Brian Kurzel

Brian Kurzel is the Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Rocky Mountain Regional Center. Brian oversees the National Wildlife Federation’s work on protecting public lands, sustaining fish and wildlife populations, promoting responsible energy development, connecting people to nature and partnering with tribal governments on education and conservation.

Brian joined the National Wildlife Federation in 2015 after about 10 years with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, where he most recently served as a senior manager focused on policy and planning initiatives. Brian has also served as Colorado’s natural areas program manager, overseeing a statewide, science-driven natural resource conservation effort focused on species and habitat protection. He was a scientific consultant for the Colorado State Forest Service, researcher at the University of Colorado-Boulder and has experience in inner-city, school-based and outdoor science education. Brian earned a master’s degree in science from CU-Boulder, with concentrations in forest ecology and biogeography, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Kurzel has lived in Colorado for 17 years and worked in conservation, science and education for the past 20 years. He is an avid mountaineer, backpacker and gardener, and on weekends you can find Brian, his wife, and their two children exploring the great outdoors!