2023 Barry A. Long Award Recipient

Barb Horn
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (retired)

Barb Horn is an incredible leader, mentor, colleague, and friend. Barb has worked on water quality issues since 1986 as a Water Resource Specialist for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. She founded Colorado River Watch as a mechanism to obtain water quality data for the Clean Water Act in Colorado. This citizen science annually monitors over 600 stations on over 400 rivers in Colorado for chemical, physical and biological parameters, collaborating with 140 groups, most of which are secondary schools. She has been involved in state, regional and national leadership, including Co- Chair of the Colorado Water Quality Monitoring Council, two terms as Volunteer Monitoring representative on the National Water Quality Monitoring Council, nine years on River Network Board, and served on a National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) committee advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency how to integrate citizen science. Barb embodies a philosophy that we are stronger together, we all have something to learn from and can teach others. She naturally fosters community and cultivates safe spaces to grow. These are qualities she has built further in retirement as she works towards justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion both for the Council and the field at large.

Barry Long was a hydrologist and water quality specialist with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service. In June 2000, Barry was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. His colleagues and supporters were moved by the tremendous perseverance, spirit, and courage he displayed during his long struggle with the disease. Barry continued his career as a tactful advocate for the protection of water resources and through his work on the Council, which included organizing the 2010 National Monitoring Conference in Denver, Colorado. In his memory, the Council established the Barry A. Long award to honor an individual who has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, positive spirit, and significant contributions to water resource protection.