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Team Members:

Florence Williams

Florence Williams has never managed to get too far from HCN. An intern in 1987, she became a staffer in 1989 for two years, followed by more years of freelancing, and a board member in 2006. Her first book, BREASTS: A Natural and Unnatural History, was recently published by W.W. Norton. She and her husband, Jamie, built a one-room straw-bale cabin outside of Paonia, to which they occasionally escape from Boulder, Colorado.

Ann Vileisis

Ann Vileisis interned at HCN in 1992 while completing a master’s thesis in western U.S. history at Utah State. Soon thereafter, she embarked upon a nomadic life with her husband, author Tim Palmer, researching and writing books while traveling by van. Her first book Discovering the Unknown Landscape: A History of America’s Wetlands (Island Press, 1997) won two national history awards. Her second book, Kitchen Literacy: how we lost knowledge of where food comes from and why we need to get it back, offered historical perspective to all the recent buzz about local/organic foods. Ten years ago, Ann settled in Port Orford, a small town on Oregon’s coast that reminds her of Paonia. Ann credits HCN with giving her a deeper understanding of environmental issues in the rural West that has continually inspired her work as a writer, editor, and activist. 

Catherine Lutz

Catherine Lutz credits her High Country News internship for launching her extensive, illustrious (or at least overworked and underpaid) career in journalism. An intern during the unusually cold winter of 2000, she managed to learn the art of editing from the ferocious red pen of Betsy Marston, countless reporting skills and strategies from the prestigious newsroom, and tips on canning and other essential skills from HCN staff. She was recruited to a newspaper in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley because of her work at HCN, and has since made it her permanent home. A veteran of the local newspapers, Catherine is currently a freelance writer and editor working for Aspen Business Journal, Aspen Sojourner magazine, and the Aspen Institute, among others.

Devin Odell

Devin lives in Fort Collins, CO, with his wife, a professor of natural resources at Colorado State, and two kids, ages 14 and 9. After his internship at HCN in the fall of 1989, he worked as a newspaper reporter in California, went to law school at UC Davis, and worked in federal Indian, environmental, immigration, health, employment and water law in California, Alaska, Arizona and Colorado before his appointment as a district court judge in Fort Collins.

Mara Rabin

Mara Rabin was an HCN intern in 1990. Uncertain of her career path, Mara followed her childhood friend, Florence Williams, out to Paonia for an HCN stint. It turned out that journalism wasn't her passion. Mara is now a family physician in SLC, Utah and the Medical Director of Utah Health & Human Rights.  She's also an avid reader of High Country News!