We sat down with Cheryl Cwelich, RMBL development manager extraordinaire, to chat about her path from the Colorado Front Range to the Gunnison Valley, the experiences that shaped her passion for conservation and the outdoors, and the power of long-term ecological research. Read on to learn what inspires Cheryl’s work — and what she loves most about being part of the RMBL family.

RMBL: What led to your love of the outdoors and interest in conservation? 

Cheryl: I grew up on Colorado’s Front Range, and my grandparents from Texas would visit Crested Butte and Gunnison every summer. I have a lot of nostalgia for learning to fly fish with my grandfather on the Gunnison River and hiking with my grandmother while looking at wildflowers and hummingbirds in Crested Butte. 

My dad was an Eagle Scout, and even though he grew up in New York City, he had a deep love of hiking in the mountains, the outdoors, and maps. I give him a lot of kudos for working a full-time job and then getting the family out on the weekend — and getting a very young Cheryl interested in hiking and rocks. When you have that love of the outdoors, you start to want to protect it.

I’ll also share a story: When I was growing up in Denver, we had a huge lilac bush, and monarch butterflies would cover it each spring. But there were fewer butterflies every year, and by the time my parents sold that house, when I was 19, maybe one or two butterflies would visit. I started to learn about climate change and got very interested in doing more than just talking about it — I wanted to get involved in helping address what we could do to mitigate its impacts. 

RMBL: What brought you to the Gunnison Valley? 

Cheryl: After doing accounting for 10-plus years, I worked as a ski patroller and also as a seasonal ranger on the Arkansas River in Salida. That’s when I started to get a big interest in water management issues and decided to go back to school.

I thought, “Where can I find a program that weaves these water and conservation interests together?” I found that at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, through the Environment and Sustainability Program. I got a degree in Environment and Sustainability, with a focus in water policy and resilience, and a minor in recreation and outdoor education. I got to live in this place that I had so much nostalgia for, that was very outdoors-focused, and that also had programming for water policy and resilience, which, to this day, I still think is critically important. 

That’s one reason why it’s rewarding to work at RMBL: because we have these incredible data sets on snowpack and watershed health and resilience that we can share with water resource managers to help them with decision-making. 

RMBL: What was your first experience with RMBL? 

Cheryl:  It was years ago. I was on a tour that the Land Trust and RMBL hosted together, exploring the life of native bees, and my mind was blown. I did not realize that honey bees were not native bees. I didn’t realize many native bees are solitary, or that [hundreds] of distinct species of bees live in Crested Butte. It’s why it’s so cool to now share these tours with other people — whether they’re donors, supporters, or community members — and talk about the amazing world that we live in, and the incredible research that is happening at RMBL. 

RMBL: When and why did you join the staff? 

Cheryl: I started full-time in August 2025. I was doing a remote job that was impacted by the federal funding landscape at the time, and when I saw the opportunity at RMBL pop up, I was just like, “Wow! This is such an incredible opportunity to be able to join RMBL and also help rebuild — dare I say it? — faith in science at a time when science has experienced so many challenges.”

It’s actually really simple. By making observations of our natural world over a long period — observations like, “How many flowers are blooming today? How many bees do I see today? How much precipitation did I get today?” — we begin to better understand the world we rely on and make better decisions about how to take care of it. 

RMBL: What’s your role at RMBL? 

Cheryl: As the development manager, I focus on fundraising, events, and outreach, which is really exciting, because I can get people excited about science and education. Tours I went on myself back in the day are ones I now get to share with people.

RMBL has had organizational independence since 1928. It doesn’t have oversight from the government or a university, which allows space for scientists to follow the data. While it’s really beautiful, it also creates challenges for us around our funding. We do get grants, they make up about 10% of our funding. So for me, being able to raise money for an organization that has been advancing science and scientific discovery and transformational education is really meaningful. 

RMBL:  Favorite part of the job? 

Cheryl: I love when I’m out talking with folks, whether it’s about the “water towers of the West,” meaning the mountains around Crested Butte, or native bees — and seeing them get excited about this amazing place that we live in, and the science that we do around it. It’s awesome seeing the light bulb go off: “Science matters!”  

— Suzanne Ennis
Communications Manager
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory