Lone Star Deep Dive

On Episode 3 (Part 1) of the Lone Star Deep Dive Podcast, host Tonya Kleuskens and co-host Mark Nair speak with Dr. Craig Nazor.

Dr. Craig Nazor is originally from Ashtabula, Ohio, but has been a resident of Austin, Texas for 36 years. He has a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, and he has composed, performed, and taught music for most of his life. However, he is also a dedicated environmentalist; that work began when he was in high school, living on the shores of Lake Erie. His past positions include President of a Louisiana Audubon Chapter, Education Director on the board of the Alexandria Zoo, and Horticulture Consultant for the Hartman Prehistoric Garden at Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas. More recently, he has been very active on conservation issues with the Sierra Club, Austin Regional Group, and most recently, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. He is the current Conservation Chair of the Lone Star Chapter. In the spring of 2023, he assisted the State Sierra Club Conservation Director, Dr. Cyrus Reed, in lobbying at the Texas State Legislature for improvements to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, advocating for more state parks, speaking out against rapid Space X expansion in the Rio Grande Valley, defending the Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Program at Padre Island National Seashore, advocating for fixing the Texas electrical grid, supporting renewable fuels, defending Texas wildlife, protecting Texas water, and fighting Climate Change.

DIVE DEEPER!

• Explore Wanted! Mountain Cedars by Elizabeth McGreevy. She explains in authoritative detail how we can reimagine the benefits of Mountain Cedars to our aquifers and valued springs.
• Why I Wrote a Book About Mountain Cedars by Elizabeth McGreevy - Hill Country Conservancy.
• Gov. Abbott Vetoes Energy Efficiency Building Codes Bill, Sierra Club.
• Check out the Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club. You will find 2024 endorsements, events and blog.
• Read more about the Grasslands Keystone Initiative.
• Find out more from the Texas Legislative Recap from the Sierra Club Lobby Team.
• Always your resource for voting information: Vote411.org, the user-friendly database developed by the League to get answers fast. To do a deep dive of your own, learn more about what’s going on in Texas government.

On episode 2, Lone Star Deep Dive, host Tonya Kleuskens and co-host Mark Nair, talk with Susybelle Gosslee about her experience as the League of Women Voters Texas State Hazardous Waste Chair, her founding of Our Friends Place, a home for girls with little or no personal support, and why she feels it is important for every citizen to vote.

Susybelle Gosslee is a member of the League of Women Voters of Dallas. She has served as President for three terms and been chair of numerous committees. She is currently chair of the LWVD Education Committee.

Susybelle was on the LWVTX board a number of years ago. She currently serves as issue chair for Hazardous Waste and Nuclear Waste and Capital Punishment Issue Chair for LWVTX.

Susybelle was part of the advocacy for the last 20 years to stop high-level radioactive waste coming to Texas. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the fall of 2023 that no waste will be coming to and through Texas to Andrews County in West Texas to a temporary storage facility.

On this first-ever episode of the new podcast, Lone Star Deep Dive, host Tonya Kleuskens sits down with the current co-presidents of the Amarillo League of Women Voters to check in on what’s going on with the organization during an important election year. Michelle Hoggatt and Jenny Inzerillo discuss the upcoming primary, the importance of the Nonpartisan Voters Guides and Candidate Forums, and the League’s concerted efforts to “Get Out the Vote” in 2024. They also discuss some of the projects on which the League is working, including their new Civics 101 course, the 2024 Youth Voter Registration Project, and maternal morbidity & mortality interventions.