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:

Picture of the earth

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.

> Register free for the Wednesday lecture

> Register free for the Thursday lecture

picture of a bird

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.

> Register free for the Wednesday lecture

> Register free for the Thursday lecture

A scenic of the colorado river

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.

> Register free for the Wednesday lecture

> Register free for the Thursday lecture

image of a mountain biker

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.

> Register free for the Wednesday Lecture

> Register free for the Thursday lecture

man lighting the ground on fire for fire control

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.

> Register free for the Wednesday lecture

> Register free for the Thursday lecture

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