Hannah joined WSCC most recently from High Country News where she served as the Donor Stewardship Manager, and previously worked in botanical science for thirteen years leading the New York Botanical Garden’s Conservation GIS program, as well as consulted for national and international organizations such as the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia. Hannah has long admired and appreciated the mission of WSCC, and served as the organization’s Watershed Stewardship Committee chairperson, River Fest Coordinator, and project consultant. Hannah’s roots in the North Fork Valley were planted over 30 years ago when her family moved here and started an organic garlic farm, and it was here that her love and appreciation of agriculture, the outdoors, and science grew strong. Hannah holds a B.A. in Biology from Colorado College and an M.A. in Conservation Biology from Columbia University. After many years in NYC, she is happy to call the mountains of Colorado home again. She and her daughter enjoy tending their small farm (including a flock of chickens, two bunnies, and an extra sweet cat), being in nature, traveling and all things art.
You can reach out to Hannah here.
Jake has been an integral part of WSCC since he moved to the North Fork valley in 2015. Jake has a long history and passion for all things rivers, wetlands, and watersheds and was the director of WSCCs watershed stewardship program from 2016-2023. During that time Jake oversaw the completion of the River Park master plan, managed the River Watch water sampling program, spearheaded WSCC’s river advocacy campaigns, engaged local stakeholders in long-range river planning, and implemented many habitat restoration projects within the North Fork and lower Gunnison river watersheds. Jake started his own ecosystem consulting and habitat restoration business in 2023, but will be working part time this winter and spring to continue WSCC’s vision for watershed stewardship through new partnerships and programming.
Contact Jake at [email protected].
Michael Wurzel joins WSCC with a variety of experience in nonprofit work, sustainability, and land conservation and management. He has worked diligently to protect and enhance the environment in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Colorado. While at Summit County Open Space and Trails, he worked with many local, regional, state and national partners on the Swan River Restoration project, converting more than 2 miles of mining impacted river and valley into a functional stream and uplands ecosystem, in additional to overseeing volunteer trail and restoration projects, installing beaver deceivers and doing mine reclamation work to improve water quality. After a few years in Boulder working on climate action at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Michael is happy to return to the Western Slope with his little family. He is excited to be part of WSCC because the organization has a long history of protecting fresh water, wildlife habitat and scenic lands in the gorgeous North Fork Valley. Michael graduated from the University of the South-Sewanee, Tennessee, where his studies emphasized Environmental Policy. He earned a Master’s degree in Biological and Environmental science at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Contact Michael at [email protected]
We are very excited to welcome our new VISTA, Sarah, to the WSCC team! Sarah joined the Western Slope Conservation Center in October, 2024 as the Conservation Legacy AmeriCorps VISTA. She grew up in Southern Indiana but has spent a lot of time on the western slope visiting her grandmother in Palisade since she was a little girl. In Palisade, she greatly enjoyed helping out by picking peaches and cherries and helping her grandmother sell fruit at the farmers market. Sarah graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in 2022 with a degree in History and minors in Spanish and Media Communications. Before joining WSCC she worked with WNIN Tri-State Public Media, a PBS and NPR affiliate station in Southern Indiana as an event coordinator. Sarah enjoys gardening, skiing, and painting in her free time. She is looking forward to getting to know Paonia and beginning her service as a steward and advocate for public lands and wildlife.
Contact Sarah at [email protected]
Heidi Hudek is an entrepreneur, a creative, and a mother. She owns her own business as a Bookkeeper, and is a professional musician and photographer. Heidi is a community advocate and connoisseur of locally grown foods. Heidi has been a Bookkeeper for various organizations for 4 years, including retail, restaurant, and design businesses, and she specializes in non-profits. She has been Treasurer, Secretary, and Executive Director of three nonprofits, and has been a Bookkeeper for six nonprofits. While raising her son as a single mom, Heidi has lived in Delta County since 2005. She sees the North Fork Valley as an inspirational place, worthy of celebration. She enjoys cooking at home with locally grown foods and values the land and water we enjoy here. Heidi works to build community connections and collaboration, and to provide arts education for kids.
Elizabeth has an extensive background in environmental science, GIS, and project and team management having worked for both the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Geological Survey as a GIS Specialist, the National Watershed Boundary Dataset Product Owner, and more recently as a Scrum Master of the National Water Information System. Elizabeth grew up in Paonia on an organic garlic farm fostering her passions for wildlife, stargazing, healthy soils and waters, and sustainable agriculture. Farm life taught her that humans survive and thrive when all life systems survive and thrive and is so grateful to have the opportunity to contribute towards the WSCC’s mission. She is currently based in Conifer with her partner, son, and their flock of chickens with the hopes of someday returning to Paonia. In her free time, Elizabeth loves hiking, metalsmithing fine silver jewelry, selling wholesale art products nationwide, and reading anything relating to the interconnectedness of humans, the lands and wildlife that sustain us, and the universe as a whole.
Contact Elizabeth at [email protected]
