On Jan. 8 and 9, the highly anticipated Naturalist Nights, an annual winter speaker series spotlighting critical environmental topics pertinent to the Roaring Fork Valley, commences. In a collaborative effort between Wilderness Workshop, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and Roaring Fork Audubon, the series will feature five experts who will discuss pressing conversations such as tribal engagement in the Colorado River basin, recreation’s impact on public lands and fire as a restoration tool.
Each speaker will present twice: once on a Wednesday at Carbondale’s Third Street Center and again on the following Thursday at the Pitkin County Library, with the exception of the first speaker who will present his second lecture at the Limelight Hotel in Aspen. All lectures start at 6pm. Light refreshments will be provided by Two Leaves and a Bud and Bonfire Coffee. The entire series is free to attend.
“Naturalist Nights has been going on for over two decades, which goes to show the incredible support this program has had and how much the community enjoys it, ” said Erin Riccio, Wilderness Workshop’s advocacy director. “The goal is to bring a really great line-up of different experts to explore topics of the natural world that are relevant to our community.”
For the 2025 series, the three nonprofits have chosen speakers who are sure to engage audiences and provoke thoughtful discussions, and even action. The series will kick-off in January with a lecture by Auden Schendler, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen One and author of “Getting Green Done” and “Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul.” During the hour-long presentation, Schendler will challenge the effectiveness of modern day environmentalism underscoring complicity and forlorn behaviors. Ever the forward thinker, Schendler will also present an inspiring solution that could elicit change at the corporate, community and individual levels.
Following Schendler, well-respected Naturalist Nights speaker Delia Malone will present on Jan. 22 and 23 to discuss the decline of North American bird populations and how beavers can actually reverse this reduction.
“Delia is a frequent flyer,” laughed Riccio. “We hosted her a few years ago to talk about the great knowledge she has on a particular ancient wetlands. I’m really excited to have her again this year talking about a completely different topic she has expertise on regarding bird habitat and beavers.”
Emphasizing the need to engage and represent all voices in conservation efforts, Celene Hawkins and Izabella Ruffino of The Nature Conservancy are scheduled on Feb. 5 and 6 to present “Tribal Engagement in the Colorado River Basin.” Hawkins, the director of the conservancy’s Colorado River Tribal Partnerships Program, and Ruffino, its Tribal and Indigenous Engagement manager, will share that 30 Tribal Nations hold nearly 25% of the Basin’s senior water rights and bring critical leadership and insight to the future of water in Colorado.
“This is a really important topic on everyone’s minds — especially in our community, considering we are at the headwaters of the Colorado River,” said Riccio. “I think, to solve the problem of over-allocation of the Colorado River and how we manage our water with climate change, it’s really important we hear all perspectives including Tribal Nations who use this water.”
On Feb. 19 and 20, Christopher Monz, professor of Recreation Ecology and Management at Utah State University will present “Wildland Recreation and Ecological Disturbance: Recreation and Public Land Management Implications for Western Colorado.”
Monz, an internationally recognized expert in his field, will investigate the delicate balance between outdoor recreation and its ecological impact. Riccio noted that this lecture is sure to pique the interests of many outdoor enthusiasts in the Valley.
The series will wrap up on March 5 and 6 with “Untrammeling the Wilderness: Restoring Natural Conditions Through the Return of Human-ignited Fire,” presented by Clare Boerigter, a wilderness fire research fellow at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, and Jonathan Coop, professor of environment and sustainability at Western Colorado University. Together they will explore how human-
ignited fires may help restore fire-adapted wilderness and support ecocultural restoration efforts by Indigenous peoples.
“Sharing this knowledge with the public is really important because we become stronger environmental advocates the more educated we are about a topic,” said Riccio. “We are really privileged to have these speakers come and bring this wonderful knowledge and insight to the Roaring Fork Valley. People here are deeply invested in our environment and conservation, so we want to make sure that we are providing an accessible community space for folks to learn about these topics together.”
Folks in need of Spanish or American Sign Language interpretation can email erin@wildernessworkshop.org one week prior to the event. All presentations will be available on each hosting organization’s digital platform shortly following the event. Though not required, registration is strongly encouraged.
Visit www.wildernessworkshop.org/naturalist-nights-2025 to learn more and register.