Advisory Council

The Five States Film Advisory Council is comprised of 26 knowledgeable and influential scholars and community leaders representing areas of significance within each of the Five States regions. The primary role of the Advisory Council is to assure the film’s accuracy, inclusiveness and relevance in telling the story of Colorado’s diverse regions and their relationship to the state, as well as Colorado’s influence on its neighboring states. The Council will provide input on the selection of interview subjects for the film and review drafts of the script.  The lead scholar is Dr. Patricia Nelson Limerick, Faculty Director and Chair of the Board of the Center of the American West at University of Colorado in Boulder.

Patty Limerick (Five States Film Lead Scholar)
Faculty Director and Chair of the Board, Center of the American West, University of Colorado – Boulder

Thomas Andrews
Social and Environmental History of the Rocky Mountain West, University of Colorado – Boulder

Michael Childers
Environmental History of the American West, Colorado State University

Dawn DiPrince
Chief Operating Officer, History Colorado • Former Director, El Pueblo History Museum

Derek Everett
Geography and Politics of Colorado and Western History, Colorado State University

Russell George
Former State Legislator • Former Executive Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Department of Transportation

John Hausdoerffer
School of Environment and Sustainability Dean, Western Colorado University

Carrie Besnette Hauser
President, Colorado Mountain College • Member, Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows • Board Member, American Rivers, Great Outdoors Colorado and Vail Valley Foundation

Allegra “Happy” Haynes
Executive Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Denver • Chair, Colorado Advisory Board of the Trust for Public Land

Ernest House
Senior Policy Director, Keystone Policy Center • Former Executive Director, Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs

Rebecca Hunt
Director of Museum Studies (Emeritus), University of Colorado – Denver

Corinne Koehler
Former Pueblo City Council Member • Board Member, Colorado Humanities and Historic Pueblo

Dawn Thilmany McFadden
Regional Economic Development Institute Co-Director and Professor of Agriculture and Resource Economics, Colorado State University • President, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Fawn-Amber Montoya
Honors College Associate Dean and Professor of History, James Madison University • Former Director of Chicano Studies and Professor of History, Colorado State University – Pueblo

Jared Orsi
Professor of History, Colorado State University • CSU Representative, Colorado Encyclopedia Governance Board • State Historians Council Member, History Colorado

Cec Ortiz
Project Management Consultant for Public and Non-Profit Workforce Training, Human Resources Management, and Business Development

Candace Payne
Executive Director, East Central Council of Governments • Administrator, Prairie Development Corporation

Curt Penny
Judge and Lawyer, Kit Carson County

William Philpott
Associate Professor of History, University of Denver • Board Member, Colorado Humanities

Nick Saenz
Associate Professor of History, Adams State University • Board President, Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area

Leroy Salazar
Co-Manager, Salazar Farm and Ranch

Jim Schmidt
Mayor, Crested Butte

John Stulp
Owner, Stulp Farms • Former Special Policy Advisor for Water, Colorado Governor’s Office • Chairman, Inter Basin Compact Committee • Former Colorado Agriculture Commissioner

Brian Werner
Former Public Information Officer and Head of the Communications and Records Department, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District

Sid Wilson
Owner, A Private Guide • Board Member, VISIT DENVER, Denver Zoo, Aurora Plains Conversancy and Denver Public Library