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Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Science at the Top Fall Newsletter 2017 Dear RMBL Members, Friends, and Community, Aspens, photo by David Inouye, Ph.D. RMBL Board of Trustees One of the primary themes that emerged Currently RMBL does not have sufficient staff to Kailen Mooney • President from this summer’s Board meeting is the desire realize its potential. From supporting long-term re- Kurt Giesselman • Vice President to put RMBL on a sustainable basis. Before in- search projects, to handling the crush of summer activ- Diane Campbell • Secretary vesting in expanding our facilities or our pro- ities, to providing technical support for a wide range of Brian Wildes • Treasurer Cindy Carlisle | Aimée Classen grams the Board articulated a desire to make computer systems, RMBL has lots of opportunities to improve the support we provide students and scientists. Beverly Griffith | John Haley certain we can do a good job of maintaining our Unfortunately Crested Butte is an expensive place. Tem McElroy | Gary Weed existing levels of support for students and scien- Not only does Gunnison County have the highest tists. What does this involve? RMBL Staff healthcare costs in the country but housing is expen- Operating RMBL on a sustainable basis involves (listed alphabetically) sive. The flipside is that many people want to live in addressing two different issues. First it is important to billy barr Crested Butte. The combination of a strong commu- Accountant maintain the existing infrastructure and replace it when nity and exciting academic environment makes RMBL Ian Billick necessary. While RMBL will always depend in part on Executive Director an attractive organization to work for. No one needs to fundraising for major building replacements or renova- Ann Colbert get rich working at RMBL; we just need to provide a tions, many investments need to be made annually out Youth Programs Manager living wage. of our operating budget. Amy Ellwein While RMBL has had a lot of recent success, we Director of Science For example, access to the internet and email is Communications & Engagement have a ways to go before we will provide a high quali- a critical service that students and scientists depend Rick Horn ty of service to students and scientists year in and year Gothic Store & Visitor Center Manager upon. It takes a server, a firewall, and radios to keep the out. As RMBL’s Board looks into the future they will Steve Jennison system working. Without maintaining and upgrading Facilities Director be talking about how to cover these basic costs of oper- the system on a regular basis, the ability of scientists Gesa Michel ation without putting an undue burden on the students to connect to the internet quickly degrades. In a sim- Operations & Finance Director and scientists. There will be discussion of growing our ilar fashion, we must make annual investments in the Francesca Marchese & Ben Adams endowment, expanding programs outside summer to Dining Hall Co-Managers buildings (from backed up sewer lines to maintaining take advantage of our facilities, increasing annual giving, Sarah Oktay electrical systems), research equipment such as micro- Director of Institutional Advancement and looking for other creative solutions. scopes and mapping units, and our vehicles. Jennifer Pierson Raising money for annual operations and endow- Development Coordinator Staffing is also an important part of sustainability. ment is a challenge. It can be easier to target funding Jennifer Reithel Operating facilities in a remote location that receives Science Director for buildings or one-time projects. But as RMBL moves 450 inches of snow each year is no simple task, espe- Samantha Siegfried into the future, it will be critical that we take on the cially when we typically have less than a month after the Operations Coordinator harder task of making RMBL sustainable. Supporting snow melts to be fully operational. And because sum- Shannon Sprott field science, especially the largest collection of long- GIS/GPS Coordinator mer operations are unique it takes at least three years term studies, has never been more important! Pepe Valian for even highly qualified staff to get up to speed. I joke Facilities Coordinator that the first summer can feel like getting hit by a bus. The second summer staff should be able to see the bus “In a rapidly changing world, coming and be able to step out of the way. By the third RMBL sustains our quality summer they should be driving it. The combination of Ian Billick, Ph.D. of life by accelerating discoveries about the ecosystems that replenish the unique facilities with a slow learning curve puts a pre- RMBL Executive Director world’s air, water, and food supplies.” mium on retaining staff in order to maintain efficient operations and a high level of service. Cover photo: Bumblebee photo from RMBL Archives 2 RMBL FALL NEWSLETTER 2017 Profile of an Undergraduate Student at RMBL: Timothy Barnes How did you hear about RMBL? it can be boring, you never really know how your I was first informed about RMBL while taking day will go, and that excites me. I would also like a Biology of Organisms course at Chaffey Commu- to continue lab work in the future, although not nity College in Rancho Cucamonga. Robin Ikeda, as exciting as field work, having the structure of a my professor at the time, noticed my interest in lab is nice. It gives order and some structure to a research and my affinity for the local mountains hectic field season, and keeps field work fresh and and recommended looking into the REU program exciting. offered at RMBL. After hearing Robin’s experi- Tell us a little about yourself. What ences at RMBL, and reading what RMBL offered university do you attend and what you are for undergraduate students I knew that I wanted thinking about career wise? to attend. I was raised in Upland, California in Southern What sort of work and research do you do? California. I got the equivalent of a high school While at RMBL I worked for the Whiteman degree at the age of 16, and then started at Chaf- Lab, led by Dr. Noah Whiteman, with Nicolas fey Community College. I spend three years there Alexandre, a Ph.D. student from the lab at the studying biology, and this fall I transferred to UC University of California Berkeley, on Broad-Tailed Berkeley. At Berkeley, I am majoring in Microbial Hummingbirds. This involved capture and han- Timothy Barnes, photo by Jimmy Lee, Ph.D. Biology with an emphasis on evolution and com- dling of the hummingbirds along with several putational genomics. I am in the process of joining measurements, and then release of the humming- ponds may affect global warming, and the potential the Whiteman lab at Berkeley, and continuing to bird. Over the summer I looked at associations of for these ponds to speed up climate change. The work with Nicolas. After undergrad, I hope to en- morphological features with pollen presences and research team from Allegheny University has done ter into a graduate program, but I am not sure what absence. Back at Berkeley I will soon be assisting a lot of work with these ponds, and have made a I want to focus on just yet. After graduate school I Nicolas with looking for the genes that are associ- lot of interesting discoveries during their time re- would want to teach, but I am not sure if I would ated with the morphological traits that we meas- searching the boreal ponds near Gothic. Before want to teach at a community college or at a larger ured. This will entail sequencing the DNA of the meeting this amazing group of people, I did not university. sampled hummingbirds, and then a genome-wide give ponds a lot of thought in regards to climate The Ryan Brown Fellowship was critical to my association study (GWAS) to look for associations change, but now I take more time to look at the big attendance at RMBL. Without financial assistance, between genes and morphological traits in the picture and how everything is connected. Seeming- RMBL is no small investment for students or their Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds. ly small things can have a dramatic impact on the families. This fellowship enables students to attend global scale. What do you like best about living and RMBL without a large financial burden weighing What advice would you give to on them while they work. I cannot express how working at Gothic? grateful I am to have been the 2017 Ryan Brown What comes to mind first is the location. It other students? Fellowship recipient. The opportunities that were offers amazing views from any place, adventure The number one piece of advice I got while given to me as a result of this fellowship will affect around every corner, and an unparalleled opportu- at RMBL, and now something I live by is to take me for the rest of my life. nity to connect with nature. However, what I loved breaks. This might seem like a simple thing to do, the most about living in Gothic was definitely the but it is one of the most important things you can The Ryan Brown people. People come from across the country to do for yourself. Burn out is a very real thing, and Fellowship was work at the field station, and everyone you meet everyone will experience it at some point. You can- established by Ginny has an amazing story to tell about how they came not give 110% effort all the time. You need to step and Ken Brown to be at Gothic. Everyone was incredibly friend- back from your work and rest.

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