June 2026 Newsletter
the power of PLACE
The Long View
There is something magical about the beginning of summer at RMBL. As the snow slowly recedes from the mountainsides, the first glacier lilies emerge through the thawing ground, signaling the arrival of a new field season in Gothic. Soon after, the hillsides and meadows begin bursting with countless other alpine wildflowers …
Ian Billick | PhD
Executive Director, RMBL
sciencestories
Visualizing Plant Evolution
Three years ago, during a residency at the Design Museum in London, design researcher Eliza Collin was developing a new project about olfactory evolution and looking for scientists studying how climate change affects the scent of flowers. …
Alumni Stories – June 2026
Voices of RMBL: From the Top of the Rockies to the Land Down Under
Like many undergraduates who spent time at RMBL, my experience there was largely the result of chance, youthful ambition, and a sense of adventure. I spent the summer of 1997 at RMBL, between my junior and senior years of college. …
Field Notes — June 2026
A Most Unusual Year
The climate at RMBL has always been variable, but this year is breaking records with new extremes in precipitation and temperature. billy barr measured record-late rain last fall, record-low snowfall for the winter, record-early snowmelt, and many new daily high temperatures this winter. …
. …
Staff Spotlight – June 2026
The Stories Behind the Wildflowers: A Conversation With RMBL’s Rick Reavis
For more than a decade, Rick Reavis has helped connect visitors to the science, ecology, and wildflowers of the Gunnison Valley through RMBL’s Visitor Center and Gothic Store and Interpretive Wildflower Tours. …