Category: Community

A Legal System for Everyone: My Summer at Cottonwood Environmental Law Center – Bella Amell

Posted on by Josh Blake

As the first in my family to attend college, the legal system is admittedly very intimidating to me. Even considering going to law school feels like a massive undertaking. An undertaking that I, as someone born and raised in a small town, feel massively underprepared to take on. The pre-law students I know are mostly Read more about A Legal System for Everyone: My Summer at Cottonwood Environmental Law Center – Bella Amell[…]

Reciprocity & the Research Process – Carine Rofshus

Posted on by Josh Blake

Pueblo pottery signifies a reciprocal relationship between humans and clay, which is considered a sacred gift from Mother Earth. Before gathering clay, permission is asked, a prayer, and an offering are given to the Earth. Nuch-ochu-quijo, Unripe-earth-old-lady, then joins the potter in the creation process to form a new being, who takes its form as Read more about Reciprocity & the Research Process – Carine Rofshus[…]

First Month in the Field and Yellowstone Trip – Myroslav Bur

Posted on by Josh Blake

My first time stepping onto the soil of sagebrush-dominated steppe was a breathtaking experience for me, someone who grew up among the limitless forests of northern Ukraine. The contrast between this arid, open, mountainous landscape and the dense woods commonly observed during my entire lifetime still leaves me with admiration. Seeing the Wind River Range Read more about First Month in the Field and Yellowstone Trip – Myroslav Bur[…]

Mormon Cricket Virtual Reality and My Fieldwork Roadside Reality Show (with an Audience of Usually No One) – Li Murphy

Posted on by Josh Blake

They Call Me the Cricket Drifter This summer, I’m investigating the behavioral ecology of Anabrus simplex, also known, perhaps regrettably, as the Mormon cricket*. Locally, I’ve become known as “The Cricket Lady” and, more dubiously, “The Bug Gut Drifter,” thanks to an experiment involving a slick of hemolymph and my truck during a rainstorm. (A Read more about Mormon Cricket Virtual Reality and My Fieldwork Roadside Reality Show (with an Audience of Usually No One) – Li Murphy[…]

The kindness of strangers in the remote open prairies—Isabella Goodman

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The northern great plains aren’t the most social space, they aren’t your typical eco-tourism destination, and the vast endless wide-open space doesn’t necessarily cultivate a lot of human-to-human interactions. We sometimes go hours without seeing another car.  This became apparent at the first site of my field work campaign. I am driving from southern Saskatchewan Read more about The kindness of strangers in the remote open prairies—Isabella Goodman[…]

Yarning: An Indigenous Knowledge Approach to Ethnographic Methods with Heritage Lands Collective—Carine Rofshus

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

My first week with Heritage Lands Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to integrating Indigenous Knowledges (IK) into Tribal co-management of ancestral lands, was spent at the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah. Bears Ears is the ancestral homelands of the Hopi, Ute, Navajo, Rio Grande Pueblos, and the Zuni. Joseph Gazing Wolf (Lakota/Amazigh/Nubian) and Read more about Yarning: An Indigenous Knowledge Approach to Ethnographic Methods with Heritage Lands Collective—Carine Rofshus[…]

Lessons from a Minolta X-700 —Alaina Geibig

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

My dad captured nearly my entire childhood on grainy-textured, saturated film prints. Recently, with him moving from the far side of Colorado, we endeavored to trim the photo contents of four sagging storage tubs. It was a slow task of recollection, necessitating hot tea and stories. With containers half-sorted, I noticed that the film record Read more about Lessons from a Minolta X-700 —Alaina Geibig[…]

Harnessing Wildland Firefighting for Risk Mitigation and Resiliency – Aidan Lyde

Posted on by Josh Blake

The sky turned a muted orange. Then the ash started falling. It fell down from the sky like snowflakes, coating every surface in a blackened soot. The wind picked up, carrying twirling debris along with it. A smoky haze filled the air that clutched your throat and stung your eyes. Noon became midnight, and for Read more about Harnessing Wildland Firefighting for Risk Mitigation and Resiliency – Aidan Lyde[…]

Using Science, Mapping, and Innovation to Foster Human-Beaver Coexistence in Montana — Xiaofan Shen

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

As the biggest rodent on land, beavers are remarkable engineers, transforming landscapes with their dam-building expertise. These excellent hydrologists create ponds that profoundly impact annual streamflow, stream velocity and groundwater recharge (Naiman et al., 1988; Pollock et al., 2015). Beyond habitats for beavers, these ponds also stand as the central hubs for dynamic wetland ecosystems.   Read more about Using Science, Mapping, and Innovation to Foster Human-Beaver Coexistence in Montana — Xiaofan Shen[…]

Enhancing Public Transit in Crested Butte, Colorado—Kathleen Maeder

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Crested Butte, a mountain town located high in the Colorado Rockies, prides itself as a community infused with creativity, authenticity, and a deep sense of connection to the Town’s unique history and character. Yet the Town is at a crossroads: to preserve the qualities that make Crested Butte so beloved, it must reduce its car Read more about Enhancing Public Transit in Crested Butte, Colorado—Kathleen Maeder[…]

Keeping Track of Ungulate Trails— Jeremy D. Pustilnik

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

At the end of the 20th century, scientists dissolved Ungulata. “Ungulata” was not a brand of dish soap or a chemical, rather, it was a taxonomic grouping that described “hoofed mammals.” Molecular evidence showed that elephants were only distantly related, and that whales were actually very closely related, to such animals as horses and cattle Read more about Keeping Track of Ungulate Trails— Jeremy D. Pustilnik[…]

Mapping Beaver Conflicts: A Step Toward Coexistence— Xiaofan Shen

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

This fall, I found myself immersed in the world of beavers, data points, and digital maps. As a research assistant with Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative, I am collaborating with the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Program (BCRP) at the National Wildlife Federation to leverage geospatial tools to visualize beaver conflicts and highlight effective mitigation solutions Read more about Mapping Beaver Conflicts: A Step Toward Coexistence— Xiaofan Shen[…]

Parking Reform as a Pillar for a Sustainable Transportation Transformation— Joshua Hernandez

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

Crested Butte, Colorado is a small town of less than 2,000 people nestled in the Rocky Mountains, over 220 miles southwest of Denver. A former coal mining town, Crested Butte draws locals and tourists alike as the gateway to the nearby Crested Butte Mountain Resort for skiing and snowboarding. Town leadership is balancing transportation needs Read more about Parking Reform as a Pillar for a Sustainable Transportation Transformation— Joshua Hernandez[…]

Desolation Canyon—Alex Wells

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Over my summer as a Western Resource Fellow with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), I spent my time diving into some of the complexities of implementing stream restoration in the West. Whether that was creating outreach materials to communicate the relevance of stream restoration to water rights holders or developing a tool for the NFF Read more about Desolation Canyon—Alex Wells[…]

The dynamics of an ending field season, why soundscape conservation matters for people and nature and unfiltered love—Joshua Kesling

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The end of a field season can yield a suite of emotions. For some, the transition from field settings to temperature and humidity-controlled data organization and refinement centers (namely, our homes, offices, and corner coffee joints) brings unfettered joy. In others, the changing gears reminds us of the time we spent waist-deep in high alpine Read more about The dynamics of an ending field season, why soundscape conservation matters for people and nature and unfiltered love—Joshua Kesling[…]