VOC highlights different VOC leaders, in all capacities, so that we can share with you the inspiring work they do to care for Colorado's outdoors! Here, we'd like to give a shout out to Michele Perkins.

Michele began volunteering outdoors when she applied and was accepted into the Student Conservation Association (SCA) in high school, and has been actively involved in environmental stewardship since! "SCA was my first real camping experience, as well as my first outdoor volunteering experience. During that time, I spent five weeks in a tent, saw a mountain lion, crawled through lava tubes, went for weeks without a shower, had a very sketchy bear encounter, went backpacking, built a lot of fencing, got knighted with a sledge hammer, met some great folks, and fell completely head over heels in love with both the outdoors and stewardship."

Michele spent her following summers volunteering for the Appalachian Trail Conservatory and U.S. Forest Service, and also worked as a Girl Scouts camp counselor teaching young girls to love the outdoors. "Then I got a real-world job, and my volunteering started to taper off because of limited vacation time," said Michele. "I found VOC when I moved to Colorado about 10 years ago, and was excited because of the project flexibility and variety. On every project, I always met great people, especially when I went solo. After volunteering for a few seasons, I became a Crew Leader. The more involved I got, the more friends I made. I have met some of the most fantastic and interesting people building trails. I now consider trail crew to be 'adult camp' and I look forward to going every summer!"

Michele received VOC's Mentor of the Year award in 2012 for her exceptional leadership and enthusiasm in guiding the next generation of outdoor stewards. And, ever the trendsetter for new and exciting things, Michele was quick to sign up for VOC's recently launched #YourCO digital badge program. "I think it's great to have goals to work toward, especially in stewardship. I signed up for the badge program as a fun way to stay motivated. It keeps track of the tasks I have completed and what I have left to do," she said.

Outside of volunteering, Michele works as a senior scientist/reviewer at EBI Consulting, an environmental engineering firm. She enjoys canoeing, theater, live music, reading, and traveling.