Ph.D. student Kelsea MacIlroy’s work looks at social and cultural perceptions of Demand Management on the Western Slope – something that has not been previously studied. The Nature Conservancy funded her research, and in December they released her report “Exploring Perceptions of a Voluntary Agricultural Water Conservation Program on the Western Slope of Colorado.” She since has been interviewed by Time magazine, KRCC (Southern Colorado’s NPR station), Water Education Colorado’s Headwaters magazine, and Slate magazine (forthcoming).

Aspen Journalism was the first to feature Kelsea and her findings when they reported on the Colorado Water Congress 2019 Summer Conference in Steamboat Springs. She was invited by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to be on the panel “The Colorado River: What’s Next? DCP’s, Demand Management, 2020 River Operations.”