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.
Stephen Hornbeck
Nursery Sales Manager
Stephen is the Nursery Sales Manager at HPEC. Originally from Kentucky, his experience in ecology began with watershed and riparian restoration work up and down the Appalachian Mountain corridor. From stream mapping to fish tissue collection, he knew this was the field for him. After moving to Colorado in 2018, he spent most of his free time learning the plant communities of the plains and foothills. He is currently a student at CSU, studying for a Master’s of Natural Resource Stewardship specializing in restoration ecology. When not buried in the books, he enjoys growing native plants for his garden, going on walks with his daughter, and playing banjo.