Who We Are

Velma L. Campbell, MD, MPH

Velma lives in Pueblo and has since 1988.  She is a physician, board certified in occupational and environmental medicine.  Velma serves on the Colorado Sierra Club Board, is a member of Mothers Out Front, and has been active with PSR CO in Pueblo regarding renewable energy, climate impacts, and recently to address the threat of nuclear power there.  She is a member of the National PSR Environmental and Health Committee.  Velma has long admired PSR and its national work as social and environmental justice are very close to her heart since a very young age during her time living in the South.  It was there that she came to realize that the same systemic structures which produce poverty, racism, and exploitation also produce the unsafe jobs, pollution, and climate change that disproportionately burden communities and impact us all by making our world unlivable.

Barbara Donachy, BA, MPH (Treasurer)

Ms. Donachy has a Masters degree from the Colorado School of Public Health and is a co-founder of PSR Colorado.  She is dedicated to evaluating the health impacts of environmental threats and has worked on public health projects in Nicaragua and Bolivia. She is currently retired and serves on the board of 350 Colorado working on issues related to climate change, fracking and environmental justice. She is also an artist, graphic designer, mother and grandmother. She has been a member of PSR since 1982 when she began production of Amber Waves of Grain, a 30,000 piece ceramic installation representing the US nuclear arsenal.

“In the 1980s we were on the brink of nuclear holocaust and now we are on the brink of a climate catastrophe. Throughout, PSR has been a loud and important voice for our people and planet and I am honored to be a part.”

Bridget Foy, MD Candidate

Ms. Foy is a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology with a focus on Environmental studies from UCLA in 2020, where she researched ocean temperature warming and overfishing impacts in French Polynesia's coral reef ecosystem. She began working with PSR Colorado as a medical student liaison in January 2022 and is excited to continue combining her enthusiasm for environmental education with her passion for medicine as a PSR Colorado Board member. Bridget is committed to raising physician and provider awareness about the inequities of environmental impacts on the healthcare of minority and underserved communities. She continues to channel her passion into advocating for meaningful change and raising awareness about the urgent need for environmental justice.

Elizabeth Gillespie, MD

Dr. Gillespie is an ABIM-certified Hospitalist at Denver Health Medical Center, and Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine at University of Colorado - Anschutz.  Her primary professional interest is in clinical research and education surrounding the climate and health nexus, with particular focus on understanding the ideal role for local health systems in climate change mitigation and adaptation.  As Director of Undergraduate Medical Education for CU-School of Medicine Climate and Health Program, Beth collaborates closely with students and program directors to integrate planetary health concepts across the medical school curriculum. 

She represented the Society of General Internal Medicine on the Steering Committee for The Medical Consortium on Climate Change and Health and co-chairs the Environmental Sustainability Program at Denver Health. 

Alongside her family, you might find her playing/commuting in Denver on foot and bike, or camping/riding/trail running in the mountains and foothills of this beautiful state.  

Ken Lichtenstein, MD (Chair)

Dr. Lichtenstein is a retired Infectious Diseases specialist who focused on the care of HIV-infected individuals and performed HIV research in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the last 40 years.  In the 1980’s he served as president of an earlier PSR Colorado chapter and as President of PSR National.  In that capacity, he I had the opportunity to testify before the House Armed Services Committee concerning the health impact of nuclear weapons production.  I was appointed to serve on the Nuclear Complex Cleanup Committee and was a member of the Rocky Flats Health Advisory Panel. 

He is married and have two children and two grandchildren.  In addition to his concerns about the medical consequences of nuclear war, he is very concerned about the medical consequences of environmental degradation and climate change.

  I live by the activist’s watchword: “Think globally, act locally”.

David Mintzer, MD (Secretary)

Dr. Mintzer is a hospitalist at a safety net hospital who spent most of 2020 and 2021 treating COVID-19 patients. He is acutely aware how social inequities and environmental injustices contribute to disparate health outcomes in Colorado. Over the years, he has been involved in advocacy work to oppose highway expansions through minority neighborhoods that exacerbate air pollution and respiratory illness as well as to promote healthier and more equitable transportation alternatives such as transit, biking and walking. As a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, he values advocacy for underserved communities that are disproportionately affected by air pollution and climate change.

Sharon Montes, MD

Dr. Montes is a physician with UCHealth and the founder of Living Well Whole Health.  As Medical Director for the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine, she directed the team that created a showcase center for providing integrative medical care in an academic environment. She also had an active clinical practice and participated in teaching students, residents, fellows. She was active in community outreach programs and served as Medical Director of Rose and AF Williams Family Medicine Centers – University of Colorado School of Medicine; Arlington Community Health Center.  Sharon's work combines a researcher’s brain knowledge of medical and organizational systems and the experience in western science with a healer’s heart.

Deborah Segaloff, PhD

Dr. Segaloff is a Ph.D. biomedical research scientist who recently retired from a position as Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics and a member of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa School of Medicine. Her research was in the field of reproductive endocrinology, with certain aspects of her studies interfacing with cancer research.

For many years Debbie has been concerned about the increasing threat of human-caused climate change. Upon retiring and moving to Colorado, she quickly learned of environmental issues specific to this area and, from a personal perspective, very close to home. Firstly, there is Rocky Flats, a former manufacturing site of plutonium triggers for atomic weapons. Not only was the industrial site only minimally cleaned up after is closure, areas surrounding the site were not cleaned up at all and remain contaminated with plutonium and other carcinogens, thereby posing significant health hazards. Secondly, in Colorado there is extensive oil and gas development, including in more recent years hydraulic fracturing, activities that pose risks not only to our environment and climate, but to our health as well. In light of these issues, Debbie has become actively engaged in education and advocacy for public health, viewing these actions as increasingly vital to securing a safer environment for ourselves and for future generations.

Harv Teitelbaum

Mr. Teitelbaum received his master of arts degree in Environmental Studies and Ecopsychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He also holds a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from Regis University in Denver. Harv was an adjunct instructor of Environmental Science for ten years. Before entering the formal teaching profession, he worked with the Colorado Division of Wildlife for five years giving wildlife education workshops and writing curricula on Colorado's biodiversity, ecosystems, and river monitoring and was Executive Director of a local Soil and Natural Resources Conservation District.

He lives with his wife (a semi-retired psychiatrist) and three dogs in the foothills of the Rockies in a Ponderosa pine forest, on which he practices sustainable forestry for fire mitigation and for his home’s biofuel back-up to geothermal and solar panels. He leads groups into the canopy and teaches climbing skills as Tree Climbing Colorado, LLC.  Harv is one of about a dozen recognized master recreational tree climbing instructors in the world and was founding president of the nonprofit Global Organization of Tree Climbers (GOTC).