Adjunct Lecturer teaching Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production

Sawyer Environmental Services is a small business focused on habitat restoration and environmental consulting services located in Gunnison Colorado. Contact us for consulting services including sensitive habitat restoration; riparian habitat restoration; land management; ecosystem management; sustainable and resilient gardening and agriculture; wildland fire mitigation and protection; geographic information systems (GIS) analysis; environmental education; yard and landscape services; and home, building, and grounds maintenance. Sawyer Environmental Services believes in finding the nexus of ecosystem restoration, climate adaptation, socioeconomic vibrancy, and infrastructure renewal to promote successful projects. We aim to preserve fragile habitats, reconnect fragmented ecosystems, and restore degraded environments. How can we work together to promote ecosystem resiliency and enact landscape-level habitat restoration using low-tech natural infrastructure methods?Visit our website: www.sawyerenviro.com

Working in the Cupertino foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains to promote community safety and wild-land fire resilience.Badge #7

The Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District has partnered with the Bureau of Land Management Gunnison Field Office and Colorado Parks and Wildlife Gunnison Field Office to form an multi-agency crew focused on habitat restoration in the Gunnison Basin. As the Field Supervisor I get to work closely with technicians from each of these three agencies to support habitat restoration at a landscape scale through site analysis, invasive species mitigation, wildland fire resilience, and water resource protection.

Continuing work with the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Western Colorado Conservation Corps, students from Western Colorado University, and other public and private stakeholders to restore critical riparian and wetland habitat in Colorado's Gunnison Basin for the benefit of the threatened Gunnison sage-grouse. Activities include field surveys, restoration project planning, coordinating volunteers and Conservation Corps groups, assessing effectiveness of route closures, and assisting with natural resource management projects in the Gunnison Field Office.

Working with the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and other public and private stakeholders to restore critical riparian and wetland habitat in Colorado's Gunnison Basin for the benefit of the threatened Gunnison sage-grouse. Activities include field surveys, restoration project planning, coordinating volunteers and Conservation Corps groups, assessing effectiveness of route closures, and assisting with natural resource management projects in the Gunnison Field Office.

This is an advisory role where a graduate student works with the undergraduate student team working at the organic growing spaces on the campus of Western Colorado University. The Graduate Mentor helps students and interns learn about cold climate food systems and assists with special projects. Other duties include hiring Garden and Greenhouse Managers, managing the garden intern team, recruiting volunteers, ensuring communication between students, faculty, and community partners, and participating in garden activities including the weekly farmers market, harvesting, and plant tending.

The Garden Manager for the Chipeta Garden at Western Colorado University is responsible for overseeing all operations in the Chipeta Garden and the Pinnacles Food Forest. This position is the combination of a leadership role aimed at teaching students about cold-climate garden systems, organizing garden efforts, and maintaining Organics Guild growing spaces. The Garden Manager assists with the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, harvest, and will attend and staff the Organics Guild booth at the Gunnison Valley Farmer’s market every Saturday. As Manager I worked on a near-daily basis during the COVID-19 shutdown and pandemic to plan, prepare, plant, and maintain the garden spaces. Along with my team we produced food to aid in food security efforts for students and the community during the pandemic. Additional tasks for this position include educating students, club members, and interns about cold climate gardening, creating and updating yearly planting plans, using the hoophouse to extend the growing season, and maintaining the automated watering systems.

Worked with the Organics Guild team to design and build automated irrigation systems for the Chipeta Gardens and the Pinnacles Greenhouse. Worked with student interns to complete projects in the Chipeta garden, season extension projects in the hoophouse, and a living wall in Kelley Hall.

Worked with the Gunnison River Festival board to organize and plan educational events for the 2021 Gunnison River Festival. The 2021 Festival had a different look than years past due to COVID-19 and focused on small river safety and education activities throughout the Gunnison Valley instead of a large event at the Gunnison Whitewater Park. Over the course of four months sixteen river safety and educational workshops and events were planned for the weekend of June 11th.

Teaching Assistant for the ENVS 400 Capstone class. This class is a project-based class where graduating seniors draw on all of the classes in the Environment and Sustainability program to design and complete a service project that benefits the community and the school. Students also work on their professional development skills during this course as a way to prepare post-graduation plans. For this position I worked to mentor students as they designed and implemented their capstone projects, reviewed and provided feedback on written assignments, and helped improve student's resume-building and job search skills.

A seasonal position with with the Gunnison Field Office to assist with hydrologic resource and natural resource management. A major portion of this position was to gather data for Land Health Assessments in the Gunnison Basin. The Land Health Assessment process included inventorying springs, and conducting Proper Functioning Condition Assessments on springs and riparian habitats. Additional tasks included water quality monitoring of streams and creeks using a Hach FH950 Portable Flow Meter and YSI hand-held water quality meters, field assessments for the grazing permit renewal process, mesic meadow and riparian habitat restoration work, and vehicular travel route decommissioning assessments.

Over the course of the summer I worked with park rangers to complete necessary maintenance and operational tasks and with park staff and community members to discuss the future of park planning and expansion. At Sanborn and Stevens Creek County Parks I worked intensively in the field to map and implement the County Parks Field Emergency Response Plan. Also at Sanborn Park, I worked gathering data for the user satisfaction survey, helped with multiple public interpretive programs, and spent time on the Summit Rock Peregrine Falcon Monitoring Program. At Joseph D. Grant County Park I researched and developed a new design for prescribed burn interpretive signs.

Scanned class notes to assist the Western Colorado University Academic Resource Center in helping students understand course content.