RMBL Staff
Jeni Blacklock
Executive Director
Jeni moved to Crested Butte in 2020 to serve as Dean of the WCU/CU Engineering Partnership Program. She connected with RMBL in 2022 through scientific collaborations and her two sons' participation in RMBL's K-12 summer science programs.
Jeni holds degrees in Engineering Management and Manufacturing Engineering from Miami University, a Master’s in Bioengineering, and a PhD earned through a Fulbright Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.
She has worked at NIST, Colorado School of Mines, CU Boulder, and Western Colorado University, establishing innovative programs across academic institutions. Jeni lives full-time in Crested Butte with her husband Greg and their two sons.
Christie Hicks
Chief Operating Officer
Christie has called Crested Butte home since 2010 and joined RMBL as the Chief Operating Officer in 2026. Her career has spanned science, education, outdoor leadership, and nonprofit management, with a common thread of connecting people to the natural world and building organizations that support meaningful work.
Before joining RMBL, Christie served as the Executive Director of Crested Butte Nordic and previously led outdoor education programs at Western Colorado University and Canyonlands Field Institute. She holds a B.A. in Molecular Biology from Pomona College and an M.S. in Environmental Education from Lesley University. When she's not at RMBL, Christie enjoys exploring the mountains and rivers around Crested Butte with her family by ski, boat, bike, or even on foot.
Jess Dauchy
Consulting Chief Financial Officer
Jess joined RMBL in February 2024 as a part-time CFO through CFO Selections, a finance and business consulting firm. Jess has a BS in Mathematics from Haverford College and an MBA from the University of Colorado. For the past 15 years, Jess has served as CFO, COO, and similar roles with a variety of nonprofit organizations. Jess’s role at RMBL mainly focuses on analyzing and presenting high-level financial information. Outside of work, Jess is an adventurer at heart who is often outside skiing, climbing, hiking with her husband and dog, and more recently, learning how to mountain bike.
Steve Jennison
Facilities Director
Steve joined RMBL as the Facilities Director in May, 2017. Steve grew up in Colorado and has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He spent over 25 years working in heavy civil construction, primarily building municipal water and wastewater treatment plants along Colorado's Front Range. After several years attempting to live part-time in the valley, Steve and his wife Alice moved the family to Crested Butte in 2013. In his free time Steve enjoys skiing, mountain biking and chasing after daughter Siri, son Tor and puppy Kelso.
Jennifer Reithel, PhD
Science Director
Jennie first came to RMBL in 1993 as an undergraduate, working on bee behavior research. Since then, she's been a winter caretaker, graduate student, and instructor at RMBL. She received a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the Univ California at Irvine. She became RMBL’s first Science Director in 2007. She and her husband, Ian, raised two boys, Cormac and Giles, in Crested Butte and Gothic. She enjoys hiking, bee-watching, botanizing, and socializing in the RMBL dining hall.
Ben Calvin
Finance Director
Ben joined the RMBL team in 2019. He is a graduate of Western Colorado University with degrees in Accounting, Business, and Economics and has been working in non-profit accounting for over 8 years. A passionate outdoorsman, Ben takes full advantage of the incredible recreation opportunities in the Gunnison-Crested Butte area. Whether whitewater rafting in the summer or skiing in the winter, he loves exploring the region's natural beauty and being a part of the mountain community.
John Hausdoerffer, PhD
Consulting Director of Story and Advancement
John moved to the Gunnison Basin in 1992 seeking deeper snow than his homeland near the Pocono Mountains. Now, he joins our team hoping to protect snow—and everything that snow nourishes—by elevating climate science. John’s doctorate, his quarter-century as a professor, and the six books he has published have all focused on the environmental humanities. In other words, John has dedicated his career to discovering how the power of story translates science into ecological ethics. John also runs the Philosophy Program at Western Colorado University, where he has taught environmental ethics and philosophy of science since 2001. At Western, John has also served as the founding Dean of the Clark Family School of Environment and Sustainability and as the founding Director of the Master's in Environmental Management. When not in Gothic or at Western, John can be found skiing with his daughters (year-round) in the Elk Mountains surrounding Crested Butte.
Katie Harper
Director of Operations
Katie comes to RMBL with a combined 15 years of domestic and international experience in the hospitality industry and a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University. After spending 5 years in Germany working with the Department of Defense and NATO in various hospitality roles, she and her husband decided to switch gears and move to Crested Butte in 2015. Along with spending time with her husband, Brady, son Hollis, and their cats, Boris & Dolores, she enjoys skiing, hiking, camping, multiple book clubs, and trivia nights.
Ian Breckheimer, PhD
Research Scientist in Spatial Ecology and Data Synthesis
Dr. Ian Breckheimer is a landscape ecologist and Research Scientist at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Originally from Saluda, North Carolina, Ian and his wife Lizza moved to the Gunnison Valley from Cambridge, Massachusetts after Ian's 2-year stint as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. Ian’s research focuses on how landscapes (and the plants and people that live there) are adapting to global change. Much of his work links field measurements of ecological processes such as plant growth and flowering to their landscape context via imagery collected from drones, airplanes, and satellites.
billy barr
Accountant
billy has a BS in Environmental Science from Rutgers. He came to RMBL in 1972 and has worked in the library, food service and plant, starting the accounting in 1980. Also worked for CO avalanche center for 30 years and was on a fire fighting hot shot crew for 5. A founder and board member of the Gothic Cricket Club.
Jen Pierson
Bookkeeper
Jen started at RMBL in the summer of 2013; prior to her role as Bookkeeper, Jen was our Development Coordinator, Gothic Store Manager and Visitor Center Guide. Jen has a degree in Geology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and worked at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. When Jen is not hiking or xc skiing in our beautiful mountains you can find her with her 'better half' Barry and their many pets!
Rick Horn
Gothic Store and Visitor Center Manager
Rick first joined us in the summer of 2014 as an Information Specialist with the CB/Mt. CB Chamber of Commerce conducting daily tours of the Gothic town site and welcoming RMBL guests, and summer residents, to the Weldon and Rosalie Weekley Visitor Center and Store. This summer he and his staff will be cheerfully serving up the RMBL message along with tasty treats; one-of-a-kind goods; and travel advice to those on an adventure. Rick grew up in Des Moines and has a BBA-Marketing from the University of Iowa. He spent more than 20 years as a VP and COO with Applebee’s International, Inc. and D’Amico & Partners, Inc. until he, and his wife Susan, moved to Grand Junction, Colorado from Minneapolis in 2002. He joined the Crested Butte Mountain Resort Ski & Ride School as an Adult Alpine Instructor in 2004, after purchasing a condo in Skyland, where he continues to pursue his lifelong passion for teaching, coaching, and sliding on snow. If you can’t find Rick at the Gothic Store this summer, you may find him on his bike, or out enjoying the “high alpine” around Crested Butte.
Katie Lawn
Youth Programs Manager
Katie joined RMBL in 2018 as a Youth Programs Instructor and Visitor Center Staff and now serves as the Youth Programs Manager. Katie earned her B.S. in Outdoor Education and Geography from Appalachian State University after completing a semester at National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, WY. She then spent 15 years enjoying the diversity of the southern Appalachians while working as a park ranger in the South Carolina State Park Service and an instructor and camp director for a science education nonprofit. She found her next home here in the Gunnison Valley while working as an Education Ranger at Curecanti National Recreation Area and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. When not connecting youth to nature and science, you might find Katie soaking up wildflower season, floating down rivers, going on full moon ski adventures, and taking weekend camping trips in search of hot springs with her dog Pretzel.
Benjamin Schmatz
Facilities Manager & Science Support Technician
Benn grew up in Kansas City. The love for the mountain West, fostered by his parents and grandparents, drew him to Denver to study Engineering Physics at the Colorado School of Mines. While at school he studied hard, most of the time, and spent the balance of his time in the mountains: hiking, skiing, and leading groups of youngins’ into the mountains at YMCA Camp Chief Ouray in Granby, CO. Upon graduation, he made his way to the Gunnison Valley and first heard about The Lab while working at the Crested Butte Nordic Center. In his current position he does everything from snaking drains to keep the water flowing to fixing sensitive scientific equipment to keep the data flowing.
Dr. Rosemary J. Smith
Education Programs Manager and RMBL PI
Rosemary's hometowns are Pocatello, Idaho, and Gothic, Colorado. She first experienced RMBL in 1983 as an undergraduate student and has returned every summer since. She studied chipmunks and golden mantled ground squirrel behavior for her MS/Ph.D. (University of Arizona) and later behavioral and ecological studies of burying beetles and small mammals. She served on the faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University and Idaho State University and is recently retired. She is now Professor of Biology, Emerita and works at RMBL as the Education Programs Manager. Over her decades at RMBL she has contributed to the community as a student, scientist, mentor, instructor, Trustee, and staff member. Her current position brings her the most joy, as she can experience RMBL through fresh eyes each summer, introducing students to research, the RMBL community, and her favorite mountains.
Rick Reavis
Interpretive Guide
Rick gained a love of adventure likely from moving around the country twenty eight times during his youth. Settling in Oklahoma, he married his High School sweetheart, Margaret and together they raised three children, now all grown. He completed a Master of Science in Ornamental Horticulture from Oklahoma State University. As a Tenured Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, he spent several years teaching classes in Plant Identification, Landscape Maintenance and General Horticulture. He was founder and owner of a twenty-seven year award-winning landscape development company in Oklahoma. He has been exploring the many plant species found in the Rocky Mountains since the mid-1980s. He is a former president of the board of directors of the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival. Working at the Weldon and Rosalie Weekley Visitor Center and Store brings him much gratitude sharing all RMBL has to offer to the general public. During spare time in the summer, he works as a Wildflower Guide for the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, rides and hikes the many miles of trails around Crested Butte. In the winter, he can be found teaching folks how to ski with better efficiency around the mountain as a Ski Instructor.
Amanda Henderson
GIS Manager and Project Scientist
Amanda first came to RMBL in 2010 with the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. From 2010 to 2017, she worked for RMBL as a research technician and graduate research assistant. Upon graduating from the University of Arizona with a Master of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, she became a full-time Crested Butte resident and RMBL researcher on a Lawrence Berkeley National Lab led project. These collaborative positions led her to her current role at RMBL, which began in 2023. Today, Amanda’s work involves supporting the spatial data program, providing GIS/GPS coordination, and assisting with research administration. Amanda brings over fifteen years of on-the-ground field experience through numerous roles at field stations across the US and abroad. She is unmatched in her ability to educate new scientists on species and ecosystem interactions that take place in the East River valley. Originally from Clackamas, OR, when Amanda is not bringing RMBL science forward, she is out hiking and cross-country skiing with her dog, enjoying the natural beauty and access to the wilderness that only Crested Butte can provide.
Brooke Desposato
Operations Coordinator
Brooke first joined RMBL in 2019 as an undergraduate volunteer. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology and Plant Biology from Michigan State University and completed her master’s degree in Forest and Nature Conservation at Wageningen University & Research. Her research and professional work have primarily focused on landscape ecology, pollinators, citizen science, and project management. In 2025, Brooke returned to RMBL as an Operations Assistant and now serves as Operations Coordinator. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, creating pottery, and spending time with Oscar the cat.
Jo Ann Beine
Community and Title IX Support Specialist
Jo Ann grew up in Littleton, Colorado. For many years she worked as a community college educator, serving as faculty, associate dean, and member of the Civil Rights/Title IX coordination and investigation team. Her career path and work experience also includes retail purchasing/management and healthcare. She has a Master’s degree in Global Affairs, Bachelor’s in Mass Communications and Sociology, and Associate’s in Physical Therapist Assistant.
Jo Ann started at RMBL as a volunteer docent in 2022, began working in the Visitor Center in 2024, and added the Support Specialist position in 2025. Every day she learns from and is inspired by the community that is the heart of RMBL.
When not at RMBL, she loves to hike and explore the awesome landscapes surrounding us. She also enjoys writing, reading, and planning her next travel adventures!
Suzanne Ennis
Communications Manager
Suzanne joined RMBL in 2026 with 25 years of experience as a writer, editor, story developer, and researcher for Houzz, National Geographic TV, and other media partners. Born and raised in New Jersey, she attended Colby College and earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia. After two decades in California, Suzanne moved to Colorado in 2025 and now spends her spare time making pottery, playing in the mountains, and doting on her dogs, Ollie and Beatrix.
Lisa Lucas
Billing & Reservation Specialist
Lisa joined RMBL in 2021 as part of the Development team and currently works with the Finance team as the Billing & Reservation Specialist. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communication and Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA where she grew up and earned a scholarship as a field hockey athlete. She later earned a Master’s Degree in Applied Communication from the University of Denver where she also served as the Associate Director of the Alumni Association. She has spent her career serving a variety of non-profit organizations and enjoys hiking, skiing, reading and spending time with her husband, Mark and their children, Van and Caroline.
Sophia Todorov
Spatial Ecology Research Technician & Winter Caretaker
Sophia is a research technician and winter caretaker at RMBL. She grew up in Corona, California, and studied biology and GIS at UCLA, first arriving at RMBL in 2020 as an undergraduate researcher studying marmot behavior. After earning her B.S. in 2022, she immediately returned to Gothic as a winter caretaker—her first time ever living in a place with snow! She has since spent three winters (and counting) in Gothic and works in Ian Breckheimer's Spatial Ecology Lab, where she has contributed to more than 20 research projects through field + drone data collection and spatial data processing. Her favorite part of working at RMBL is being part of a close-knit community of curious, passionate people who care deeply about science and the environment. Outside of work, Sophia enjoys xc skiing, klunking, watching movies, baking bread, and botanizing.
Mallory Wright
365 Manager
Mallory Wright first fell in love with the mountains during childhood trips to Estes Park, inspiring her to leave Texas and make Colorado home after graduating college from Tarleton State University. She relocated to Crested Butte in 2021 from Woodland Park, Colorado, where she has since developed a strong background in hospitality management. With a lifelong passion for helping others and being outdoors, Mallory spends her free time hiking, fishing, camping, and backpacking in the summer, and skiing through the winter months. She is often accompanied by her two dogs, Oliver and Butters, who keep her busy and are the true epitome of cuteness. If Mallory is not outdoors exploring the mountains, she is trying to rally up a group to host a good round of karaoke.