Eric Ellison, former student, volunteer, instructor, and donor just joined the Cottonwood Institute (CI) Board of Directors. “It’s really amazing to see the impact of our programs come full circle and to reconnect with a former student. It is inspiring to see alumni take the initiative to get back involved and to give back to CI in a new capacity to help contribute to the vision and future success of the organization,” said Ford Church, Cottonwood Institute Founder and Executive Director.

Eric took the first Community Adventure Program (CAP) offered at New Vista High School as a freshman in 2003, which was a pilot project from Ford’s Masters Thesis at Prescott College. Cottonwood Institute was incorporated a year later in 2004.

Eric took CAP two more times throughout his high school career and volunteered on Cottonwood Institute’s Mt. Harvard and Mt. Evans Volunteer Projects. He was also a student and then instructor on CI’s Endangered Wolves Project.

Cottonwood Institute helped nominate Eric for an Environmental Stewardship scholarship to Sterling College in Vermont, which he won! Eric went on to earn his M.S. in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Eric’s research in environmental science focused on aquatic ecology, aqueous geochemistry, and geomicrobiology. He currently is a Senior Professional Research Assistant at CU-Boulder where he manages a laboratory facility for the spectroscopic characterization of geological and other materials and participates in a wide variety of research studies spanning the sciences.

According to Eric, “The Cottonwood Institute programs I participated in as a student early on profoundly affected me as a person and the path I have taken. Seeing other students having the same experiences and similar experiences of growth made instructing courses one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done. I’m thrilled to continue supporting and contributing to Cottonwood Institute’s mission and future success.”