Megan Walker Karschner has been named the new executive director of the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition. Karschner has lived and worked in the Yampa Valley for the past 15 years.

 

Press release from Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition; April 2024.

Meet our New Executive Director: Megan Walker Karschner 

Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition is excited to welcome Megan (Walker) Karschner as its new executive director. Megan has lived and worked in the Yampa Valley for the past 15 years, promoting sustainability through education and other nonprofit, community-based efforts.

 

Megan comes to CCCC after serving for the past year as an adjunct faculty member for Sustainability Studies at Colorado Mountain College.  Previously, Megan taught at Steamboat Montessori and served both as a Naturalist and as the Director of Youth Programs for Yampatika. A graduate of Colorado Mountain College’s Outdoor Education and Sustainability Studies programs, Megan earned a master’s degree from Western Colorado University in Environmental Management, with a focus on building sustainable and resilient communities.

 

Over the years Megan has worked as a professional tutor, instructing college students in topics such as sustainability, biology, ecology, and environmental science. She has served as a 4-H leader, taught beekeeping workshops, provided educational and service-learning programming at the Bear Park Permaculture Center, and created a business, Meg’s Eggs, that sells eggs, honey, and jam to consumers.

 

During her years in the Yampa Valley, Megan became involved with CCCC as a volunteer, through partnerships with other organizations, and by attending festival and other CCCC events. After getting to know the organization and seeing it develop over the years, Megan was excited to learn about the opening for the executive director position and decided to apply.  Megan states, “I am honored to have been chosen as the next executive director of CCCC. This organization has already accomplished so much through its efforts to protect the Rocky Mountain Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes and their habitat. I look forward to continuing that work and to inspiring regard for the natural world through the appreciation of this iconic species. I am grateful for the continual support of my family and community that has always enabled me to pursue my personal and professional growth.”

 

CCCC was co-founded in 2012 by Nancy Merrill and Barbara Hughes. Since its inception, CCCC has concentrated on providing public education to ensure the protection of the Rocky Mountain Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes. CCCC presents the annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival and educational programs for school children and community groups. In 2021 CCCC started a live steam Sandhill Crane nest camera which serves both as an educational and scientific tool. CCCC monitors the status of cranes in the area and partners with other environmental organizations engaged in habitat improvement projects for cranes and other wildlife in Northwest Colorado. CCCC works with willing farmers and landowners in the Yampa Valley through a program called Crops for Cranes to help provide adequate food supplies for staging cranes just prior to migration.

 

“I am confident that Megan will take our organization to the next level,” states Nancy Merrill, CCCC President.  “Her background in sustainability, as well as her teaching skills and her enthusiasm for cranes and nature, will help CCCC move forward with its crane conservation work into the future.”