Our Team

Kristen was born and raised in Colorado, and ever since she was little, enjoying the outdoors has been an absolutely integral part of her life. She grew up in Colorado Springs, and family outings involved camping, hiking, and fly fishing. She realized that being in nature always brought her renewed energy and continuously sparked her curiosity. She headed up north to Fort Collins to pursue her degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and "hopped along the Front Range," spending time in Denver and Boulder before returning to her hometown. She is passionate about helping Colorado Springs be one of the best places to live, work, and play, and she is absolutely thrilled to be able to use her skill set at RMFI.

When she's not at work, she loves hiking and mountain biking with her husband and highly energetic dog, Raphi.  She also enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, cooking, yoga, and freely admits to having at least one too many plants.

Carl comes to RMFI with a wide range of natural resource knowledge and experience. An enthusiastic environmental steward and public servant, Carl is excited to join the passionate and dedicated RMFI team. Carl served several seasons as a member of an AmeriCorps conservation corps, worked as a natural resources intern with the National Park Service in Denver, and served as a Wilderness Fellow with the US Forest Service in Lake Tahoe, California. Carl earned his master’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Policy from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs in May of 2019. Carl grew up in Austin, Texas, where he enjoyed hiking around the rolling Texas Hill Country, swimming and fishing its numerous lakes, rivers, and springs. On the weekends, you can find Carl playing a game of pick-up basketball, out for a bike ride, or on a stream bank struggling to untangle his fly line.

This is Otzma’s fifth year at RMFI! After growing up in Arizona with not much direction, she really found her passion for the outdoors and conservation when she did an 8-month gap year program traveling and studying development around the world. From there, she moved to California, where she spent a year and a half as a Corpsmember for American Conservation Experience and then almost 3 years on the California State Parks Monterey District Trail Crew. Otzma then came to us as a Field Coordinator in 2021 and has loved every minute of it since. Outside of work, you’ll typically find Otzma at the gym, on the trail, or spending time with friends. If you have the chance to work with her, she’ll most likely chat your ear off or try really hard to make you laugh.

Calla is originally from Metro Detroit, where she spent her days dreaming of moving to Colorado. Thirteen ago she made the move and has been cultivating a love for our public lands ever since. She loves combining her background in the outdoor industry with her passion for our outdoor spaces and volunteerism. Calla has been with the RMFI team since 2022. Calla fills her weekends by enjoying the local trails, and her love for sharing meals with friends.

Elizabeth grew up in Colorado and early experiences instilled in Elizabeth a lifetime love of nature and being outdoors. Elizabeth is recharged by hiking, especially Colorado 14ers, backpacking, snowshoeing, climbing, and fishing. Elizabeth fell in love with trail work as a volunteer for the Dixon Trail project and thought it would be awesome to work on a trail crew someday so in 2020 Elizabeth earned a degree in Outdoor Leadership and Recreation Technology. Elizabeth’s dream of working on a trail crew came true in 2021, with her first season as a RMFI Field Instructor. In 2022 Elizabeth became a Field Coordinator and enjoyed leading projects on some of her favorite trails including Dixon Trail and the Devils Playground trail on Pikes Peak and has been on the Projects Team since 2023.

Over the years, Elizabeth worked a variety of exciting jobs including hiking guide, backcountry camp caretaker, historic interpreter, program coordinator, art department manager, and arts/crafts instructor. Elizabeth has more hobbies and interests than time, but that keeps life interesting! When she isn’t outdoors, Elizabeth enjoys time being creative in her art studio at Cottonwood Center for the Arts. Combining interests in history and hiking, Elizabeth annually hikes Pikes Peak in handmade moccasins and an 1850s style “Bloomer dress” to celebrate the history of the first recorded woman to climb Pikes Peak.

Originally from Wisconsin, Paul’s love of the outdoors was shaped by eight-day canoe trips in the Boundary Waters of Canada. In 2018, he headed west to join a Rocky Mountain Youth Corps crew working on Mt. Elbert, where he was immediately inspired by Colorado’s fourteeners. He went on to join the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, hiking and building trails on as many peaks as possible. 

After ten seasons on a trail crew and three winters on ski patrol at Arapahoe Basin, Paul is excited to join RMFI year-round, stewarding the land surrounding Pikes Peak. He looks forward to completing his second round of fourteeners with his partner, Natalie, and exploring new climbing and ski routes along the way. 

Paul starts every day with lots of coffee, New York Times puzzles, chess, and Spanish on Duolingo. 

Born and bred in urban Chicago, Carrie’s first connection to the natural world was via her city’s free downtown zoo. She earned a BA in Psychology from Beloit College in Wisconsin and an MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology from Plymouth University in the United Kingdom to pursue a career focused in zoology. However, after spending nearly a decade working in the world of zoo conservation, predominantly as an Animal Keeper at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, she decided she was ready for a change. 

Living in the beautiful state of Colorado spurred Carrie’s desire to make a difference in the outdoor spaces and communities she was directly connected to. Over the last five years she has served as the Colorado State Advocate for Leave No Trace and the Community Engagement Manager for Palmer Land Conservancy. She has a strong passion for outdoor recreation stewardship and equipping people with the tools they need to make a positive impact for the natural world. She is incredibly excited to bring these skills to her role as the Pikes Peak Outdoors Lead Ambassador with the amazing team at RMFI.