Sue (Bookhout) Melus grew up in Cazenovia, NY and has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley on the Western Slope of Colorado for over thirteen years. Sue is married to Glenn Melus who is a top fly-fishing wade guide, fly casting instructor and custom fly tier in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Sue is an avid outdoors woman and has a wealth of experience in the field. She raised and trained two German shorthaired pointers with which she hunts, competes in field trials and occasionally guides upland hunts. Sue is also shotgun enthusiast and is certified to teach the NRA's basic shotgun class.
Sue and Glenn fly fish the gold-medal trout waters and archery and rifle hunt for elk in the mountains surrounding their home in Carbondale, CO.
Sue Melus has a B.S. degree in Natural Resources from Cornell University. Her professional experience includes forest ecology research assistant at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, naturalist at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, forest health biotech for the U.S. Forest Service, and Director of Operations at the Aspen Global Change Institute.
Prior to opening Melus Outdoors, LLC, Sue was employed at Backbone Media, a PR and marketing firm that specializes in the outdoor industry. She was the in-house "hook and bullet" guru and her accounts included Sitka Gear, Brunton, Gerber, Simms Fishing Products and Nite Ize.
Sue is the outdoor writer for her local newspaper the Sopris Sun. She has also written for the NWTF's Turkey Country and for the Bird Hunting Report. She was an editor and co-author on the first of its kind report, Climate Change in Aspen: An Assessment of Impacts and Potential Responses. In her free time, Sue enjoys training her dogs and writing, photographing, and drawing and painting the sporting life and the natural world around her. Read more of her writing at her blog, Deerfly Diaries.
RESUME
EDUCATION
Cornell University, B.S. Natural Resources, 1990
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, 1993
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Melus Outdoors, LLC, 2009 - Present, Owner
Backbone Media, 2007-2009, PR Account Executive
Aspen Global Change Institute, 2003-2007, Director of Operations
Scenic Mesa Ranch, 2005 - 2006, Upland Hunting Guide
USDA Forest Service, 1996-1998, 2000, Bio Tech R2 Forest Health Mgmt.
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, 1996-1997, Naturalist
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, 1994-1996, Research Assistant to forest ecologist
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), 2009 Business Conference
Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), 2007 Business Conference
University of St. Thomas, Mini-MBA in Nonprofit Management, 2006
Stanford University Publishing on the Web, 2005
Colorado Mountain College, Fundamentals of Website Design, 2003
CURRENT CERTIFICATION
American Heart Association Basic First Aid & CPR
MEMBERSHIP
Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
National Shooting Sports Foundation
German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America
Colorado Bowhunters' Association
National Wild Turkey Federation, Women in the Outdoors
