Meet Our Team

You can often find us at our offices in the Third Street Center in Carbondale. But more often, you’ll find us out of the office – getting to know the landscapes where we work, meeting with community members, advocating with decision-makers, or throwing fun and educational events. If you’re unsure of which team member to reach out to, send an email to info@wildernessworkshop.org or give us a ring: 970-963-3977.

Will Roush, Executive Director

Will first joined Wilderness Workshop to inventory lands for citizen wilderness proposals, then worked as an organizer and advocate for efforts to designate new wilderness and protect the Thompson Divide. He went on to conduct outreach and advocacy for WW’s federal lands policy work, organized the popular Naturalist Nights winter speaker series, started the restoration program, and led our advocacy work to move water rights for dams on Castle and Maroon Creeks. Will served as Conservation Director for four years before becoming Executive Director in 2018. Today, Will leads an amazing team and collaborates with staff to determine and execute conservation priorities and programs, raise funds for the organization, and oversees its community and outreach programs. A native of the Roaring Fork Valley, he has a Master’s in Geography and Environmental Science examining the impact of climate change on alpine ecosystems.

Email Will to discuss collaborating with WW, landscape conservation opportunities, and tips for getting your children on your skis early.

Jennifer Balmes, Marketing and Philanthropy Manager

Jennifer brings a strong background in nonprofit marketing and organizational-level creative communications, with experience developing thoughtful strategies that support mission-driven outreach, donor engagement, and community connection. With a professional background in graphic design and creative communications, she has supported fellow local nonprofit organizations in strengthening visibility, storytelling, and meaningful relationships with supporters. Originally from Campeche, Mexico—a small fishing town on the Gulf of Mexico—Jennifer immigrated to Denver, Colorado, with her family at age 16. This experience shaped her deep appreciation for community, access, and belonging, values that continue to guide her work today. Jennifer has called the Roaring Fork Valley home since 2010. Outside of work, she enjoys fly fishing, backpacking, rafting, skiing, yoga, cooking, and spending time outdoors—activities that reflect her strong connection to the landscapes and public lands that make this region special.

Email Jennifer to learn how creative communications engage our community and where she finds quiet moments on local trails.

Michael Gorman, Campaign Director

Michael manages WW’s campaigns to protect public lands and waters. Prior to joining the Workshop, he spent over a decade working on conservation education and advocacy programs with the nonprofit EcoFlight, based in Aspen. He organized strategic overflight missions and explored Western public lands from an aerial perspective, helping dozens of organizations advance their conservation efforts by bringing together diverse stakeholders on public lands issues. Michael grew up in the Roaring Fork Valley – where you can still find him hiking and skiing the mountains and boating local rivers – and is passionate about working with the local community to protect the lands and waters that helped shape the passionate advocate he is today.

Email Michael to discuss the latest on our campaigns to protect the Thomspon Divide or the Homestake Valley. He’s also got suggestions on when to raft the Crystal River.

Peter Hart, Legal Director

Peter is the point person for WW’s defensive work, primarily related to the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition to leading WW’s work to protect the Thompson Divide, his docket also includes reviewing proposed actions like oil and gas lease sales, agency rule changes, timber projects, and recreational developments impacting public lands. He files technical comments on Environmental Impact Statements and works with outside counsel on legal actions. A native of Vail, Peter earned a law degree and master’s degree in environmental law from the University of Denver. He clerked for the water rights division of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, worked on endangered species claims at the University of Denver Environmental Law Clinic, and worked on toxic tort litigation at a Denver law firm. He enjoys riding his bike and spending time with his family, including raising two young boys with an appreciation for the great outdoors.

Email Peter to discuss public participation in agency decision-making, how to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, or to hear about his favorite roadless area.

Alejandro ‘Jando‘ Jaquez-Caro, Latino Community Organizer

Jando oversees Wilderness Workshop’s Defiende Nuestra Tierra program, including engaging the Latino community in WW’s work to protect our public lands. A first-generation Mexican-American from Garfield County, Alejandro developed a deep love for the outdoors and is committed to making outdoor experiences accessible to those who may not yet have discovered the trails right in their own backyards. His fascination with the natural world led him to earn a degree in geology from Colorado Mesa University. Before joining WW, Alejandro worked as an admissions representative at Colorado Mountain College, helping students from diverse backgrounds navigate the path to higher education. His dedication to education also took him abroad, where he taught in South Korea, before returning to Colorado to coordinate a youth conservation program in Boulder. Outside of work, Alejandro enjoys fishing in local waters, exploring new trails, and visiting panaderías.

Email Jando to explore ways to get involved with the Defiende Nuestra Tierra Program, check out trails highlighted in Camino Latino, or for suggestions on the best fishing holes in the Colorado River Valley.

Soren Jespersen, Colorado Wildlands Project Director

Soren has spent his entire professional career working to improve management of America’s public lands. Before joining the Colorado Wildlands Project in 2021, Soren worked at The Wilderness Society, where he focused on administrative and legislative campaigns to safeguard BLM lands. Prior to that, his work concentrated on river and watershed protection with Friends of the River in California.

Deeply committed to his local community, Soren serves on the Routt County Recreation Roundtable and has held the position of President of the Board for Friends of the Yampa. He dedicates significant time to fieldwork, exploring and documenting the conditions of unprotected BLM wildlands in Colorado.

Originally from Utah, Soren has made the Yampa Valley his home since 2009.

Email Soren to learn more about the Colorado Wildlands Project and its work protecting Colorado’s public lands.

Emily Kay, Philanthropy Director

Emily oversees Wilderness Workshop’s philanthropy program, including major gifts, grants, donor communications, sponsorships, and fundraising events. She loves sharing updates our work to protect wilderness, water and wildlife with WW’s passionate community of supporters. Emily has worked with and volunteered for nonprofits for over a decade, and learns a lot from opportunities to partner with many other nonprofits in the Roaring Fork Valley. Before joining WW Emily was Development Officer at Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation, where she worked on the hospital’s $60 million capital campaign. Emily sought higher elevation and sunnier days not long after graduating from Cornell University in upstate New York. When she’s not busy talking about public lands campaigns Emily is usually outside playing with WW Watchdog Miley, spending time with local family members, or enjoying endless recreation opportunities from her front door.

Email Emily to discuss ways to support WW’s work, why you should attend the best benefit in town (Wild Feast, of course!), or for suggestions on mountain biking trails.

Bridger Langfur, Community Organizer

Bridger engages the community for Wilderness Workshop’s public land protection initiatives. Prior to joining our team Bridger worked as a community organizer in San Diego for a decade. He has served as appointed staff for elected officials consistently prioritizing environmental justice and conservation. Bridger is originally from Carbondale but has spent most of his life traveling outside of the valley. Now that he has returned he enjoys meditating next to the river banks and beneath old trees. He plays music and sings constantly when he’s not working each an aspect of his commitment to community cohesion.

Email Bridger to learn about the ways in which you too can become a superstar activist for public lands.

Katie MacKnight, Wilderness Monitoring Technician

Katie partners with the USFS to oversee multiple decades-long air and water quality monitoring projects as the Wilderness Monitoring Technician for Wilderness Workshop.She has technical acumen in ecological restoration efforts across Colorado, ground and surface water quality monitoring in mine reclamation superfund sites near Leadville, CO, post-fire and fuels reduction vegetation studies in Eastern UT, and has worked as a Wildland firefighter in the Canyon Country Fire Zone based out of Moab, UT getting an up-close look at the ecological effects of wildfire on arid landscapes.

She attained a BS in Restoration Ecology and pursued graduate studies in Forestry/Wildland Fire Science, quantifying fuels biomass of Quercus gambellii (Gamble oak) while at Colorado State University. A resident of Leadville, CO, Katie spends winters teaching Avalanche Education across the Central Rockies and as Faculty for the Colorado Mountain College, Leadville Campus Avalanche Science Program, nerding out in Colorado’s complicated and often sensitive snowpack.

In her free time, she finds slow, restorative joy in renovating the 1880’s mining cabin she calls home and through exploration of the Arkansas/Roaring Fork River Valleys and beyond by ski, bike, and cataraft with her dogs Annie and Stella.

Email Katie to ask about her favorite trail—or which season she thinks shines the most across Colorado’s landscapes.

Sheehan Meagher, Outdoor Programs Coordinator

As a child, Sheehan learned to ski on the White River National Forest, and the forest was a place for him to heal and discover himself. He is super grateful to be able to join Wilderness Workshop as the Outdoor Programs Coordinator. Connecting various groups to the diverse, awe-inspiring landscapes within the Western Slope of Colorado is a dream of his. To foster a sense of reciprocity and advocacy for Colorado’s public spaces. Before joining WW, Sheehan earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Marketing from Colorado State University as well as an Associate in Environmental Science from Colorado Mountain College while working with the USFS’s White River National Forest in a variety of roles as a Rocky Mountain Land Stewardship Intern. When he isn’t planning and leading outdoor programs, he can be found mediating human-beaver conflicts in the valley, working for Roaring Fork Audubon, building a coalition of beaver believers. In addition to leading medicinal and edible plant walks in the Roaring Fork Valley, promoting native plant diversity at Eagle Crest Nursery, and rewilding his backyard to be a better steward of the web of life. He enjoys the mountains 14,000 feet up all the way down to the valley streams below, whether coasting on the winter coat or walking barefoot in the summer, or floating on its waters.

Email Sheehan to find your way into the field—join an outdoor program, explore new places, or connect with our public lands alongside the community.

Richard Mylott, Communications Manager

Rich coordinates strategic communications for Wilderness Workshop, focusing on media relations and public engagement. He enjoys translating the importance of WW’s projects and campaigns to protect natural systems for a wide range of audiences. Prior to joining WW, Rich led public affairs teams at the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Denver for more than 20 years, developing a passion for Western communities, public health and environmental protection, and a (now-fulfilled!) dream to work on behalf of wild landscapes across the state. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he studied history at the College of William and Mary and environmental policy at Indiana University and has been a proud Colorado resident since 1997. His wife and daughters are avid outdoors people who enjoy skiing, fishing, hiking, tennis and climbing the Manitou Incline.

Email Rich with media inquiries or to learn what’s new in the news at WW.

Beverly Patera, Operations Director

Beverly brings with her a strong background in finance and systems management, as well as an innate appreciation for the outdoors. With a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Marketing from Valdosta State University, she devoted an extra focus on small business operations and has applied those principles throughout her career managing restaurants, family businesses, and nonprofits. Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe and a resident of Carbondale since 2013, Beverly enjoys immersing herself in the beautiful surrounding landscapes, whether that be via hiking, skiing, biking, camping, or rafting with her husband and young daughter. She enthusiastically provides operational support to the meaningful and important work WW does protecting the public lands in her family’s backyard.

Email Beverly if you have questions about your membership or donation, want to learn about our annual events, or for her suggestions on the best places to float the Roaring Fork.

Erin Riccio, Advocacy Director

As Advocacy Director, Erin directs our community engagement and public advocacy efforts in support of WW’s conservation priorities; she is passionate about bringing communities together to advocate on behalf of our wild places and landscapes. Prior to working at WW, Erin spent several years working on public lands, water, and climate issues and supporting pro-conservation candidates as a community organizer for Conservation Colorado in communities across the Western Slope, including Grand Junction and the Roaring Fork Valley. She has also done conservation work internationally, including a year-long stint in Cusco, Peru. Originally from the Front Range, Erin has a BA in Environmental Studies from Gonzaga University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outside exploring the public lands she works to protect, primarily on skis.

Email Erin if you’re a community member who wants to take action for public lands, if you’re an elected official supporting conservation, or to join her trivia team.

Juli Slivka, Senior Director of Policy and Programs

Juli has dedicated her career to protecting Colorado’s wild public lands. She joined WW after spending more than a decade with The Wilderness Society, where she specialized in public lands policy, land management planning, and federal oil and gas issues. Juli directs WW’s programs for healthy forests and rivers, BLM wildlands, habitat conservation, responsible recreation, and wilderness stewardship. Through these campaigns, Juli collaborates with the talented team at WW, our local communities, conservation and recreation partners, land management agencies, and our elected officials. She is a Colorado native who grew up camping, skiing, hiking, and cultivating a love of all things wild in the White River National Forest.

Email Juli with questions about WW’s conservation priorities, to learn more about the intricacies of federal land management decisions, or to discuss the best BLM camping locations.