High Plains Environmental Center
Our Staff
Jim Tolstrup is the Executive Director of the High Plains Environmental Center in Loveland, CO, a unique model for preserving native biodiversity in the midst of development. His past work experience includes serving as Land Stewardship Director of Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, CO and running his own landscape design business in Kennebunkport, Maine where he installed gardens at George and Barbara Bush’s “Summer White House.”
Jim holds a Certificate in Gardening Arts from the Landscape Institute of Harvard University and the Arnold Arboretum, he has written numerous articles on gardening and environmental stewardship for various publications, and is a past recipient of Denver Water’s Xeriscape Award, ALCC’s Excellence in Landscaping Merit Award, ASLA Land Stewardship Award and the Sustainable Living Association’s Sustainable Contribution Award.
Growing up in an urban environment near Boston, MA, Jim had to “look hard to find nature.” This background has led to a strong sense of empathy for people, and children in particular, who don’t have access to the restorative qualities of nature in their daily lives.
Jim is personally committed to bringing together people with diverse points of view (environmentalists, business people, and other community members) in an inclusive dialogue about preserving the natural world for future generations.
As a founder and former president of Cankatola Tiospaye, a non-profit that provides material assistance to Native American Elders, Jim has gained a perspective through life-long friendships with Native Americans living on reservations in South Dakota and elsewhere, that the land we live on is much more than a commodity, it is a community of which mankind is an integral part. Read Jim’s Blog Here
Kristin Oles
Restoration Ecology Program Manager
Kristin Oles is the Restoration Ecology Program Manager at HPEC. Kristin is a Colorado native and grew up in Pueblo. She graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Rangeland Ecology with a concentration in Restoration Ecology and a B.S. in Fishery Biology in 2011. She moved further west and earned her M.S degree in Horticulture and Agronomy with a focus on Rangeland Ecology from the University of California, Davis in 2016. Now a Restoration Ecologist, Kristin is very excited to be back in Colorado and looks forward to helping HPEC by bringing people closer to their natural surroundings. She enjoys crocheting, drawing, and scouting for invasive weeds on hikes
For More Information on our Open Space Management Services:
Email: LAND@suburbitat.org
Jack Van Vleet
Lead Restoration Ecologist
Jack Van Vleet is the Lead Restoration Ecologist for our Open Space Management programs. He is a graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Rangeland Ecology and minors in Ecological Restoration and Conservation Biology. As a lifelong Northern Colorado resident, Jack has a passion for the ecology and management of the Front Range’s unique habitats and plant communities. When he’s not identifying grasses and wildflowers he is lounging at a brewery with his dogs.
Baylee Evans
Restoration Ecologist
Baylee is a Restoration Ecologist at HPEC. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a B.S. in Environmental and Sustainability Studies with double minors in Economics and Anthropology. Baylee is a lifelong Colorado resident born and raised in Durango. Growing up she spent the majority of her free time outdoors and that enthusiasm has continued into her professional life. She has a passion for Colorado’s natural resources and how we interact with them. When she’s not spotting hawks and saying “look there’s another hawk” she enjoys spending time adventuring outdoors, reading, crafting, and lounging with her Husband and cat.
Stephen Hornbeck
Nursery Manager
Stephen is the Nursery Manager at HPEC. Born in Kentucky, Stephen entered the field of ecology with watershed and riparian restoration work up and down the Appalachian Mountain corridor. During stream mapping, fish tissue collection, and habitat assessment inventories, he fell in love with the variation of regional flora adaptations. After moving to Colorado in 2018, he began studying evolutionary biology while learning the plant communities of the plains and foothills. In his free time, he enjoys growing native plants for his garden, spending time with his daughter, and playing banjo.
Amy Roush
Nursery Technician
Amy is the Nursery Technician at HPEC. She grew up near Austin, Texas and graduated from Rice University in Houston in 2021 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science. She has prior experience working in nature preserves and gardens, including Hamilton Pool Preserve and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in central Texas. In her free time, Amy enjoys hiking, bird watching, climbing, and learning the native flora and fauna of the Front Range. If stuck indoors, you can find her petting her two cats, Cupcake and Noodle.
Breyer Kinzer is the Outreach & Education Manager at HPEC. Before coming to HPEC she worked as a Larimer County Park Ranger and Rugged Research Lead Environmental Educator.
Breyer was born and raised in Oglesby, Illinois where he she fell in love with the rivers and forests around Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Parks. The oldest of 4 siblings, she spent her summers kayaking the river and catching fireflies in corn fields with her brothers and sister.
Loving nature came easy, but learning about it was tough. Public school offered only agriculture in the way of environmental science, if anything at all. Breyer followed her passion and taught herself most of what she knows from books and YouTube videos. After completing two Associate’s degrees at Illinois Valley Community College, she moved to Colorado in 2020 to be amongst environmentalists.
She has a passion for education and is happiest when she is working with children.
She enjoys the gym, reading, cozy video games, and traveling with her high school sweetheart.