The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds

Board of Directors

The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. are in the process of rearranging the Board of Directors. If you’re interested in serving on the Board of the Friends, please contact Sally Maertens at smaertens@fossilbeds.org. The Friends are currently seeking a membership chairperson, a new treasurer, and a new secretary. The secretary must attend most Board meetings to take minutes, but otherwise these positions do not require being on the Board.

Steven Wade Veatch, M.S. – President
During his career as a geologist, Steven Veatch’s research has focused on Colorado geology, paleontology, and mining history. He has conducted educational Earth science programs throughout the Pikes Peak region and is an adjunct professor of earth science at Emporia State University. Veatch has written over 150 articles and professional papers on geology and paleontology and has extensively studied the scientific history of Florissant, particularly the Princeton Scientific Expedition of 1877. He is from pioneering Colorado mining families from Teller and Boulder Counties. You can contact Veatch at sveatch@fossilbeds.org.

Sally McCracken Maertens – Vice President
Sally McCracken Maertens moved to Colorado after 37 years in elementary education as a teacher, math and science curriculum coordinator, and principal. She has volunteered at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument for 10 years, been on the Board of the Friends for 8, and served as President for 3. She is also the Vice President of the Pikes Peak Historical Society. Maertens enjoys outdoor activities and loves driving down the beautiful Florissant valley in the morning. Her favorite part of volunteering is interacting with the park’s visitors. She can be reached at smaertens@fossilbeds.org.

Laine Weber – Secretary
Laine Weber is a teacher and summer interpretive ranger at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. She has been involved with the park and the Friends for over a decade, and used to edit the park newsletter.

VACANT – Treasurer

VACANT – Membership Chairperson

Jeff Brandt, Ph.D. – Newsletter Design and Production
In addition to his work with the friends, Jeff Brandt volunteers extensively with neglected and abused children in the court system through CASA. Brandt is the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly Friends newsletter, and he also maintains the website for the Pikes Peak Historical Society Museum. He enjoys the beautiful scenery of the Florissant valley. Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@fossilbeds.org.

Anita Bellini

Bob Carlisle

Bill Dexter, Ph.D.
A former seasonal paleontologist at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and the third president of the Friends, Bill Dexter has been active in education and resource protection for many years. His research interests are in physics, geology, and paleontology, particularly fossil insects.

Harold Kaelin
Harold Kaelin is also on the Board of the Pikes Peak Historical Society.

Jon LaVasque

Tom Meals
New Board member Tom Meals studied geology and electrical engineering at Colorado State University and worked in the oilfields for 8 years. Meals is interested in the fossils of Florissant.

Jack Shippy

Jean Smith

Tina Smith

Phyllis Hochstetler
Phyllis Hochstetler is a teacher and new member of the Friends Board.

Laura Zimmerman

Consultants

Reinhard “Bud” Wobus, Ph.D. – Scientific Consultant
Bud Wobus is the Edna McConnell Clark Professor of Geology at Williams College, where he studies granites and volcanic rocks from the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico (faculty website). Wobus has been involved with the Colorado Outdoor Education Center near Florissant, Colorado, for some 20 years, where he has directed numerous geology and natural history field weeks at The Nature Place Conference Center.

Melissa Barton – Webmaster, Managing Editor of Friends Newsletter
Melissa Barton maintains the Friends website and edits and writes for the newsletter. She worked for three summers in the paleontology division at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, where she started as a Friends-sponsored intern in 2005. Barton has a B.A. in geology from Colorado College and is currently a graduate student in Museum and Field Studies at the University of Colorado, where she is studying late Eocene and early Oligocene Rocky Mountain fossil floras for her thesis. She can be reached by email at webmaster@fossilbeds.org.
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