Jules Iovino

Julia is a second year Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) student at Western Colorado University originally from Long Island, New York. She finished her undergraduate degree in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology at the University of Delaware in May 2022 and currently works as an educator at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. She is thrilled to be working with WARM and interested in habitat management. Julia is excited to for this amazing opportunity to meet people in the field and can't wait to see what’s coming in this year with WARM!

Mathew Berna

Mathew Berna is a second year MEM student from Perkins, Oklahoma with a degree from Western Colorado University in wildlife biology. As an undergraduate student, Mathew worked with WARM graduate student Nate Gore studying biochar's ability to remove contaminants from the Ben Butler mine soil. He worked at the Pitch Mine Reclamation Project in Sargents doing water monitoring and other site remediation techniques. Currently, He Works as an Environmental Specialist at Capstone Copper’s Pinto Valley Mine. Mathew is interested in using botany and invertebrate studies to remediate mine and mill sites throughout the world. He is especially interested in uranium site remediation.

Marissa (Mars) Charlebois, She/Her

Mars was raised in Upstate NY, where her passion for environmental stewardship began. She graduated with an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology and moved to the Mountain West within 24 hours of graduation. Since moving out to Colorado, Mars has spent her time pursuing a career in fisheries and watershed science. This pathway has led her to have the opportunity to work with agencies such as the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, the United States Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In her off-season, she works as a winter ski guide, adding to a growing passion for recreation management.

This fellowship is a great opportunity for Mars to learn about mining reclamation and integrate her stream/fish ecology knowledge or intercept a recreation management plan for a reclaimed mining site that could involve public recreation. Mars is looking forward to the professional experience she will gain through this fellowship, attending conferences and coordinating with stakeholders and management agencies to create an impactful project.

Matthew Smith

I was born and raised in the small town of Evanston Wyoming, where my passion for nature began at an early age.  I finished my undergraduate degree in Geology at the University of Wyoming and had the pleasure to partake in some exciting research projects with professors and other students that resulted in two publications.  One related to carbon sequestration in the Rocksprings uplift in Wyoming, and another involved salmon spawning habits in British Colombia. 

I then worked for almost 8 years in the private sector as an Environmental Chemist for a laboratory in Steamboat Springs Colorado. At the lab, we primarily analyzed mine tailings and associated waters, soils, and plants. I'm thrilled to begin my new journey with the MEM program at Western, specifically the Integrative Public Lands Management track and now WARM.  One of my goals with WARM is to improve my skillsets to better understand mining reclamation and to network within the industry to get a clearer picture of how best to move forward in this interesting line of work. 

Alicia Aldrich

Alicia Aldrich is a second year Master of Environmental Managment student in the Integrative Public Lands Management track at Western Colorado University. She received her undergraduate degree in geography at Saginaw Valley State University in May 2022. She currently works on the Pitch Mine Reclamation site in Sargents, Colorado where she is looking at water monitoring. She is specifically looking at the use of beaver dams as a natural system to help improve water quality for her master's project. She also worked with the GMUG Forest Service in the Summer of 2023 surveying abandoned mines for their Abandoned Mine Lands program. Alicia is excited to continue learning about the field of mine reclamation and is especially interested in closure site restoration.