Beth Kinney is a family physician who has worked both in family practice and emergency medicine in the San Luis Valley for the last 21 years. She is an avid outdoor person enjoying both hiking and mountain biking. Beth is interested in increasing public awareness of the beneficial activities that SLVEC offers to the San Luis Valley community and environment. She believes that encouraging and enabling citizen stewardship of our land and resources is crucially important to maintaining our environment and for curbing/preventing the devastating effects of man-made global warming. " While my training is in improving health on an individual basis, environmental and community health are vital to our future survival."

Joel was raised and educated in New Jersey. He landed in the San Luis Valley 33 years ago and began practicing medicine. He had an obligation to serve in a poor area with a shortage of physicians, due to his government-sponsored medical education.

The San Luis Valley was a great fit because he wanted to be far from a city, in the mountains near great snow (Wolf Creek) and close to his brother. Most amazingly, he found a practice in which he fit. This was Valley Wide Health Services (now Systems.)

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He took a world tour from 1988-89, going to 4 European countries, 12 African and 6 Asian nations. All told, he has been to 35 countries, 47 states and 7 Canadian provinces.

Bachelor of Science

Geology

Central Michigan University

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Dawn’s geology education emphasized environmental geology and hydrogeology.  She worked in the private sector doing environmental consulting work, including field work, sampling soil and groundwater, and writing reports.  She worked with multiple state agencies including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Division of Oil and Public Safety (OPS) and the Division of Water Resources.  She also worked with the federal EPA office.  She began working for OPS in 2004 as an Environmental Protection Specialist (EPS) and worked for them for ten years.  As an EPS, she managed environmental clean-up projects in which regulated underground and above-ground petroleum tank systems had released petroleum to the environment, impacting soil and/or groundwater.

Dawn has lived in Colorado since 1998.  She grew up in Michigan and lived in southern Illinois for a short time before moving to the foothills west of Denver.  She and her husband bought land in the SLV in 2006 and moved onto it full time in 2014.  She and her husband operate a small homestead on 40 acres. They have some chickens, geese, rabbits, and quail and are interested in growing food and living a self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyle.

Don and his partner Jan One retired to Alamosa in 2003 after approximately 30 

years in Denver. Don was active in the environmental community in Denver working on issues related to clean air and water, as well as wilderness designations. He served for six years as the environmental representative to the Denver Water Citizens Advisory Committee. Don has climbed the Fourteeners, hiked the Colorado Trail, and was an Ultra Marathoner in his younger years. He is currently treasurer for seven nonprofit organizations. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, he graduated from Miami University and moved to Denver in 1969. 

Undergrad: Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, London University

Masters in Mineral Engineering
Masters in Business Administration

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Mike is our newest board member. He grew up in England and obtained a Degree in Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, London University.  His first position was with an iron ore company in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He later came to the US for graduate studies, obtaining a Masters Degree in Mineral Engineering and an MBA.

After graduation he joined a company where he worked in various positions including off-shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and mining in New Mexico. His future career was with several mining companies in the Western US. These included operations in lead /zinc, gold, copper, uranium, and coal production. He had responsibilities for engineering support, environmental compliance, and safety.

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Upon retiring from Colowyo Coal Company he joined The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in the San Luis Valley and was responsible for the integration of the Medano Zapata Ranch into the larger, nationwide organization. The property included a golf course, lodging facility and restaurant, bison herd, and a cow calf operation. Issues addressed included endemic and endangered species, land use, and water rights ownership. He participated in the Great Sands becoming a National Park and Preserve.

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After leaving TNC he joined the San Luis Water Conservancy District where, in addition to the duties of the District, he became responsible for the newly formed Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project. The Project’s goals are to restore and conserve the historical functions and vitality of the river for improved water quality, agricultural water use, riparian health, wildlife and aquatic species habitat, recreation and community safety while meeting the Rio Grande Compact.