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!