Maya MacHamer

co-founder + DIRECTOR

Maya was born and raised in this area. She started her Emergency Services career with the Four Mile and Gold Hill fire departments. She worked for Denver Health Paramedics for six years before returning to Boulder. After receiving a master’s in Public Administration and Emergency Management, she worked in various areas of flood recovery before establishing the Fourmile Watershed Coalition in 2015 and dedicating her professional time to creating resiliency and building community connections for Fourmile Canyon. She carries this background with her genuine desire to collaborate and connect into her role with the Boulder Watershed Collective. When not brainstorming about restoration and environmental enhancement projects, Maya loves spending time outdoors with her two children and husband.

 
 
 
 

Cat Price

CO-FOUNDER + OPERATIONS + MARKETING/EVents MANAGER

Cat has lived in the watershed for 15 years and counting. Her background is in non-profit development, event planning, and project management. She moved into the environmental realm as the Grants Manager for the Fourmile Watershed Coalition in 2015. In that position, she managed the administrative aspects of restoration projects and engaged with stakeholders and community members to further develop the organization. Cat now works with communities on a variety of special projects and manages all events and marketing for the BWC. Cat is inspired by cultivating benefit for the environment, the community, and the greater good, and is fulfilled by making a long-lasting difference. Cat enjoys spending her free time adventuring with her husband, two children, and rascal dog, as well as practicing yoga, hiking, laughing, and skiing.

 
 
 
 

Erin Fried

Applied Social Scientist

Erin is a proud Colorado native, lucky to have grown up skiing, hiking, and smelling ponderosas in the Front Range. With undergraduate roots in the performing arts and psychology, she has pursued interdisciplinary paths at the junction of environmental social science and education with an artistic lens. She received her Masters Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at CU, researching how creativity and real world problem solving helps undergraduates learn complex biological concepts. She has also applied her social science training to various consulting and university teaching positions. Grateful to be a part of the BWC team, she is passionate about local practices that inspire collaborative action and connects diverse stakeholders - especially concerning our beloved forests.

 
 
 
 

Kirin Riddell

Fire adapted communities coordinator

Kirin grew up in the oak woodlands of northern California. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Earth Systems at Stanford University, she moved to Alaska, where she lived off-grid for 12 years in a little dry cabin in the boreal forest of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. She spent six years with the Park Service in resource management and emergency response. She moved to Boulder with her husband and daughter in 2021 to complete a Masters in the Environment at CU Boulder, where her capstone project focused on understanding how local community values can holistically inform Community Wildfire Protection Plans. Kirin is inspired by the diverse ways that people connect with natural landscapes, and by learning about local values in order to plan for climate-resilient communities. She also loves to explore and learn about the forested watersheds of the front range. 

 
 
 
 

Scott Heffernan

Forest Program Manager

Hailing from central Texas, Scott grew up playing and exploring the creeks, waterways, and natural landscapes around him with a curious mind. He graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Colorado with a focus on population genetics and marine biology, but would utilize his minor in astrophysics while getting a Master's in Forest Remote Sensing from Oregon State University. Scott is a seasoned field ecologist and forester, and blends the art, science, and communication of forestry on a daily basis. When not in the woods, he enjoys rock climbing and making music with his wife and young daughter.

 
 
 
 

Preston Brown

Watershed program SpECIALIST

Born and raised in Colorado, Preston spent his early years playing in the open spaces and creeks of the Front Range. He still plays in the creeks of Front Range but as a watershed restoration professional with an expertise in natural stream restoration design and fisheries. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University he began his watershed restoration career in northern California working in stream restoration for endangered coho salmon. Preston is a seasoned practitioner having directed large-scale river and floodplain restoration, low-tech- process-based restoration, and aquatic habitat restoration for endangered salmonids. After 10+ years in northern California, he and his family moved back to their roots in Colorado and live in Boulder County. While not working to restore the waterways of the beautiful Boulder Creek Watershed, Preston enjoys woodworking and spending time with his wife and young son, exploring the creeks and open spaces in their community.

 
 
 
 

Jackie Barry

Forestry Specialist

Jackie grew up playing in the oak forests of southeastern Pennsylvania. After getting their BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2011, they moved to Colorado. Upon getting introduced to the world of wildland fire, they became hooked and spent the next 4 years moving around the West working in fire in different capacities, including a stint on the Santa Fe Hotshots. After working for Santa Fe, Jackie decided to shift their focus from suppression to forest management, and began pursuing a Master’s of Natural Resources, focusing in Forests and Society at Oregon State University. After coming back home to Colorado and working in forestry and fire for the local government, they are now happy to be on the team at BWC. Jackie is passionate about the inclusion of diverse community stakeholders in creating ecologically and socially comprehensive and adaptive forest management plans in the Boulder Watershed. When not working, they enjoy making art, riding their bike, snowboarding, cooking, and spending time with friends.

 
 
 

Julien Blundell

Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator

Julien grew up wandering the woods of New England with a bow and a notebook. He moved to Colorado to study writing and literature at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, and from there, continuing in the New England naturalist tradition, he completed a Masters in the Environment at CU Boulder. His pandemic hobby was foraging, where he learned to identify, prepare, and eat many of Colorado's wild plants and fungi. Julien is interested in the diverse ways that communities impact and manage their wildland commons, and how we can be better stewards of the natural world. He loves longsword fencing, archery, poetry, and wandering the wilds of Colorado looking for plants to eat.