Jerry Lee Ainsworth
Jerry Lee Ainsworth was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Jerry holds a Bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Mississippi College School of Law. He is excited to use his passion for Southeastern communities to help the Alabama Trails Foundation as the Community Liaison along the Pinhoti Trail. He enjoys spending his free time hiking and exploring the scenic areas of Central and Eastern Alabama with his wife and dog.
Kate Mullen
Kate Mullen serves as GIS and Pinhoti project support for the Alabama Trails Foundation. She is from the wonderful state of Texas but finds herself feeling more at home here in Birmingham, AL where she spends her time gardening, enjoying live music with friends, and “zenning” out on the yoga mat. Although she is a homebody, she is always ready for an adventure with good people, good food, and good music….and dogs.
Jacob Richards
Jacob Richards serves as the GIS Data Manager for the ATF, where he finds joy collecting, sorting, organizing, and visualizing data. Born in the hills of Tennessee, graduating from the University of Alabama, a stint in Minneapolis, deployments in disaster recovery from Napa to Puerto Rico, and currently living in ever sunny Albuquerque, he is able to find pleasure in all landscapes and climates. Jacob spends most of his time taking care of REDACTED NUMBER of cats and gardening. He loves to spend time hiking on any quiet trail, and is a FAA drone pilot so often is seen capturing reality from a birds eye view. In his free time, you will almost always find Jacob listening to the Grateful Dead near one of his many Que smokers and grills bringing southern food and smiles to the southwest.
DeForest Tuggle
DeForest will be serving as an AmeriCorp VISTA with the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development to build support for outdoor recreation in small communities flanking the Pinhoti Trail. She is currently a graduate student at Auburn University studying Natural Resource Management.
DeForest was born and raised in central Alabama and earned an undergraduate degree from Auburn University. She enjoys hiking and backpacking and has completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and the Alabama Section of the Pinhoti Trail. She is a member of the Alabama Hiking Trail Society and served as the volunteer caretaker on Flagg Mountain during the spring of 2021.
Joe Watts
Growing up on a farm in rural Southwest Alabama, Joe’s interest in the outdoors started early, with his mother carrying him into the deep woods long before he could walk. He has been active in web development and social media management for over 20 years, and a writer for many more.
As a volunteer, he has served on the Alabama Audubon board since 2015, and as President for three of those years. He also serves as a board member on the National Audubon Society, representing six southeastern states, and Birdability, a newly created nationwide organization devoted to making birding and the outdoors accessible to every body.
Joe lives with his wife, Ann, and three indoor cats in the historic Highland Park neighborhood of Birmingham. Ask him about birds. Prepare to listen for a bit…