Curtis Hartenstine - Chair of the Board
Curtis Grew up along the salt water marshes of Southern New Jersey and received and undergraduate degree in Forest Ecology from Juniata College. After spending a few years on the water as a ships rigger in New England, Curtis joined the Peace Corps and served three years in Nepal in the Ministry of Forestry. He returned to the Unites States in 2003 and made his home in Denver where he began working with the Colorado River Watch Program where coordinated training and supplies with citizen science groups throughout Colorado (including the Forum!). In 2010, he left Riverwatch for the Colorado Water Quality Control Division, Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program (aka 319 Program) where he provided grant administration and stream restoration monitoring. In 2004, he and his family moved to Durango to lead the Southern Ute Water Quality Program focusing on water quality program development and advancement of the Tribe’s Clean Water Act sovereignty application. Currently Curtis manages the Water Quality Program for Northern Water where he assists a dedicated and talented Team in a broad scope of monitoring, policy, restoration and collaborative water quality efforts. Curtis joined the Big Thompson Watershed Board in 2019 and was elected President in 2020.
Richard Thorp - Vice-Chair of the Board
Richard is a watershed program manager with the City of Fort Collins. His career as a surface water quality professional includes working as a research laboratory manager at Colorado State University (CSU), as an environmental consultant, and for state surface water quality regulatory agencies in North Carolina and Wyoming. Richard joined the City of Fort Collins Utilities Department in 2017 after working for nearly 10 years for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. He earned a BS degree in fishery biology and a MS degree in entomology at Colorado State University. Richard lives in Loveland with his wife and daughter and enjoys spending time with family and friends, xeric gardening, and fly fishing and tying.
Chris Giesting - Secretary
I was born in and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. I attended
Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio where I earned an Associate of Applied
Science Degree in Forest Management. I then attended Morehead State University
in Morehead, Kentucky where I obtained a B.S. in Environmental Science. I
received a Master of Science Degree from The University of Idaho in
Environmental Science with a focus on Water Resources.
I have worked for The Ohio State University doing field
research on white-tailed deer browse and oak species regeneration, the United
States Forest Service doing mountain pine beetle field research for the Fraser
Experimental Forest, for the National Park Service as a biological field
technician in Yosemite N.P., for the ExxonMobil Corporation as a laboratory
technician, and for the Cities of Lawrence, KS; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Lynden,
WA in water and wastewater treatment plant operations.
I am currently the water treatment plant manager for the
City of Loveland, Colorado at the Chasteen’s Grove Water Treatment Plant. We
here at the plant are directly dependent on the Big Thompson Watershed’s
health, vitality, and uninterrupted supply of high-quality source water. I am
pleased to be a part of this fine organization and hope to contribute for years
to come.
Ed Young
Ed is a founding director of the Big Thompson Watershed Forum. He served as the City of Greeley’s representative on the Board beginning in 1997 and as Chair from 2008-2010. Ed graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1970 with a BA in biology and worked in the field of water treatment during his entire career. After 35 years with the City of Greeley as the Plant Superintendent of Boyd Lake WTP, he retired in November 2016. Ed and wife live in Loveland, where they raised two sons and now enjoy four grandchildren.
Nina Cudahy
Nina is the Deputy Director of Operations and Maintenance with Greeley Water and Sewer. She joined Greeley Water and Sewer in 2019 after working for nearly 17 years the City of Omaha Environmental Quality Control Division where she managed the solid waste program, household hazardous waste program, air quality program, stormwater program, and the industrial pretreatment program. Nina was a key player in the development of the Papillion Creek Watershed Partnership and managed the watershed monitoring program. She earned a BS in geology from Tufts University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Oregon. Nina lives in Greeley with her husband and enjoys gardening and being outdoors.
Charles Olmsted, PhD
Charles retired from the University of Northern Colorado after 26 years of directing the Environmental Studies Program. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from Earlham College, his MS in physiological plant ecology from the University of Oklahoma, and his PhD in ecosystem ecology from the University of Colorado. Charles has served on the Boards of Directors of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, the Colorado Wildlife Federation, the High Plains Environmental Center at Centerra, the Colorado Native Plant Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Wildlife Federation. His involvement with the Big Thompson Watershed includes directing research on wildlife and tourism impacts in Rocky Mountain National Park. He and his family constructed a passive solar house near the confluence of the Big Thompson and South Platte Rivers.
Big Thompson Watershed Forum Board Meetings
Bi-monthly on third Wed. (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov)
10:30am-1:00pm
Thompson School District, 800 S. Taft Ave., Loveland, CO