was playing on the seawalls and marsh mudflats of a Massachusetts fishing village or rowing on the Florida swamps. After seeing firsthand how these beautiful landscapes were changing from human impact, she pursued a landscape architecture degree at UC Berkeley. Since graduating in 2020, she has worked on designing parks and gardens, teaching in food systems education, and developing her passion for plants and water systems. Outside of work, you can find her sewing, climbing, and exploring the great outdoors.

Ramya developed a love for nature while growing up in New Hampshire. After moving to Oakland, she discovered Temescal Creek flows beneath her backyard, igniting her passion for watershed advocacy. As an engineer, she is driven by a curiosity to understand the historical and ecological relationship between humans and their environment. In her free time, she enjoys road biking and listening to electronic music.

Jewel has a degree in Urban Studies with a minor in English from Barnard College. She is from Baltimore, Maryland, and jokes that she traded the Chesapeake Bay for the San Fransisco Bay when she moved to Oakland in 2021. She discovered her interest in watersheds in college while learning about brownfields.

Lillian Zhang graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Energy and Resources. She is passionate about conservation, social justice, and grassroots movements. In her free time, she enjoys reading and trying new recipes.

Vidhika Mathur, earned MBA degree from Clark University, Massachusetts with a major in Finance.Born and raised in Rajasthan, India. Living in a water-scarce region of India fostered a deep respect for this precious resource and the importance of water conservation. That makes California, even more fascinating to me, especially its unique flora and fauna. I am passionate about numbers and love to solve puzzles. When I am not crunching numbers, I immerse myself in a good book or paint.

Ethan Hunter is a seasoned WordPress professional with over 5 years of experience in account management, customer feedback systems, and website support. He is passionate about helping DIY enthusiasts and small businesses create optimized websites. Recently, they have focused on improving accessibility (A11y) in WordPress websites to ensure inclusivity and user-friendliness

Meghan Boyle is a high school student and aspiring author. A Bay Area native, she loves exploring the local wilderness and is passionate about her research and writing on the area. She is committed to providing readers with engaging, detailed content and is an advocate for environmental awareness. In her free time, she enjoys writing, photography and spending time in nature.

Emiko Oda is a UC Santa Cruz student pursuing a dual degree in Environmental Studies and Sociology. Hailing from the Bay Area, her passion lies in studying and advocating for social justice and environmental justice in her local communities. Emiko has two years experience of editing and producing podcast episodes. Using the medium to amplify diverse voices and promote meaningful conversations on pressing issues, she seeks to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable world. and artists on a wide range of video and audio projects. Like water, he goes with the flow.

Mark Faulkner has been providing free-lance media services since moving to the Bay Area from Boston in 1997.

Operating as Bohanti Productions, he’s worked with filmmakers, celebrities, podcasters, news organizations and artists on a wide range of video and audio projects. Like water, he goes with the flow.

Dr. Ted Hullar’s research focuses on understanding chemical reactions in snow and ice. He returned to graduate school after careers in human health risk assessment and database management, choosing to study frozen water processes because of long standing interests in snow science and avalanche safety. After completing his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science 2013 at University of California, Davis, he has continued to develop new research methods for studying reactions in frozen water (including as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow) and teach the occasional class at UC Davis.

Wenhan Sun, Catherine Gai, Xiayi Wu, HaojunLiu, Dereck Ruiz, Malaya Perushek, Yazda Cokgor, Celeste Edell, Bailey Cox, Fanni Fabian, Yasmin Ho, Violet Li

Adrian Antonio, Jiyoon Chung, Lang Csira, Sohan Dhanesh, Ziyan (Frank) Fan, Aubrey Fife, Arundhati Ghosal, Charlotte Kortleven, Yuerong (Sophie) Li, Summer Polster, Lilia Reyes, Diya Sinha, Jaylynn Tan, Catherine Yeh

Evan Anderson-Flint, Samantha Baclig, Ariana Camacho Gallegos, Elena Campell, Dylan Chang, Samantha Grable, Kenshi Husted, Ellie Kuang, Tyler Misraje, Amelie Ngo, Jasper Timmermans, Hannah Welke, Yinong Yao

Tessa Auer, Katherine Bolitho, Christopher Fischer, Charlie Gracia, Lauren Holland, Kate Honeyman, Natalie Rich, Atteera Srethbhakdi, Fitch Ji, Natalie Rich, Tatteera Srethbhakdi (Tat), Lauren Utne, Charlotte Wong

Camille Akinn, Noa Elliot, Charlie Garcia, Les Gurrola, Dilini Hearah, Natalie Langsdorth, Jude O’Conner (Julie), Maralyn Sagna, Emmy Schoepke, Tatteera Srethbhakdi (Tat), Charlotte Wong

Kate Bancroft, Anali Casarrubias, Evan Chang, Angelic Cox, Eric Du, Isabelle Lumahan, Paige Martin, Doah Obaid, Rachel Park, Shuh Yun Park, Karis Polfer, Sophie Shumilov and Ysabela Soares

Emma Grant-Bier

We have an ever-present set of five to twenty interns and volunteers who are the workforce of Wholly H2O. Each person on our crew does work of substance and is greatly valued.

Don’t have time to volunteer but want to contribute to our cause? Donate to Wholly H₂O!

Interested in Benefitting from a Wholly H₂O intern or volunteer position? See current opportunities here.