Donal is a junior at Colorado State University majoring in watershed science in the Warner College of Natural Resources.  He is also working on a minor in spatial information management. 

Donal has traveled through out the mid-west and west developing his skills as a trail builder including Ann Arbor in the 'Great Lakes State' of Michigan and the desert southwest of Tucson, Arizona.  After building upon his trail skills with the non-profit Southwest Conservation Corps in Tucson, he was fortunate to land a job in Yosemite National Park. There, he was awestruck at some of the tallest waterfalls in the world.

Per Donal, "Having spent some time living in San Francisco it was not until I actually stood upon the O’Shaughnessy Dam (the famed Hetch Hetchy project) that I realized the impact of our water use and needs as it relates to the big picture of a watershed that I respect, admire, and conserve professionally.  After a summer in the high Sierra I was blessed to get a job offer from Rocky Mountain National Park with their trail crew.  Nowhere before have I experienced such a connection to the people, the land, and the je-ne-sais-quoi that defines Colorado’s northern Rocky Mountains.  In the headwaters of the Big Thompson River, I had finally found a place where I felt at home, and where I wanted to invest my youthful energy."

Donal will receive an award and a check for $1,500 as part of the scholarship and his volunteer work with the Forum.  We welcome Donal to the Forum team and look forward to working with him over the next year in protecting and preserving our most precious resource, water....