Staff, Board & Advisers

Curtis Wackerle

Curtis Wackerle is the editor and executive director of Aspen Journalism and the editor and reporter on the Connie Harvey Environment Desk. Curtis has also served as editor, managing editor, and reporter at the Aspen Daily News, where he covered Aspen’s city hall. He has a journalism degree from the University of Montana. More by Curtis Wackerle

Heather Sackett

Heather Sackett is the managing editor at Aspen Journalism and the editor and reporter on the Water Desk. She has also reported for The Denver Post and the Telluride Daily Planet. Heather has a master’s degree from CU’s Center for Environmental Journalism and her reporting has been recognized by the Colorado Press Association. More by Heather Sackett

Laurine Lassalle

Laurine Lassalle is Aspen Journalism’s data desk editor, where she works to catalog and analyze local public data. She has a master’s degree in data and investigative journalism from UC Berkeley with an emphasis on environmental reporting. More by Laurine Lassalle

Eleanor Bennett

Eleanor Bennett is an award-winning journalist reporting on regional social justice issues in collaboration with Aspen Public Radio and Aspen Journalism. A life-long Roaring Fork Valley local, she previously was a reporter, podcast producer and Morning Edition host at Aspen Public Radio. Her stories have ranged from the impact of federal immigration policies on local DACA recipients to creative efforts to solve the valley’s affordable housing challenge. More by Eleanor Bennett

Claire de L'Arbre

Claire de L’Arbre is the development and marketing manager for Aspen Journalism. Claire has worked with local businesses and nonprofits as a business manager, and a marketing and business consultant since 2011. Claire has a BS in Business Management from Babson College with an emphasis in entrepreneurship.

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Paul Andersen

Paul Andersen has lived in the valley for 40 years and was a reporter, editor and regular contributor to The Aspen Times. He has authored 15 books about the region. Before reporting on the series “In search of community,” he last wrote for Aspen Journalism in 2014, penning stories on environment and history.
More by Paul Andersen

Allen Best

Allen Best has been a journalist in Colorado for closing in on a half-century, and his work has been featured everywhere from the Middle Park Times in Kremmling to the New York Times. In 2020, Best started Big Pivots, a nonprofit devoted to reporting on the energy and water transitions in Colorado and beyond. More by Allen Best

Catherine Lutz

Catherine Lutz is an Aspen-based freelance writer, reporter and editor. She contributes to a wide range of publications, including Aspen Sojourner and Aspen Magazine, and works for a number of clients, including the Aspen Institute. Catherine is also the former managing editor of the Aspen Daily News. More by Catherine Lutz

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is a freelance journalist based in Snowmass Village. She grew up in Aspen and has worked as an editor at Aspen Journalism, reporter at Aspen Public Radio and an English and journalism teacher at Aspen High School. More by Elizabeth Stewart-Severy

Kaya Williams

Kaya Williams is a freelance journalist based in Aspen, where she covers everything from public health to land use to ski culture. She was previously the Edlis Neeson Arts and Culture Desk reporter for Aspen Public Radio and, before that, a staff reporter for the Aspen Times and the Snowmass Sun. More by Kaya Williams

Mark Harvey

Mark Harvey, Aspen Journalism’s board president, is a local rancher, writer, filmmaker and photographer. He is also on the board of EcoFlight, and has been on the boards of High Country News and Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. Mark is Connie Harvey’s son, the namesake of the Connie Harvey Environment Desk.

Morgan Boyles

Morgan Boyles is the executive director of the Alfred Braun Hut System. He grew up in the Roaring Fork Valley and attended Middlebury College as an environmental studies major. He has served on Pitkin County’s Community Growth Advisory Committee. He lives in Aspen with his wife Phebe and their 1-year-old son.

Graeme Means

Graeme has worked as an architect in the Roaring Fork Valley for many years concentrating on residential and historic projects. He is a long time member of the Board of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails gaining experience in land preservation, trails, and outdoor recreation. He is currently working on several historic preservation projects. He is an avid outdoor recreationalist and reveres our amazing mountain environment. He lives near Aspen with wife Elizabeth and has two sons living and working in the valley.

Michael McVoy

Michael McVoy is an investment adviser at Raymond James Financial Services and the former co-publisher of The Aspen Times. He serves on the Pitkin County Retirement Board, the Roaring Fork Transit Authority Board and leads the Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation.

Laurie Michaels

Laurie Michaels, Ph.D. is an individual philanthropist based in Aspen, CO. Until 2012, she maintained a private practice in clinical psychology. In 2012, she founded Open Road Alliance to address the lack of fast, flexible, emergency funds available to non-profits and social entrepreneurs. In 2020, she started The 2030 Fund to address climate issues and promote renewables in Louisiana, with a particular focus on Cancer Alley. Dr. Michaels was a board member of the Aspen Community Foundation for 12 years, serving as board chair for four years ending in 2013. She is currently vice-chair of the international peace-building organization, Search for Common Ground, and board chair of Access AfterSchool, which provides after school and summer programs for students from Aspen to Parachute.

Jane Pargiter

Jane Pargiter is the executive director at EcoFlight. Jane has also served on the board of the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork, and volunteers for English in Action and the Buddy Program. A native of South Africa, she once lectured in the Linguistics Department of the University of Witwatersrand.

Harry Teague

Harry Teague is the founder of Harry Teague Architects. His work includes the Benedict Music Tent, the Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall, and the Bucksbaum Campus of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Anderson Ranch Art Center. He is also on the board of the Aspen Science Center.

Tarn Udall

Tarn Udall is a senior attorney at Western Resource Advocates, where she works to protect western lands from development, restore wildlife habitat and ensure equitable and sustainable recreational access. She began her legal career as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and previously was an attorney for Colorado Attorney General’s Office in the natural resources and environment section. Born and raised in Carbondale, where she now resides with her family, Tarn serves on the board of directors for the Colorado Outward Bound School, the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association and the Conservation Lands Foundation. She also writes nonfiction essays that have been published in Outside Magazine, among others.

Tim McFlynn

Tim McFlynn was a founding board member of Aspen Journalism when the organization launched in 2011, and he remained one of its key leaders, brining his ideas and steadfast encouragement to nearly every board meeting until his passing in May 2025.

Mike Marolt

Mike Marolt is a CPA in his native Aspen, a KPMG Peat Marwick alumnus, and a member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. His accomplishments include the first skiing descents of numerous mountain peaks in the Himalayas and shooting and producing the movie “Skiing Everest.”

Ken Ransford

Ken Ransford is a Basalt-based attorney, investment adviser and CPA specializing in income-tax and estate-tax law for small businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations. Ken serves as the secretary of the Colorado Basin Roundtable, and he holds a voting seat representing recreational interests.