Doors: 6:00pm
Show Start: 7:00pm
Show End: 9:00pm

*Ticket price includes light appetizers from Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, Centro Latin Kitchen, The West End Tavern and Zolo Grill, proud sponsors of this Nature Conservancy event.

An iconic and beloved symbol of the American West, the Colorado River is one of the most endangered rivers in the United States. Sustaining more than 36 million people, the Colorado is stretched thin. Journey thru the Basin while hearing from The Nature Conservancy’s Director of the Colorado River program, Taylor Hawes, Colorado State University’s Senior Water and Climate Research Scientist, Brad Udall, and award-winning photographer, writer and filmmaker, Pete McBride. Our speakers will guide us through the history, challenges and solutions for managing this extraordinary resource for nature and people. The event will feature a screening of Pete’s film, Delta Dawn, winner of the best short film award at the 2014 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. eTown's Nick Forster will moderate this informative discussion.

Taylor Hawes

Taylor serves as the Colorado River Program Director for The Nature Conservancy. The Program’s goal is to conserve the freshwater biodiversity of the Colorado River Basin while also meeting human demands for water. Her responsibilities include coordinating TNC’s freshwater conservation efforts across the Colorado River Basin, synthesizing priority strategies, working with key stakeholders who are critical to conservation success across the Colorado River Basin and fundraising. Taylor has worked on Colorado River issues for more than eighteen years. She practiced water, local government, water quality, and land use law on Colorado’s Western Slope before joining the Conservancy. She currently serves as a Governor appointee to Colorado’s Inter-basin Compact Committee and is the co-chair of the Basin Study’s Environmental and Flows Workgroup. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Taylor received a B.A. in political science from University of North Carolina in 1991 and her Juris Doctorate degree from Vermont Law School in 1997.

Brad Udall

Brad Udall is Colorado State University’s Senior Water and Climate Research Scientist/Scholar, providing expertise in the field of water resources and climate change. Udall has extensive experience in water and climate policy issues, most recently as the director of the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment and the Western Water Assessment at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Udall will extend the reach of CSU’s water research and outreach programs by linking climate mitigation and adaptation research with water quality/quantity and other sustainability issues in the western United States. He has an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA from CSU. Udall will build on CSU’s nationally recognized water expertise by adding additional focus in the Rio Grande and Colorado River Basins and in the area of water and climate policy needs for the 21st Century.

Pete McBride

Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught, award-winning photographer, writer and filmmaker, he has traveled on assignment to over 70 countries for the publications of the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Outside, Esquire, Audubon, Stern, Geo, and companies like Patagonia, Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy and more.

After a decade working abroad and completing a Knight fellowship for journalism at Stanford University, Pete decided to focus his cameras closer to home on a subject closer to his heart. Combining his passion for aviation and his belief in conservation, he spent over four years documenting his backyard river- the Colorado. This culminated in a coffee table book: “the Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict”, and a series of short films “Chasing Water”, I AM RED” and “Delta Dawn”. He now focuses his lenses and energies on watershed issues and related stories around the world to raise awareness about freshwater challenges.

His work as a photographer, writer and filmmaker have garnered awards from the Banff Mountain Film Festival, North American Society of Journalists and Lowell Travel Writing and many more. The national Geographic Society named McBride a “Freshwater Hero”. When not lost on assignment or doing public speaking, you can find Pete exploring the creek sand mountains in the Rocky Mountains, or practicing his mandolin on his back porch in Colorado.

Nick Forster

Nick Forster began his career as a professional musician more than 30 years ago. He is a founding member of the world-renowned bluegrass band, Hot Rize. He is also an accomplished record producer, session musician and touring sideman. Nick is the leader of the highly respected eTown house band, the eTowns. As eTown's host, Nick nimbly walks the line between musician and radio journalist/host, playing guitar, mandolin or the lap steel with world-class musical guests then switching gears to engage those artists in conversation live on stage.