Welcome to Naturalist Nights 2025!!
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Naturalist Nights is back for another season of learning, building community, and of course, our famous cookies and tea!
Each winter, our Naturalist Nights speaker series brings in experts to explore topics of the natural world with our community. This year’s topics range from the recreation impacts on public land to climate complicity, beavers, fire as a restoration tool, and tribal engagement in the Colorado River basin. The Naturalist Nights lecture series is a partnership with the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and the Roaring Fork Audubon.
Presentations are Wednesdays at 6 pm at the Community Hall in the Third Street Center in Carbondale and Thursdays at 6pm at the Pitkin County Library, except for the first presentation which will take place at the Limelight Hotel in Aspen. A recording of the Thursday lecture will be available after the event on our Youtube channel.
Registration for in-person presentations is greatly encouraged.
This winter’s line-up includes:
Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul
with Auden Schendler
Wednesday, January 8, 6 – 7pm | Carbondale
Thursday, January 9, 6 – 7pm | Aspen
Auden Schendler is SVP of Sustainability at Aspen One. He is author of the book Getting Green Done, and new this year, Terrible Beauty, Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul.
Beavers are for Birds
with Delia Malone
Wednesday, January 22, 6 – 7pm | Carbondale
Thursday, January 23, 6 – 7pm | Aspen
Delia Malone is Ecologist, Colorado Natural Heritage Program and volunteer vice-chair Roaring Fork Audubon.
Tribal Engagement in the Colorado River Basin
with Celene Hawkins and Izabella Ruffino
Wednesday, February 5, 6 – 7pm | Carbondale
Thursday, February 6, 6 – 7pm | Aspen
Celene Hawkins is the Tribal Water Partnerships Program Director at The Nature Conservancy. Izabella Ruffino is the Tribal & Indigenous Engagement Manager at The Nature Conservancy.
Wildland Recreation and Ecological Disturbance: Recreation and Public Land Management Implications for Western Colorado
with Christopher Monz
Wednesday, February 19, 6 – 7pm | Carbondale
Thursday, February 20, 6 – 7pm | Aspen
Christopher Monz, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Environment and Society and The Ecology Center at Utah State University.
Untrammeling the Wilderness: Restoring Natural Conditions Through the Return of Human-ignited Fire
with Clare Boerigter and Jonathan Coop
Wednesday, March 5, 6 – 7pm | Carbondale
Thursday, March 6, 6 – 7pm | Aspen
Clare Boerigter is a Wilderness Fire Research Fellow for the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. Jonathan Coop is a Professor of Environment and Sustainability at Western Colorado University.
Naturalist Nights is supported by:
Photo credits: Image 1: Kevin Gill, via Flickr, Image 2: Shenandoah National Park, via Flickr, Image 3: Rory Doyle/Courtesy TNC, Image 4: Zach Dischnew, via Flickr, Image 5: US Fish and Wildlife Service, via Flickr