Expert Instructors, Real-World Lessons

CMC Faculty Partner with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Highly regarded industry experts developed the Avalanche Science program. Their invaluable experience in the nation’s most active snow sports region shaped the curriculum. This expertise is available to you through CMC’s partnerships with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, nearby ski areas, and leading industry professionals who will teach you both in the classroom and on the mountain slopes.

During your field internship, you’ll have the opportunity to monitor, track and measure mountain snowpack over two full winters and observe how snow behaves in various weather conditions.

Hands-on learning activities include:

  • Performing high-altitude fieldwork in the Rocky Mountains
  • Observing snow behavior at CMC’s on-campus snow study plot
  • Tracking data from two remote-sensing weather stations: one on campus and one in the nearby Sawatch Range
  • Using state-of-the-art equipment in daily lessons
  • Meeting in “smart” classrooms that deliver the latest technology
  • Learning in hybrid classes that combine online and on-site education to fit the schedules of working students
  • Access to a regional forecasting office and personnel

Deem, Jeremy

Jeremy Deem

Dr. Jeremy Deem

Associate Professor
970-989-1339 | jdeem@coloradomtn.edu
Pronouns: He/Him

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, History, The Ohio University
  • Master of Arts, History, Colorado State University
  • Wilderness EMT, Doctoral Candidate University of Northern Colorado

Awards

  • Faculty of the Year, 2019-2020 and 2014-2015

Publications

  • Deem, J.R. (2022), College Students’ Perceptions of the Desert Canyons of the Colorado Plateau

Professional Associations

  • American Avalanche Association Professional Member
  • Professional River Guide & TL
  • International Mountain Bike Association
  • National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician-Basic
  • American Whitewater Association
  • American Heart Association
  • Wilderness Medical Society

Personal Interests

Indigenous Peoples' History and Rights, Mountain Rivers, Alpine Skiing, Mountain Biking, Ocean Surfing, History, Sustainability, Avalanche Studies, Economic and Environmental Equity, International Studies, Wilderness Medicine, Authorship.

Family

Wonderful wife, one dog, two questionable cats.

History & Social Sciences, Outdoor Studies, Wilderness EMS, Sustainability Studies, Avalanche Science

Greene, Ethan

Dr. Ethan Greene

Instructor, Avalanche Science; Director, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
719-486-2015 | emgreene@coloradomtn.edu

photo - Dr. Ethan Greene, Director of the CAIC and Instructor for the Avalanche science programEducation

  • B.S. Meteorology, University of Utah
  • M.S. Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University
  • Ph.D. Geosciences, Colorado State University

Professional Certifications and Associations

  • Wilderness First Responder
  • State of Colorado -Type I Explosive
  • Certified Instructor, American Avalanche Association
  • Pro I and II Instructor, American Avalanche Association
  • Avalanche Operations - Level 3, Canadian Avalanche Association
  • Mountain Meteorology, American Meteorological Society
  • American Meteorological Society, Member
  • American Avalanche Association, Professional Member
  • International Association for Cryospheric Sciences - Snow and Avalanches, Division Head

Dr. Ethan Greene is an Avalanche Science instructor at Colorado Mountain College LeadvilleAbout

Dr. Ethan Greene has been the Director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) since 2005. He currently lives in Leadville and grew up in Boulder, skiing Colorado’s Front Range. Prior to his time with the CAIC, Ethan spent several winters in the San Juan Mountains, at Big Sky Ski Resort as a ski patroller and at the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center as an avalanche forecaster. Ethan approaches snow and avalanches from both a practical and theoretical perspective.

Ethan has studied meteorology at the University of Utah and Atmospheric Science, specifically snowdrift formation, at Colorado State University. He has also examined and researched the microstructure of snow and its metamorphism in Colorado and Switzerland, earning a Ph.D. in Geosciences. Ethan has published various scholarly articles on snow, weather and avalanches and been a member of national and international working groups on snow and avalanche projects.

Dr. Ethan Greene is one of the original supporters of the Avalanche Science program and helped with the initial efforts to design and approve the curriculum. As an avalanche professional, Dr. Greene recognized the need for an experiential based program geared towards industry professionals.

He specifically looks forward to showing students how to define and address avalanche safety problems and preventing avalanche tragedies in Colorado.

“The Avalanche Science program gives students a chance to dig into the fundamentals of snow, avalanches and provides time to learn, experience and experiment.” says Dr. Ethan Greene, “I look forward to meeting, teaching, and working with a fantastic group of people.”

Lazar, Brian

Brian Lazar

Instructor, Avalanche Science; Deputy Director, Colorado Avalanche Information Center
719-486-2015 | blazar@coloradomtn.edu

photo - Brian Lazar

Education

  • M.S. Civil Engineering, University of Colorado
  • B.S. Environmental Science and Biology, University of Colorado

Professional Certifications and Associations

  • Wilderness First Responder
  • American Avalanche Association (AAA), Certified Instructor Pro 1 and 2
  • AIARE, Curriculum Developer, former Executive Director, Board Member
  • AIARE Course Leader Levels 1 - 3
  • Snowmobile Safety Instructor, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  • AMGA training, Ski Mountaineering, Rock, Alpine
  • Type 1 Explosives training, Permit for Avalanche Control, Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment

About

Brian has been the Deputy Director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) since 2010. Prior to his work with the CAIC, Brian was an avalanche educator and curriculum developer as well as the Executive Director with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), and former member of the American Avalanche Association Education Committee.

After more than a decade of guiding in a variety of snow climates on both sides of the equator, Brian returned to graduate school where he studied snow and ice mechanics in Alaska’s Chugach Range, and conducted research at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.

Thanks to a collaboration between Colorado Mountain College and the CAIC, Brian brings his years of expertise in avalanche education to the Avalanche Science curriculum. He looks forward to assisting in individual student development through the program’s unique mentorship structure.

“My hope is that students leave with a core skill set and competency that allows them enter the role as an avalanche professional,” says Brian, “and can easily accept and Incorporate training and mentorship.”

See more: CAIC staff bio