Colorado Open Lands
Where Are the Fellows Now?
Since January 1999, we have “graduated” seven Fellows and an eighth, Juniper Katz, is close on their heels. All our Fellows have moved on to exciting positions with local, statewide, and national non-profits and government agencies. We wanted to share with you what they have each been up to since their ‘graduation.’
JOHN CARNEY (January 1999 - June 2000)
John was the first graduate of the Fellowship Program, taking a position as Land Protection Specialist with Ducks Unlimited after only 1 ½ years as a Fellow. He worked in the field on conservation real estate transactions across Colorado with Ducks Unlimited for two years before being hired as the first full-time Executive Director of the newly formed Colorado Water Trust in 2002. In addition, John has served as a member of the first Water Leaders course sponsored by the Colorado Foundation for Water Education and has served on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts for the past five years.
CHRISTINE (EARLEY) STRICKLAND (January 1999 – December 2000)
As Christine approached the completion of her Fellowship, a few projects of hers were still in full swing and administrative management of the Fellowship Program was requiring more time and focus of the other staff. Christine was asked to stay on after her Fellowship as a permanent staff member to complete her active projects, manage the Fellowship Program, and work with Director of Development, Cheryl Fox, on grant-writing. In the past six years, Christine has juggled responsibilities at Colorado Open Lands as Fellowship Program Manager, Land Protection Specialist, and Development Assistant, and is now phasing into more full-time development work.
SCOTT WILBER (March 2000 – February 2002)
After leaving Colorado Open Lands, Scott worked as a Project Manager with the Trust for Public Land from 2002 – 2004 in their Northern Rockies Field Office. Scott worked on some of the largest working forest conservation easements in the Pacific Northwest with Plum Creek Timber and Potlatch Timber and helped conserve 25,000 acres of land in Montana and the same number in Idaho. In March 2004, he was hired at the New Mexico Land Conservancy as the Conservation Director managing the organization’s land conservation and stewardship programs. Scott was more recently named Executive Director in April 2006.
DIETER ERDMANN (April 2000 – January 2002)
As Dieter neared the completion of his Fellowship training, Elizabeth Richardson was also approaching retirement after running Colorado Open Lands’ Stewardship Program for the previous ten years. With a significant gap in our staff resources looming on the horizon, Dieter was asked to join Colorado Open Lands as a permanent staff member and take over our Stewardship Program. A year later, a more permanent Stewardship Director was hired, and Dieter happily began devoting 100% of his time and energy on the preservation of the South Park Basin. After implementing a $3.5 million Great Outdoors Colorado Legacy Grant for South Park, Dieter is now shifting some of his time towards our rapidly growing conservation work in Delta County and along the South Platte.
PATRICK MALONE (January 2001 – July 2002)
After finishing his term in the Fellowship Program, Patrick took a position with Boulder County Parks & Open Space as a Natural Resource Planner. For the next 3½ years, he worked with Boulder County developing land management plans for County open space properties and trail plans with local communities. He also conducted environmental reviews of proposed developments. Then in early 2006, Patrick found a position with the Lakewood office of the National Park Service. In his new position as Natural Resource Specialist/Planner, he works and travels across the country assisting national park units with developing management plans, environmental impact statements, and other planning documents.
KENDRA (KINSCHERF) ETRE (October 2002 – July 2004)
After her Fellowship, Kendra moved from the mountains of Colorado into the heart of urban life in Boston, Massachusetts to pursue a law degree at Boston University School of Law. Along with her law studies, Kendra has kept in touch with environmental, land use, and land trust events through internships at a small law firm, an environmental law nonprofit, Habitat for Humanity, and the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture. After her graduation in May 2007, she hopes to work in a medium-sized law firm in real estate and land use and says “ultimately, I hope to make my way back to Colorado Open Lands!”
BRIAN OCEPEK (June 2004 – June 2006)
Brian is our most recent graduate. As a Fellow, Brian was an integral part of getting our partnerships and conservation efforts up and running along the South Platte. After a short stint as a private land conservation consultant for both Colorado Open Lands and the Trust for Public Land, Brian is now working full time for us again as a Land Protection Specialist. Colorado Open Lands has been fortunate to have Brian continue our exciting land conservation work in our South Platte and newly-formed North Fork Valley Conservation Areas. His prior experience in both these areas has meant a seamless transition for him back in these communities.
Please read the associated article about the Fellowship Program here.
To return to the main page of the Fellowship program, please go here.