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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

Cheetah Night comes to ACES

Courtesy of Maureen Poschman

Two local middle school students are showing their passion for big cats by bringing Cheetah Night to the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies.

Twins Willow and Isabella Poschman are in seventh grade, and they recently learned a fact that shocked Isabella.

 

“There’s only the same number of cheetahs left in the world as people in Aspen, which is very frightening," she said.

 

That number is about 7,000, and Isabella and Willow have done their research. They know that the cats are hunted because they are seen as a threat to livestock and that illegal trafficking is also depleting their population.

So the sisters are working to raise money, selling lemonade and handmade cards at the farmer’s market. Their proceeds go to conservation organizations like the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

On Wednesday night, they are hosting that organization's executive director, Dr. Laurie Marker, who has researched and worked with cheetahs since the mid-70s. The night includes a presentation and a silent auction.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.