Denise Wilson

Experience

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  Wilson Associates, Inc

  Jan 1990 - now

  Owner

  Small practice seasonally as time permits, Independent Public Accounting and Tax preparation serving multiple small-business clients; after graduating with a Bachelor's of Science in Business with a minor in Information Systems from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

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  Chicago Wilderness

  Oct 2000 - May 2001

  Volunteer Steward

  May and June, 2002. Completed rare plant monitoring techniques course and volunteered performing Level 2 Rare Plant Monitoring on Cypripedium candidum.

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  IUCN Orchid Specialists Group

  Jan 2001 - Dec 2006

  Public Speaker

  Keynote speaker on native plant conservation issues at more than 50 events, American Orchid Society chapter meetings, from Honolulu to Manhattan. Spoke at Nairobi Museum to Botany Dept on Conserving Plant Heritage. Chair long-term studies for North American Orchid Specialists Group. Presenter for World Orchid Conservation Congresses in Perth, Australia and Saratoga, Florida.

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  1st International Orchid Conservation Congress

  Sept 2001 - Oct 2001

  Speaker

  Presented, "Orchid Conservation Efforts in Costa Rica," a case study of the rain-forest orchid fieldwork I completed at Hacienda Baru, a private nature preserve.

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  Jefferson County Open School

  Mar 2002 - Apr 2002

  Teacher

  Taught six-week block course on "Conservation Issues around the Globe" to high school students.

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  WILSON ASSOCIATES INC

  Mar 2003 - now

  Plant Ecologist/Project Specialist

  Whether organizing volunteer seed collections, rare plant surveys, planning conferences, trainings and workshops, or performing contract botanical work, I hold to the highest level of work ethic. Going back for a Masters of Integrated Science in my late 40's demonstrates dedication and commitment to the ideal of ecologically healthy environments.

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  Denver Botanic Gardens

  Jul 2003 - Sept 2006

  Volunteer Position - Coordinator

  Volunteer Position for Rare Plant Monitoring for Denver Botanic Gardens. Managed 40 volunteers performing population surveys and weed pulls at 35 rare native plant sites across Colorado. Recruited, communicated with, and kept records for all volunteers. Used GPS units to locate historic populations from Colorado Natural Heritage records, collected data, reported on them annually, and made best practices recommendations for site management. Wrote grants to secure funding. Organized weed eradication at sites on Boulder County Open Space. Managed reporting and database. Show less

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  International Orchid Conservation Congress II

  May 2004 - May 2004

  Faculty

  May 15-22, 2004. Presented educational seminar on "S.O.S.- Save Orchids in Your State." This seminar provided a blueprint for rare orchid monitoring for other organizations worldwide.

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  The Guerrilla Group, inc

  Jan 2005 - now

  Controller and Coordinator

  Board position entails financial management and limited participation in my husband's company. Past duties included managing diverse activities such as project management, meeting logistics, marketing, product ordering & sales, inventory, bookkeeping, and tax preparation. Assisted author of five books in the Guerrilla Marketing series to start-up successful sales and marketing training and consulting firm. Established all computerized financial procedures and record keeping in MS Office, Word and Excel, and QuickBooks, including invoicing, budgeting, expense reporting, receivables, payables, prepared corporate tax returns, and worked with vendors and customers. Established book sales department and edited marketing materials. Event coordination of sales training seminars: travel arrangements and logistics for local and international sales meetings. Show less

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  Chicago Botanic Garden

  Jun 2006 - Dec 2018

  Contract Botanist - Seed Collection for Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank

  Contract position from 2006 through present for seed collection of > 400 species and 700 collections for the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seedbank Project. Collected seeds of native plants in CO, Ouachita Mtns, OK, NE Sandhills, WY Basin, Loess Hills and Driftless Area, IA, northern WI, and SD for inclusion in the Tallgrass Prairie, Seeds of Success Program and Millennium Seed Bank Project, Kew Gardens, London. Used GIS to collect and document the location and data of 300 plant species in and around Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Inventoried and monitored 500 native plants. Show less

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  Chicago Botanic Gardens

  Jul 2007 - Aug 2007

  Research Assistant

  to Dr. Pati Vitt, CBG Conservation Scientist. Conducted a high canopy survey of rain forest epiphytic plants in branch plots 45-60 feet above the forest floor in 16 trees using GIS technology. Compared a disturbed area to an undisturbed area and found greater plant quantity and diversity in the canopy of the trees in the undisturbed area. July 2004 and July 2005. Field work assisting Dr. Pati Vitt, Conservation Manager, and Kristina Fox, University of North Dakota, with data collection for pollination studies and conservation work on Platanthera praeclara, an endangered species. Show less

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  EcoPlan Associates, Inc

  Apr 2009 - Sept 2009

  Field Botanist

  Implemented a contract for Colorado Department of Transportation within a specific timeline, mapping 78 species of weeds in the right-of-ways for Colorado State Highways, using a Trimble GeoXH GPS unit with a data dictionary of 16 attributes. Lead Field Botanist in one of two teams who completed mapping 1/3 of the state highways - 6000 miles- ahead of schedule and under budget.

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  US Census Bureau

  Sept 2009 - May 2010

  Field Operations Supervisor trainee

  Overseeing Crew Leaders who manage enumerators in the field. Prior position as a Group Quarters Crew Leader in Golden interviewing institutions such as Colorado School of Mines and Jefferson County Jail at their sites to arrange for US Census enumeration of their residents. Office administrative assistant in quality control using MS Office, Word and Excel, setting up law enforcement meetings, and securing and arranging meeting venues for 65 free training facility sites for Census Operations Trainings and meetings. Created a database using Excel of 800+ local potential meeting facilities, and data to coordinate and arrange meetings. Managed two other workers under deadlines arranging meeting spaces and logistics for all Westminster Office training events. Show less

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  Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

  May 2010 - Nov 2010

  Seed Collections Coordinator

  WRV is dedicated to environmental restoration using the minds, spirit, and work of our resourceful volunteers. In 2008 and 2010, we held each year 16 Seed Collection Projects to help increase the availability of native seed by hand-collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. The seeds collected are grown out to multiply them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects. Show less

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  Mosquito Range

  Jun 2011 - Sept 2011

  Project Manager for Rare Plant Surveys

  Identified, located, mapped and reported on the locations, habitat, range, elevations and associations for the US Endangered Species Act Threatened plant, Eutrema penlandii, along with 33 other rare alpine plant species, totaling 107 instances of rare plants mapped. Advised on technical environmental stability of rare species.

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  Kleinfelder

  Mar 2012 - Jul 2012

  Seasonal Botany Field Technician II

  25 Sclerocactus brevispinus, S. wetlandica, and Yucca harrimaniae var. sterilis surveys for oil and gas properties on BLM Lands in the Uintah Basin, UT. Wrote NEPA technical reports supporting the surveys. Conducted 200 reclamation and re-vegetation surveys, and comparison surveys of adjacent ecosystems in gas fields of southwestern Wyoming and Utah using Trimble with data dictionary, along with related data processing.

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  Contract with DOI for BLM Seed Collection for Kemmerer, WY

  May 2012 - Oct 2013

  BLM Kemmerer WY Field Office

  BLM Seed Collection Contract for 2012; collected 44 species of native plants 20,000 to 200,000 seeds each including herbarium specimens & labels, photo log, GIS map, and reports.

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  CEMML, Center for Environmental Mangement of Military Lands

  Jun 2013 - Aug 2014

  Lead Field Botanist

  Conducted Alliance Level and Ecological Condition Surveys for Colorado State Parks’ project using National Vegetation Classification System Standards. Surveyed 380 of 430 GIS plots in 8 weeks in Golden Gate Canyon State Park with a 2-page data report for each plot, including species identification of top 20 dominant plants, fuels status, tree disease, and general habitat ecological conditions. Found and mapped datapoint within each plot using GIS Trimble.

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  Alpine Creative Essentials LLC

  Nov 2013 - Nov 2013

  Botanist, Project Based

  Project-based employment. November project was a long weekend in which our team of 12 planted 20,000 plants roadside in Rocky Mountain National Park.Jan 2014 plant salvaging at wetland on Cache LaPoudre River at Kodak Crossing

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  Thorne Nature Experience

  Apr 2014 - Apr 2014

  Education Intern

  Naturalist teacher on birds and their adaptations for one day nature experience field trip for all the Boulder County School System's Fourth Graders

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  TerraLogic, LLC

  Jul 2014 - Oct 2014

  Botanist Contractor

  Vegetation identification specialist for point-line intercept surveys to analyze revegetation success for right-of-way construction projects for Colorado Department of Transportation.

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  National Park Service

  Jun 2018 - Aug 2018

  Botanist

  As part of the Inventory & Monitoring 3 woman team, we performed wetland & upland vegetation surveys and water sampling in RMNP, Great Sand Dunes NP, & Florissant Fossil Beds NP. Our work took us for days back country high elevation camping to collect data for GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments).

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  Colorado Native Plant Society

  Dec 2018 - Jun 2022

  Managed and promoted programs for members, volunteers and the public for the non-profit, Colorado Native Plant Society. Programs included virtual and in-person Garden Tours, Native Seed Sales, Annual Conference & Colorado Gives Campaign. The society is dedicated to furthering the knowledge, appreciation and conservation of native plants and habitats of Colorado through education, stewardship and advocacy. Non-profit society dedicated to the sharing of knowledge and the conservation of Colorado native plants. Volunteer position for 6 years duration- Chaired committee which purchased and sold botanical books for the benefit of the members. Past Secretary of Society. Currently supervising Workshop Coordinator. Under my leadership, we doubled the net profits of the workshops in 2018 over the previous year.

  • Events Director

    Jun 2019 - Jun 2022

  • Volunteer - Workshop Coordinator Supervisor, Finance Committee

    Dec 2018 - Jun 2019