vailsymposium

Professor Evan Weatherbie grew up riding horses and chasing cows in northeastern Colorado on a small cattle operation in Morgan County. His family worked on a farm and ranch of about 600 acres until a nearby natural gas company lost control pressure monitoring systems and the landscape was left strewn with massive holes, unnatural geysers and gas leaks. After high school, Weatherbie left the farm for a dorm room in the big city of Washington D.C. Weatherbie received a dual degree in international affairs and Japanese language in 2002 and landed a teaching job in Japan in 2004. After teaching in both Japan and India, Professor Weatherbie returned to the United States to formally pursue an education degree and teaching career, which eventually brought him to Colorado Mountain College in Edwards in 2010. Having never lost a passion for the subjects of history, economics, and political science that he studied in his first years of college, Weatherbie began learning history at the graduate level on a part-time basis in 2014. His research interests in education include literacy and working with non-traditional students while his focus in U.S. History lies in the history of the American West. Weatherbie is currently doing research on transmountain water diversion from the Eagle River tributaries to municipalities on the eastern slope: the Homestake Project. Research on water use in Colorado provides an opportunity to examine changing historical perspectives of farmers and ranchers, local officials, and state and federal regulators.