The University of Colorado has joined a consortium of universities and federal agencies to help improve the scientific base for managing ecosystems in the rapidly changing cultural and environmental landscapes of the Rocky Mountains.
Known as the Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, or RM-CESU, the consortium involves eight universities and four federal agencies in parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The mission is to bring together the region's scientific talent to solve growing resource problems across social, cultural, economic, political and environmental arenas, said CU-Boulder Graduate School Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Jerry Peterson.
"The primary advantage for us is to receive new funding with a quick-turn-around time in order to get at the heart of specific ecosystem problems," he said. "We also are able to develop better working relationships with federal agencies that fund the majority of these projects."
As partners in RM-CESU, CU-Boulder and CU-Denver faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students are expected to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding annually through the consortium, said Mark Williams, a research fellow at CU's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. Williams, an associate professor of geography at CU-Boulder, has undertaken a number of cooperative studies involving his students with the participating state and federal institutions.
Candice Miller, director of research and information for the graduate school, said CU faculty and students from dozens of departments and institutes are eligible to participate in consortium research. In addition, faculty and students from CU's Health Sciences Center and the CU-Colorado Springs campus can participate by linking with CU-Boulder or CU-Denver faculty and students.
CU-Boulder has a number of academic departments and affiliated centers and institutes that collaborate with all of the federal agencies involved in RM-CESU, said Peterson. CU students and faculty also have worked with most of the affiliated universities on research projects.
Other university members of the consortium include the University of Montana (the host university), the University of Idaho, Montana State University, Salish Kootenai College in Montana, Utah State University, Washington State University and the University of Wyoming. Federal partners include the National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service Research Branch's Rocky Mountain Research Station, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Projects undertaken by the consortium are partnerships between regional institutions, rather than contract agreements, said Peterson. The RM-CESU facilitates a number of research projects and regional workshops.
Examples include workshops on Canada lynx, the effects of snowmobiles on wildlife, fire ecology workshops, research on the impacts of recreation on ecosystems, and research and technical assistance with archaeology inventories. Other collaborative efforts of RM-CESU include mining impacts on soils and vegetation, invasive weed management, the development of public education materials and assistance in training effective land managers.
A number of campus research units and departments tie into RM-CESU, including the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, INSTAAR, the Center of the American West, the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center and the Natural Resources Law Center. More than a dozen CU departments conduct research compatible with the consortium's goals, said Peterson.
CU-Boulder also has extensive facilities and equipment to support RM-CESU projects, including the Mountain Research Station west of Boulder to study ecology, hydrology and climate change and several space facilities to develop remote sensing detectors, information systems and applications, said Miller.
"We feel there are a number of specific ecosystem problems and well defined issues that our graduate and undergraduate students can contribute to by participating in this consortium," said Peterson.