Staff
Dana Rinderknecht
Development & Membership Director
Alyce Olson
Lead Tour Guide
alyce.olson@dinoridge.org
General Inquiries
- Phone: (303) 697-3466 (Select 1 for the Main Visitor Center; Select 2 for the Discovery Center)
- Fax: (303) 697-8911
- Gift Shop Phone: (303) 697-3466 x100
- Discovery Center Gift Shop: (303) 697-3466 x110
- General E-mail: info@dinoridge.org
Problem with the website?
Kristen Kidd, Marketing Director at kristen.kidd@dinoridge.org.
Jeff Lamontagne
Executive Director
For the next five-plus years, he served as Executive Director of Bluff Lake Nature Center, an open space and environmental science center in east Denver, where he strongly increased organizational funding and successfully completed a $2 million capital campaign to rebuild and refurbish Bluff Lake itself, the site’s centerpiece. In both organizations, he oversaw all aspects of programming, administration, and fundraising.
At Dinosaur Ridge, he has led a restructuring and updating of internal organizational processes, the broadening of revenue streams, navigation through extreme pandemic impacts on the organization, and the initial phases of a 10-year Master Plan crafted in conjunction with Jefferson County Open Space.
Jeff has a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law. He lives in Morrison, Colorado with his wife who is a high school science teacher. They have two children who are in college.
Dana Rinderknecht
Director of Development
Erin LaCount
Education Programs Director
Erin began visiting Dinosaur Ridge as a young child with her grandparents in the 1990s, had her high school senior portrait taken on the ridge, held her wedding reception at the Main Visitor Center, and in April 2022 will celebrate her 20th year on staff, currently as Director of Education Programs. You might say she lives and breathes Dino Ridge, and is certainly the person with more institutional knowledge than anyone, serving as our internal fact-checker and source of truth.
As a teenaged volunteer, Erin served as a tour guide while her grandfather drove the organization’s original tour bus (the van-o-saurus) over West Alameda Parkway, before Jefferson County closed the road to public traffic. She was involved in the first kids camps and still directs them each summer. She has grown up with Dinosaur Ridge and is always excited to try a new program or retry an old one that may have been attempted before its time.
Erin’s education is ongoing and self-guided by her curiosity and the needs of the job. She loves getting in the field and getting dirty, but also enjoys professional conferences where she can attend workshops and lectures given by experts with groups like the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the Colorado Association of Science Teachers (CAST), and the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE).
Before joining Dinosaur Ridge full-time, Erin spent countless volunteer hours at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) learning how to set up exhibits in the education collections department. She continues to collaborate with the Morrison Natural History Museum on paleontology projects when she’s not busy with camp duties or other educational programs.
Despite her AA in Museum Studies, for Erin degrees and certificates are less important than real world experience. She has endless ideas, and as someone who also loves games and music, she is passionate about bringing more interactive and technology-driven experiences for visitors to the ridge.
Barbara Farley
Director of Volunteers & Program Growth
Barbara Farley has overseen volunteer efforts, educational program growth, and evaluation for Dinosaur Ridge since 2017. She has more than 16 years of experience in experiential education, program development and management, and volunteer coordination. Prior to joining the staff at Dinosaur Ridge, Barbara managed programs for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Wildlife Center of Virginia. In her free time, she enjoys heading to the high country with family to ski, hike, camp and when at home she does a lot of gardening and cooking.
Will Bottoms
Director of Operations
Will joined Dinosaur Ridge as a Gift Shop Clerk in 2019, steadily working his way to the Manager of Guest Services and now Director of Operations. Will earned a B.S. in History and English with a focus on Creative Writing from the University of Colorado Boulder, and an M.S. in Museum Studies from the University of Washington. A Colorado native, Will enjoys exploring the mountains and spending time with family.
Kristen Kidd
Marketing & Communications Director
Kristen grew up a short distance away from Dinosaur Ridge, graduating from Bear Creek High School before going on to earn a B.S. in Journalism from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an M.S. in Marketing from University of Denver. After spending years as a news writer and producer in radio and television, including CBS4 in Denver and KNBC Los Angeles, Kristen took time off to chase her two sons around and volunteer in their schools. She enjoyed a return to writing as a guest columnist for The Denver Post, and as a PR consultant for various Colorado companies and nonprofits. She joined the team at Dinosaur Ridge in June 2021 and is excited to help tell the stories of this unique natural historical site.
Michelle Howell
Manager of Guest Services
Billy Burgess
Gift Shop Manager
Billy moved to Colorado in January 2021 and started at Dinosaur Ridge as a Gift Shop clerk. He soon began managing the merchandising as a Shift Supervisor and now oversees the Main Visitor Center and Discovery Center Gift Shops and the online store. Billy previously worked with the National Parks on the Big Island of Hawaii. When not working he tends to his growing farm and explores Colorado.
Amanda Rea
Education & Camp Coordinator
Amanda joined Dinosaur Ridge as a Summer Camp Leader in 2021, then led tours on the Ridge before moving into the Education and Camp Coordinator role. She has a B.S. in Geology and minor in Biology from The University of Texas. Before moving to Colorado, Amanda worked at Campfire First Texas and with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She has a passion for fossil hunting, rock hounding, hiking and rock climbing.
Luke Layton
Events Coordinator
A Tennessee native, Luke moved to Colorado after serving in the U.S. Army as a Cryptologic Linguist. He joined Dinosaur Ridge as a tour guide, where his lifelong passion and enthusiasm for science and paleontology shines through. He now also helps coordinate special events for Dino Ridge. When not working, Luke enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, folding origami, and drawing reconstructions of dinosaurs.
Libby Prueher
Education Assistant & Outreach Coordinator
Dr. Libby Prueher is a volcanologist and a climate and sustainability specialist. She has a B.S. in Geology, an M.S. in Volcanology, and a PhD in climate science. Dr. Libby first worked at Dinosaur Ridge in 2001. She volunteered over the years and re-joined the staff in 2017. When not representing Dinosaur Ridge at community events, she teaches geology, environmental science, climate change, and sustainability at multiple colleges in the Denver area.
Kody Desch
Maintenance Lead
Kody Desch works to preserve and improve the physical integrity of Dinosaur Ridge and Triceratops Trail. Everything from repairing wind damage, pouring concrete, maintaining buses, cleaning, goundskeeping, and devising innovative solutions for facility needs, Kody enjoys the variety of work and challenges that put his mechanical engineering experience to good use. Kody has a background in landscaping, handyman, and mechanical work.
Annie Collins
Scheduling Coordinator
Annie Collins brings several years of administrative, customer service, and management experience to the vital role of Scheduling Coordinator at Dinosaur Ridge. Her work with the Irish Roots Collective, a nonprofit that educates people about Irish history and advocates for those being oppressed today, is something she is particularly proud of. Annie’s education includes studies in political science and biological anthropology. She has a keen interest in natural history.
Alyce Olson
Lead Tour Guide
Alyce Olson, or Allosaurus Alyce as she’s known at the Ridge, has been guiding tours all over Colorado since 2014, and is proud to be the Lead Tour Guide at Dinosaur Ridge, what she calls one of the coolest places in Colorado! Alyce brings her experience and enthusiasm to every bus tour, and works with all of our bus tour guides to do the same, with the goal of turning every ancient footprint and fossil into something wondrous for visitors.
Katie Bradley
Education & Evals Coordinator
Katie Bradley joined Dinosaur Ridge in 2021 through an Americorps opportunity to expand our audio tours, which have benefited from her background in radio. She has been integral in creating a new podcast for the organization and has stepped up to provide bus tours and summer camp leadership as well as coordinating daily evaluations efforts. Katie is a Texas transplant with boundless curiosity about Colorado’s native botany, how structural systems impact social justice, and is working on an illustrated book about her beloved aging pet pug Boris.
Don Cadwallader
Supervisor/Tour Guide
Don Cadwallader started volunteering at Dinosaur Ridge in March 2021 as a docent in the exhibit hall, and joined the staff about a year later as a tour guide. He now also serves as a Supervisor in our Gift Shops, and as a valued member of our Education Committee and leader in our annual High School Science Quiz Bowl. Don is a retired high school science teacher who spent much of his career in Eaton, Colorado where he developed an interest in paleontology. He is highly involved in state Knowledge Bowl competitions as well. Don loves sharing about the scientific discoveries at Dinosaur Ridge with visitors of every age and background.
Kat Taylor
Supervisor
Kat Taylor joined Dinosaur Ridge as a clerk and tour guide in May 2022, on Friday the 13th to be exact. It was as ominous as one might expect: birds chirping, not a cloud in the sky. She enjoyed meeting new people on her tours and seeing visitors experience the tracks and fossils for the first time. Kat has some experience in archaeology, and was an English and History major. She worked as a tutor, so explaining complex topics to people from various backgrounds is a familiar skill. Kat says she likes all dinosaurs equally, but the Yingshanosaurus more equally than others. This genus of the stegosaurian dinosaurs was found in what is now China. Its name means “Reptile of the Golden Hills” and it had wing-like spines on its shoulders. In her younger years, Kat lived in Sierra Vista, AZ, which is an itty bitty town. In March 2023 she became a Gift Shop Supervisor.
Charles Rasmussen
Accountant
Charles Rasmusseun joined Dinosaur Ridge in 2022.
Allison Mooney
Supervisor
Allison Mooney joined Dinosaur Ridge in 2022.