January 2025 Newsletter
the power of PLACE
Word is out.
Have you ever seen Dr. David Inouye trap a hummingbird? You can. Just find the Rocky Mountain PBS online video “Gothic’s Outdoor Science Lab.” Thanks to programs like this, anyone can tune in and watch science happen. Media coverage of RMBL research puts science news in front of non-scientists. And the more non-scientists see how science affects their lives, the more they’re motivated to support it. Or even advocate for it.
For this reason, getting the word out to the public is critically important. Happily, this past year was a good one for RMBL’s media exposure. In the list of the 2024 media coverage that follows, RMBL is publicized by the Associated Press, NPR, Smithsonian Magazine, and MSNBC, among other mainstream outlets.
Ian Billick | PhD
Executive Director, RMBL
sciencestories
RMBL in the news
In 2024, RMBL received over 200 media mentions spanning numerous media platforms. The most widely distributed story of the year was a piece on billy barr by the Associated Press. It covers billy’s curiosity-filled quest to observe the world around his remote mountain cabin and how these humble observations have become an invaluable record of environmental change. The piece features vivid photo and video imagery complimenting the rich narrative. It was picked up by more than 120 different media outlets across the world including The Washington Post and BBC.
The seasonal rhythms of Gothic and RMBL were beautifully portrayed in a 30-minute episode of Colorado Experience by Rocky Mountain PBS. The crew from PBS made numerous visits to Gothic over the course of 2024 to capture the transition of Gothic’s emergence from winter’s slumber to summer’s frenzy. RMBL staff discuss what it takes to go from 0 to nearly 200 residents over a few short weeks. RMBL scientists shed light on how the body of long-term research has transformed RMBL into a world-class research facility. It concludes with a day in the life of RMBL’s youngest ‘scientists’ learning about the natural world and scientific process at RMBL’s summer science camp.