Board of Directors

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies is governed by a Board of Directors who donate their time, treasure and enthusiasm for birds and conservation to help achieve our mission. Directors serve three-year terms, elect their own leadership annually, serve on various committees and help with events and projects. The Board of Directors guides and supports the Bird Conservancy through strategic planning, financial oversight and fundraising.

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies is looking for talented, energetic candidates to join its Board of Directors. We are looking for volunteers with a commitment to conservation. Though Bird Conservancy is headquartered in Brighton, Colorado our reach includes the western United States and Mexico, so candidates within and outside the Front Range of Colorado are eligible.  The Board meets quarterly, typically in the Denver-metro area. Remote participation is possible, although some personal attendance during the year is necessary for engagement and immersion in the mission.  Click here to download a complete Board of Directors role description.

Eric M. Lane, M.S.

Board Chair

Eric is a former Director of Boulder County Parks & Open Space (retired 2021) where he led the operations, staff, and budget for Boulder County’s nationally-recognized, award-winning department dedicated to the conservation and sound use of the county’s agricultural, natural, and cultural resources. As a former ornithologist, including two years working at the Colorado Bird Observatory (the original name of Bird Conservancy of the Rockies), he is particularly interested in bird habitat management/restoration on both public and private lands. Eric received a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College and a M.S. in natural resources policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. With his newfound time, he’s enjoyed the opportunity to reinvigorate his bird identification skills along the Front Range and wherever he travels.

Eileen Dey, B.S.

Board Vice Chair

Eileen is the owner of Dey Consulting, LLC representing oil and gas clients in environmental, regulatory, sustainability, and stakeholder issues and planning.  Previously, Eileen worked for ConocoPhillips as the Lower 48 Manager of Sustainable Development and held various manager positions in Environmental, Regulatory and Stakeholder Engagement in the Rockies and Mid-Continent Business Units.  While at COP, Eileen served on several boards (Playa Lakes Joint Venture, Northern Great Plains Joint Venture, and Colorado Oil & Gas Association). She worked with industry and agencies on the development and implementation of conservation agreements for several candidate species and developed the ESA Protocol Tool for COP to ensure that the Business Units assess and mitigate species and habitat during all phases of development.  She received her BA from University of Colorado, Boulder. Eileen believes that industry can be a vital partner with agencies, NGOs, landowners and various stakeholders to utilize science and best management practices that improve habitat and foster exceptional community relationships.

Garth Spellman, Ph.D.

Treasurer

As the Curator of Ornithology at Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Garth’s research focuses on how recent and ancient environmental changes have affected bird species. Bird species are products of their environment and therefore are constantly evolving in response to environmental change. The response of a species to environmental change leaves lasting footprints in its DNA. Garth uses genetic tools to examine “bird DNA footprints” and determine just how a species or multiple species that make up a modern community have responded to past environmental change.

Chrissy Coolidge

Governance Committee

As a seasoned executive with more than 20 years in tech, Silicon Valley native Chrissy Coolidge joins BCR with a wealth of strategy, intelligence, and operations experience.  From pre-seeded ventures to launching billion dollar Go-To-Market Web 3.0 transformation initiatives, Chrissy has held numerous advisory roles with digital media, mobile and commerce companies.  In addition, she has held senior leadership roles at McCann Erickson (NYSE: IPG), FreeWheel (acquired by Comcast), Gigya (acquired by SAP), and Marketo (acquired by Adobe), establishing a strong track record of hypergrowth for new products brought to market.

Geoff Geupel, B.S.

Geoff is with Point Blue Conservation Science and is located in California. He has extensive experience in bird banding, monitoring, private lands stewardship, fundraising and development. Bird Conservancy has enjoyed previously collaborating with with Geoff and Point Blue on the Avian Knowledge Network and Partners in Flight. His extensive knowledge and experience in bird conservation, partnership programs and more is a tremendous asset to our board.

Tonie Hansen

Development Committee

Tonie’s passion is to build forward-thinking, resilient, and purpose-led technology companies. At NVIDIA, she oversees corporate responsibility, a function she helped to build since starting in 2006. As a strategist and communicator, she drives initiatives that strengthen NVIDIA’s ESG and brand reputation. Tonie publishes the company’s ESG report and engages with shareholders, NGOs, and customers to understand their expectations and present NVIDIA’s positioning around ESG issues. She also helps NVIDIA keep its position as an ESG leader by delivering to execs insights on societal issues and their impact on the company. Prior to joining NVIDIA, Tonie spent 15 years in a variety of marketing roles. She earned her MBA in 2000 from Babson College, has been recognized by CRO Magazine as a CR Superstar and by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as a Women of Influence. She previously served on the board and as board president of the YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley, and currently serves as an advisor to the CU Boulder Leeds Business School’s Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.

Rosa Maria Vidal

Rosa Maria Vidal started her journey as a biologist studying the migratory birds and flyways in the Americas. She was the founder and executive director of Pronatura Sur an NGO in Mexico, where she was able to develop integrated approaches to conservation, considering local communities’ livelihoods and biodiversity. Rosa Maria has served in international councils and commissions, including the North American Bird Initiative, Partners in Flight, and the WHSRN council among others.  She was the director of the Governors Climate and Forest Fund, working with subnational governments from the tropical countries of the world for the implementation of Climate Change Mitigation policies and programs. She is currently Senior Advisor at the Center for the Management of Protected Areas (CPAM) at Colorado State University, is member of the board of trustees of Manomet and provide advisory to impact investors working on climate change and natural resources management.

Larry Modesitt, M.B.A., C.Q.E., C.T.P.

Past Chair of Board, Finance, Development and Executive Committees

Larry is the retired President of Modesitt Associates, Inc., a management consulting and interim management firm that focused on improving business bottom lines through Operational Profit Solutions. Larry is a Certified Quality Engineer from the American Society for Quality and a Certified Turnaround Practitioner from the Turnaround Management Association. He received a BA degree from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Larry served as a Director and Secretary of Colorado Field Ornithologists and a Director of Western Field Ornithologists.

David Otis, Ph.D.

David received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University and had a 34 year career as biometrician and wildlife research biologist in federal wildlife research centers and land grant universities.  His research program focused primarily on relationships between avian population dynamics, habitat and mitigation management practices, and anthropogenic environmental stressors.  David remains engaged in the wildlife profession as an Affiliate Faculty member at Colorado State University, an active member of The Wildlife Society and a consultant to the migratory game bird management community.   He is motivated by both the need for reliable and relevant science and the importance of fostering an engaged public citizenship that values wildlife conservation.

Nathan Pieplow, M.Ed.

Nathan has been fascinated by birds since his childhood in South Dakota, and has intensively studied bird sounds since 2003. He is the former editor of the journal Colorado Birds and an author of the Colorado Birding Trail. In 2016, he authored The Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America.  Nathan currently teaches writing and rhetoric at University of Colorado.

John Sanderson, Ph.D

John Sanderson is the Director of Colorado State University’s Center for Collaborative Conservation. At the Center, John and his staff work to build the capacity of organizations, communities, and future leaders to achieve conservation impact, while applying CSU’s world-class research and education. He has been doing conservation work in the West for over 25 years, including at the Colorado Natural Heritage Program and at The Nature Conservancy, where he led a staff striving to protect land, manage rivers, restore forests, and mitigate and adapt to our changing climate. John earned a B.S. in engineering from Purdue University, an M.S. in botany from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU.

D. Jean Tate, Ph.D.

Development Committee

Jean is an ecologist with more than 33 years of applied experience in the consulting world. Her academic work focused on birds including “Morphometric age and sex variation in the Whistling Swan” and “Habitat usage by the Chipping Sparrow in northern Lower Michigan.” Her consulting career has focused on diverse studies responsive to the NEPA and CERCLA/SARA/RCRA for land management, military, transportation and other agencies. Her passions are preserving habitat, ecological health and species diversity for avian and other wildlife populations, and promoting appreciation of the natural world for its intrinsic worth and its value to the human mind, body and spirit.

Ed Warner, M.S., L.H.D.

Development Committee

Ed is a noted philanthropist and conservationist. He had a career as an exploration geologist that culminated in his discovery in 1993 of the Jonah Field and the first commercial exploitation of the Pinedale Field in Sublette County, Wyoming. Ed left the natural gas business at the end of 2000 to pursue his philanthropic interests in the U.S. and Africa. Ed received his Bachelor of Science in 1968 from Colorado State University and his Master of Science in 1971 from UCLA, both in geology. He is a trustee or director of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Sand County Foundation, Explorers Foundation and Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, as well as an advisor to the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust.

Alejandro Carrillo, MS

Alejandro Carrillo is a fourth-generation rancher in the Chihuahuan desert where he focuses on regenerative practices at his ranch, Las Damas. Alejandro established a solid relationship with bird conservation organizations 10 years ago, working closely with both Mexican and US organizations to protect migratory birds. Alejandro assists ranchers and institutions on regenerative practices mainly across the Western USA, but also in South America. He also participates as delegate to the United Nations to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation in multiple countries. Before getting his boots on the ground full time, Alejandro worked as software engineer and IT consultant in various countries. He has a BS in Computer Science from Monterrey Tech, and a MS in Technical Management from The Johns Hopkins University.