Our Mission
Western Colorado University’s Center for Public Lands is a hub for cross-boundary land management and study. This training and resource center brings together students, land managers, and communities with a goal to develop creative responses to contemporary land management challenges. We are an educational and community-serving institution working at the nexus of service, science and scholarship.
Our approach brings together three elements: technical assistance through faculty expertise and research; the ability to support discussion, decisions, and actions that shape best management practices; and applied project work to train the next generation of public land practitioners. Our mission is to train a diverse group of leaders who can address public land problems collaboratively and creatively by applying scientific and socio-economic knowledge in the context of the complex realities of planning, management, and policy development for public lands.
Our People
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Dr. Briget Eastep
Dr. Briget Eastep joins Western Colorado's University's Center for Public Lands after working for 17 years at Southern Utah University where she built and led innovative programs connecting students, faculty, and staff with public lands. Through internships, service learning, scholarship, monitoring, and volunteer work thousands of students found their way into professional careers and have become lifelong advocates for public lands. Dr. Eastep is passionate about public land stewardship, collaboration and building pathways for the next generation of public land leaders. Our society is facing amazing challenges, and it will take stewardship, research and collaborative practices to move us forward.
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Gillian Bauer
Gillian Bauer coordinates the EMPLOYS graduate program at Western Colorado University. She also advises accelerated pathways into the MSE and MEM program and specializes in partnership management with the Clark Family School of Environment & Sustainability’s many international partners. Gillian has a passion for bringing international perspectives to complex issues and exploring creative and effective means for communicating findings. She earned her Master in Environmental Management degree from Western Colorado University in 2021. Her love for Western’s inspirational students and Gunnison valley’s expansive public lands kept her close! When she’s not in the office, you may find her atop a mule in the West Elk Wilderness or playing peekaboo with her infant son, Callum!
