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STAFF BIOS
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Allison holds a BS in Geophysical
Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines as well as an MBA in
Marketing from the University of Phoenix. At Mines, she completed
coursework offered by the Department of Ecology and Environmental
Sciences, curricula that earned the United Nations Outstanding Environmental
Leadership Award. As part of more than twenty years of corporate and
nonprofit experience, she spent twelve years abroad living in Nigeria,
Vietnam, and Venezuela before returning to Durango.
Before joining the
DNS staff, Allison
was a long-time
DNS volunteer and
board member who
routinely served
as a trainer for
new volunteers and
served a stint
as the Board President.
She has extensive
experience in organizational
development and leadership,
marketing and fundraising,
and
project
management.
Allison has
served on numerous nonprofit boards in Durango
and abroad, and was a member of the 2006 Steering Committee for the Southwest
Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days.
Outside of DNS, Allison
and her kids thrive
on skiing, camping,
hiking, rafting,
and an occasional international
foray in search
of a
scuba
diving adventures.
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Allison |
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Sally holds an MA
in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico and,
for six years, was the development director and acting
director of the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies,
an environmental law and policy nonprofit in Boulder,
CO. She worked as an environmental
educator at the Keystone Science School, Calwood Environmental
Education Center, Colorado Youth Program, and National
Wildlife Federation.
That said, folks
are hearing more music around the office and in
the field now that Sally has joined the staff.
As a nationally recognized singer/songwriter with
three CDs to her credit, Sally's recent release
charted on the folk charts (For more info about
Sally's music life, visit www.sallyshuffield.com)
Sally's duties with DNS includes the WildWords Series, Volunteer Naturalist
Program, membership, donor management, program scheduling, and community communications.
Outside of DNS,
Sally and her husband,
Mike Matz, and son Carson enjoy camping, rafting, and traveling.
On her own, Sally spends time running,
biking, skiing, doing
yoga, and reading.
Email Sally
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A seasoned DNS contract educator and summer camp
coordinator, Gretchen brings to the role of Program
Manager her passion for working with
children, playing outside, and her work experiences
as a youth counselor and outdoor educator.
Raised in Atlanta, GA, Gretchen relocated to
Durango in 2001 where she completed her undergraduate studies at Fort
Lewis College. A National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) trip to Australia
in 2005 led Gretchen to believe she would be happiest working with children
in
an outdoor,
hands-on
setting. Since then, she has worked as an outdoor
educator across
the
Four Corners
including many years with Colvig Silver Camps. Gretchen is a Leave No Trace
Instructor and a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Email Gretchen
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Growing up in the mountains of Pennsylvania, Courtney learned at a young age the importance of connecting to the environment through education, play, and living. By completing her Bachelors Degree in Communication, she joined AmeriCorps as a VISTA member to reach out to non-profit organizations that could use a helping hand in helping their communities.
With her studies focusing on videography, journalism, and sociology, and her extracurricular activities in volunteering, disk jockeying for her campus radio station and working on the finance, social planning, and public relations committees for her Student Government Association, Courtney was eager to apply what she learned in the working world. By working with Durango Nature Studies, Courtney will be focusing on volunteer recruitment and retention and fundraising development. In her free time, Courtney enjoys hiking, biking, tubing, reading, making hula hoops and cooking.
Email
Courtney
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In her role with DNS, Karen combines two of her favorite ways to spend her time - teaching children and being outdoors. She started as a DNS volunteer naturalist in 1995 with her youngest in a backpack.
Karen's love of nature
and teaching comes
from her time exploring
the woods along Lake
Michigan as a child. Those experiences have served Karen well
and she is passionate
that every child
has an opportunity
to connect with nature. "I
feel privileged to
share a special part
of the Four Corners
with our students,"
said Karen. "The best part about what I do is spending
the whole day in
wonder."
Karen has a background that includes camp counselor, teacher, ski instructor, river guide, and master gardener. She holds a Colorado teaching certificate and a Masters in Education.
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Gail might say she is simply
a retired educator with just a bit more than 25 years
of experience in the education field, but that would
hardly suffice. An active community volunteer,
she is the co-founder of the Durango
Early Learning Center as well as a member of the
Durango Choral Society and Heartwood Co-Housing
Community.
Gail is a current
DNS
Volunteer Naturalist and certified Project WILD facilitator.
In January 2006, Gail retired from the DNS Board
of Directors after serving more than six years.
Her roles and responsibilities spanned the breadth
of the organization including Board President. She
continues
to lend her
expertise
to DNS as as an
educator and volunteer.
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Raised in rural Colorado,
Mary enjoys working as
a seasonal educator and
lead naturalist as well
as working with the Eco
Home Center of Durango,
which offers sustainable
finish materials for
ecological home interiors
and building systems.
Before moving to
Durango in the summer
of '07, Mary worked
with EarthLinks,
a Denver nonprofit offering experiential Earth education to people
living
on the margins of
the inner-city. One
project included
BioBox which partnered inner-city classrooms with a rural classrooms.
Each classroom learned
about the other bioregion
and shared learnings
with their "BioBuddies."
Mary is the founder
of and is a long-time volunteer with the Sierra Club's
Lifestyle/Education
Committee, which seeks to educate the public about sustainable
living choices. She also coordinates Discussion
Circles in ecological
topics. With a masters degree in communications,
Mary also lectures and facilitates workshops in Voluntary Simplicity,
Ecological Ethics, Eco-Living, Sustainability, Deep Ecology, Bioregionalism,
Ecopsychology and Earth Literacy.
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