Naomi Oreskes is the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. A world-renowned geologist and historian, she is a leading voice on the role of science in society and the reality of climate change.

Governor Bill Ritter was elected Colorado's 41st governor in 2006 and was the District Attorney of Denver from 1993-2005. During his four-year term as Governor, Ritter established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy by building a New Energy Economy. After leaving the Governor’s Office, Ritter founded the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, which works with state and federal policy makers to create clean energy policy throughout the country. Governor Ritter has authored a book that was published in 2016 entitled, Powering Forward – What Everyone Should Know About America’s Energy Revolution.

Paul Andersen has been a professional writer for 45 years. His writing career has earned him credits as a television scriptwriter, book author, magazine contributor, and columnist and contributing editor for the Aspen Times, where he currently writes a weekly opinion column, “Fair Game,” for which he has won awards from the Colorado Press Association.

Phil Weiser was elected as the 39th attorney general of Colorado in 2018. He serves as the state’s chief legal officer. Previously, he served as a professor of law and dean of the University of Colorado Law School, where he founded the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Weiser served in senior leadership positions in the Obama administration, including as a deputy assistant attorney general in the USDOJ and as senior advisor for technology and innovation at the White House’s National Economic Council. Earlier in his career, he co-chaired the Colorado Innovation Council and served in President Bill Clinton’s Department of Justice. After graduating law school, he worked in Denver for Judge David Ebel on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and held two clerkships at the United States Supreme Court, for Justices Byron White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

David McCraw serves as the top newsroom lawyer for The New York Times during the most turbulent era for journalism in generations. He is the author of the book, Truth in Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts (St. Martin’s 2019), a first-person account of the legal battles that helped shape The Times’s coverage of Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, national security, and the rise of political partisanship in America. Mr. McCraw has been at The Times for 19 years and currently holds the position of deputy general counsel.

Joni Reynolds is the Executive Director for the Gunnison County Health and Human Services (HHS) department. Joni led the Gunnison County Public Health response during the COVID-19 pandemic from its inception, serving as co-incident Commander for the County Incident Command team. Joni’s regular HHS leadership responsibilities span across all Human services, Public Health, Senior Services and Public Assistance program arenas. Joni attended the University of Northern Colorado where she earned her Bachelors in Nursing and thereafter at the University of Colorado, graduating with her Master’s Degree in Community Health Nursing. Joni has spent the entirety of her 30 year career in public health service. She initially worked in local public health agencies in Colorado Springs and metro Denver areas. Immediately prior to coming to Gunnison she provided leadership for over 15 years at the State level as the Director of Public Health for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Joni has been the recipient of numerous awards for both teaching and for her service in furtherance of public health in the State of Colorado.

Sharon K. Hom is executive director of Human Rights in China (HRIC), a New York- and Hong Kong-based organization, where she leads its international advocacy and strategic policy engagement with NGOs, governments and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Hom has testified and presented extensively on a variety of human rights issues before key European, U.S. and international policymakers, including the European Parliament, the U.S. Congress and the UN Human Rights Council. She has also presented to the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, the Council of Foreign Relations and the US Naval Academy Center for Regional Studies. As a law professor Hom has taught judges, lawyers and law teachers at eight law schools in China and currently teaches “Human Rights, Civil Society and the Internet in China” at the NYU School of Law. Hom appears as a commentator in broadcast programs worldwide and is quoted in major print media frequently. In 2007, she was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “50 Women to Watch.”

Patty Limerick is the Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, where she is also a Professor of History.  Professor Limerick was nominated by President Obama in Spring 2015 and was confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2015.  

John F. Walsh served as the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado from 2010 to 2016.   After leaving government service Mr. Walsh has in addition to private law practice been an on-air legal commentator for CBS national news.

Ambassador Ronald Neumann served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, and as deputy assistant secretary of State for the Middle East. In a 37-year career in the State Department he served also in Iran, Iraq, Yemen, the United Emirates and Senegal as well as office director for Iran-Iraq as well as other positions. He is now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, an NGO focused on strengthening American diplomacy.

Professor Theriault teaches in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. His recent focus has been on congressional decision-making and dysfunction.

John Nichols is the National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation magazine and a pioneering political blogger. Nichols is also a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin.

The global impact and significance of the #MeToo movement

Leshy has written extensively in response to attacks on the constitutionality of public lands and of particular interest to the Upper Gunnison Valley community.