Introducing Grossman Scholar: Jesse Wooten
Alex Schupp • November 11, 2018
Introducing Grossman Scholar: Jesse Wooten
Thanks to the generosity of former Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Board Member Rick Grossman and his wife Susie, VOC is now able to offer four $5,000 scholarships each year to help make educational dreams possible for those involved in outdoor volunteer stewardship!
Two of the scholarships are reserved for non-traditional college students, such as 2018 Grossman Scholar Jesse Wooten. Jesse grew up backpacking with his father and, after working in the service industry for nearly a decade, decided to transition to a career in natural resources.
“I realized that the most important work I could ever aspire to do is help preserve and protect the parks and open spaces that have given me unspeakable benefits over the years,” he explained. In 2016, he started his outdoor career as a seasonal Park Technician in Austin, Texas, where he was promoted three times over the course of a year. This April, he moved to Colorado and became a Natural Resources Technician with Jefferson County Open Space.
Now, Jesse will be pursuing a Master's of Natural Resources Stewardship at Colorado State University (CSU), where he hopes to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to lead his own ecological restoration projects for a small county park system or private land trust. As Jesse put it, he “wants to foster biological diversity and healthy ecosystems and help protect, restore and preserve parks and open space to ensure that our children and theirs can continue to enjoy places that are wild and natural.”
With Jesse's clear enthusiasm for nature and commitment to stewardship, we are excited to award him the Grossman Scholarship and can't wait to see what he accomplishes for Colorado!
Grossman Scholar Kace reflects on their path in conservation biology and how VOC’s scholarship is helping them pursue hands-on research and fieldwork at CSU.
After three meaningful decades, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) will be saying goodbye to our longtime home at the Dos Chappell Bathhouse in Denver's beloved Washington Park. In the early 1990s, VOC signed a 30-year lease with the City of Denver to transform the historic bathhouse in Washington Park into a headquarters that could support our growing mission. With generous support from our community, we launched a capital campaign and raised $700,000 to complete the initial renovations, which were finalized in 1996. Altogether, including the original renovations, VOC has invested more than $1 million in improvements and ongoing maintenance, creating a space that is enjoyed by our staff, volunteers, and the broader Washington Park community. In 2000, the building was renamed in honor of Dos Chappell, VOC’s former Executive Director (1988–1999), whose vision and leadership left a lasting legacy on our organization and Colorado’s outdoor stewardship movement. This space has been more than just an office—it’s been a gathering place, a launchpad for thousands of volunteers, and a visible symbol of our commitment to caring for Colorado.
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