‘No place on Earth like CMC’

July 1, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

‘No place on Earth like CMC’

Ali Henry graduates with a bachelor’s from CMC Breckenridge

Ali Henry was working in a Breckenridge restaurant when she decided that she needed to shift her focus.

“One day the cook asked me, ‘If you care so much about animals and nature, why do you still eat them and why don’t you do something to help Earth?’” Henry said. “That evening I went home and educated myself. I went vegan overnight and enrolled at CMC the next day. I then learned about sustainability studies and my entire life fell into the perfect pathway for this degree.”

Henry said that her time at Colorado Mountain College Breckenridge expanded her mind in new ways.

“I learned about environmentalists who have changed the world,” said the graduate, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies in May 2020. “I learned about biomimicry, conservation, endangered species, TerraCycling and so much more that I will use throughout my life.”

The knowledge she gained also prepared her to create the “Not-so-Silent Auction: Australian Wildlife Relief” this past February at CMC Breckenridge. Along with fellow CMC students, the fundraiser generated nearly $5,000 for wildlife injured by Australia’s devastating wildfires.

Now that her bachelor’s program at Colorado Mountain College is complete, Henry wants others to know what a special and unique experience CMC offers.

“I want people to know that there is no other place on Earth like CMC,” she said. “If you have an opportunity to attend classes or get a degree at CMC, take it. We are so blessed to have a college throughout the Rocky Mountains with people who care about your well-being and have such incredible energy. It’s made me a better and much more educated human being.”

Sustainability degree follows Brocato’s lifelong aspirations

June 17, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

Sustainability degree follows Brocato’s lifelong aspirations

Kate Brocato worked with the Bear Park Permaculture Garden, here, and beekeeping club at CMC Steamboat.

Kate Brocato was studying environmental science and had attended two large universities. Then, quite by surprise, she discovered Colorado Mountain College Steamboat Springs – and its sustainability studies program.

“The degree isn’t available at many other colleges,” Brocato said. “It covers the many facets of sustainability, from natural sciences to business and ethics.”

In addition, she appreciated the Steamboat campus’s approachable professors and small class sizes – different from what she had experienced before.

Brocato graduated in May with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies. In many ways, she had been aspiring to earn the degree her whole life.

“Even at a young age I recognized the harmful effects that human action could have on many of the places that I loved so dearly,” she said.

And when Brocato was 12, her dad and stepmom started a community garden – which still exists. She grew up appreciating fresh vegetables and local food.

“It was one of the primary drivers behind why I have leaned towards food systems work during my college career,” she said.

Many ways to grow

Brocato took part in multiple opportunities for learning and growth.

“Working with the Bear Park Permaculture Garden and as vice president of the beekeeping club has given me a trajectory for my future career path,” she said.

She said that sustainability professor Tina Evans taught her valuable lessons about permaculture – and more. “I learned leadership and team management skills under Tina,” Brocato said.

Brocato feels that Colorado Mountain College has prepared her well for entering the workforce and being a sustainability leader and communicator.

“The close-knit community of CMC and the friends that I have made along the way will be something that sticks with me for a lifetime,” she said.

A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development

January 23, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

CMC Professor Dr. Tina Evans presented her "Roadmap" webinar hosted by the Sustainability Curriculum Consortium on January 23, 2020.

Dr. Evans' recently published article, “Competencies and Pedagogies for Sustainability Education: A Roadmap for Sustainability Studies Program Development in Colleges and Universities,” is attracting national and international attention both for her leadership and the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies program.

The scholarly article presents a set of five competencies for the sustainability field and effective pedagogies for teaching them. The five include:

Systems Competence
Critical and Normative Competence
Interpersonal and Communication Competence
Creative and Strategic Competence
Transdisciplinary Competence

Dr. Evans earned her Ph.D. in Sustainability Education at Prescott College and teaches at CMC Steamboat Springs and other CMC campuses.

Sustainable Educator of the Year

January 14, 2020 By cmctestgenesis

Dr. Nathan Stewart, 2019 Sustainable Educator of the Year

Yampa Valley Sustainability Council Honors CMC Sustainability Studies Associate Professor and Program Chair

Students in the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies program step toward their careers with internships and work-study jobs thanks to Dr. Nathan Stewart and his colleagues at CMC.

The Yampa Valley Sustainability Council recognized Stewart's contributions and those of five other award recipients.

In addition to teaching and chairing the Sustainability Studies program, Stewart is Program Director for the Rocky Mountain Land Management Internship Program. This innovative, two-year paid internship places CMC students with the U.S. Forest Service. Working collaboratively as land managers, natural resource specialists and mountain sports rangers, the interns have an inside track to possible full-time employment with the Forest Service.

Stewart also helped create local work study opportunities including:

Yampa Valley Sustainability Council's ReTree and Waste Diversion programs
Youth education with Friends of the Yampa
Monitoring air particulate matter and VCAPS planning for Routt County Department of Environmental Health

Read more about the YVSC Sustainability Awards

See Dr. Nathan Stewart's profile

Pro Photography Portfolio Review

December 3, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

Join us in the Calaway Academic Building at Colorado Mountain College - Spring Valley as graduating photography students from the Isaacson School showcase outstanding works created during their time at Colorado Mountain College.

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

When: 4:30-7pm, Thursday, December 12, 2019

Where: Calaway Academic Building, Room 140, Spring Valley Campus

CMC photography student accepted into prestigious workshop

November 19, 2019 By cmctestgenesis

CMC photography student accepted into prestigious workshop

Laurel Smith of Carbondale recently returned from Jeffersonville, New York, where she attended the international Eddie Adams Workshop, an intense, four-day gathering of top photography professionals. Admission to the workshop is extremely competitive and limited to 100 (50 students and 50 emerging photographers), who attend tuition-free.

Smith is two classes away from graduating from Colorado Mountain College’s professional photography program at the Isaacson School of Communication, Arts and Media. She said she wants to work as a photojournalist and is most interested in documenting social justice issues. She is the fourth student from CMC’s professional photography program to gain admission to the prestigious workshop since students began applying in 2016.

Eddie Adams was a photojournalist whose most well-known, Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was the execution of a Viet Cong lieutenant on a Saigon street in 1968. One of the most published photographers in the U.S., Adams enjoyed a career that spanned journalism, corporate, editorial, fashion, entertainment and advertising photography, as well as covering 13 wars.

He started the workshop in 1988, to provide professional opportunities to photojournalism students based on their skills – and not on their ability to pay tuition. Adams died in 2004 at age 71.

Final group presentations can be seen at Eddie Adams Workshop 2019 – including Team Orange’s “Costume,” presented by Smith’s team. Her photo essay is called “Sophie,” and starts 5:28 into the group presentation.