​​Lynn has spent her career in natural resources management in Colorado, initially working with the National Park Service at Dinosaur National Monument. Her academic background is in biology and science education. Since the mid-1990's, she has worked as a plant ecologist with the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department, specializing in grassland ecology. At both Dinosaur National Monument and City of Boulder, her work has included rare plant monitoring, habitat management, native plant community monitoring and mapping, and comprehensive natural area management planning.

India is an explorer, writer and speaker, and business woman. She backpacked her own route across Colorado’s plains, mountains, and sagebrush steppe in a 1,470-mile X. The expedition required India to build collaborative relationships with ranchers, farmers, CPW, the State Land Board, USFS, and BLM. She is an avid self-taught naturalist, field volunteer with DMNS paleontology, and nature restoration crew leader and past board member at Wildlands Restoration Volunteers. She earned an MBA in strategic management from MIT.

Jill Handwerk brings over 25 years of expertise in the conservation of Colorado’s rare and imperiled plant species. Since joining the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) in 1996, she has played a central role in advancing plant conservation statewide, serving as the Botany Team Lead for more than 15 years. Jill was the lead author of the Rare Plant Addendum to the 2015 Colorado Wildlife Action Plan and has led numerous research and monitoring projects. She organized and led the annual Colorado Rare Plant Symposia from 2004-2022, bringing together numerous partners including federal, state and local government agencies, regional herbaria, and volunteer organizations to further the conservation and knowledge of Colorado’s flora. Jill holds a B.S. in Horticulture from Colorado State University and an M.S. in Agriculture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Steve Armstead is a Pollinator Conservation and Nature-Based Climate Solutions Specialist for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation working in Colorado. His work focuses on efforts to coordinate, manage and create high quality, connected, climate-resilient pollinator habitat. Steve has been working with the City of Boulder on their pollinator conservation and nature-based climate initiatives, while also exploring ways to expand and leverage support for pollinator conservation and climate solution efforts throughout the region. He has extensive experience working in natural lands management, environmental planning, and community engagement through his three-decade career with the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department working as a ranger naturalist, environmental planner, and deputy director. Steve holds a Master’s Degree in Museum and Field Studies from the University of Colorado – Boulder (2003), where he studied and surveyed butterflies and he has remained an active butterfly enthusiast. Steve recently co-authored the Colorado Native Pollinating Insects Health Study for the Department of Natural Resources, leading the assessment and development of best management practices.

Josie has extensive experience in public service. She served more than 20 years (1995-2017) as CEO and President of the Community Foundation for Boulder County and was a Boulder County Commissioner (1982-1990). She was a founder of the Mile High Youth Corps and the former assistant to the director of the White House Office of National Service for establishment of Americorps in 1993. In the mid-1990s, she was a teaching fellow at the Kennedy School and served as a consultant for Harvard University's Project Liberty that provided leadership programs for locally elected officials in Central and Eastern Europe. She was the Colorado Democratic 1990 and 1992 candidate for United States Senate. Josie has been the recipient of many local and national service awards, including being inducted into the Colorado Womens Hall fo Fame.

Jay Tutchton is the Preserve Manager for the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) based in Bent County, Colorado. He spends his days managing SPLT’s reintroduced bison herd and improving its 32,000-acre network of protected lands for the benefit of all native wildlife species. Together with SPLT, Tutchton strives to persuade people to fall in love with the lesser-known half of Colorado, the prairie, and join the organization in restoring a small portion of what has been aptly termed a lost “American Serengeti.”

Born in Arapahoe County, at a time when it was a much more rural area, Tutchton grew up playing outside and became captivated by the idea of protecting nature from rapidly expanding urban sprawl. He only willingly left the state to attend college and law school, at the University of Notre Dame and UCLA respectively, graduating with honors from both institutions, and then promptly returning home to protect the wild creatures and places he enjoyed as a child.

As a lawyer Tutchton spent 27 years litigating in the Federal Court system throughout the United States, typically representing environmental organizations and individuals seeking to protect the environment. Tutchton also helped to start the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law and has taught a variety of courses on Wildlife, Animal, and Environmental Law. Among his greatest joys is introducing young lawyers to the possibilities of pursuing careers advocating for wildlife protection and a clean environment.

An avid outdoor recreationist, and one committed to taking the road less traveled, Tutchton hopes to ensure that less-traveled paths remain available to future generations and that Colorado becomes the best state in the country to be a wild animal.