As of June 1, 2021 Scott will be the Director of the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station (MRS) as well as a Fellow of the (INSTAAR). Scott will be taking over from who has been station Director for 31 years. Leading a field station has been a career dream of Scott's and he is very excited for this new role and to play his part in聽continuing聽the amazing legacy of the MRS.
The present site of the CU Boulder Mountain Research Station was established in 1920 and it was originally known as the Science Lodge and Science Camp. The first field courses were offered in 1921.聽One of the most important figures in the history of the MRS, John W. Marr, a Professor of Biology, started his long association with the station in 1946. Marr initiated the Mountain Ecology Project, the Mountain Climate Program, and the East Slope Ecology Project, and was instrumental in the establishment of the INSTAAR, which merged with Science Camp as the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research聽in 1952. Marr's research from the 1950s through the 1970s was some of the finest quantitative plant ecology of the time. He was instrumental in establishing the excellent international reputation of the MRS and Niwot Ridge as an alpine research site. During his tenure as Director the Alpine Laboratory was constructed (1962), which was renovated and rededicated as the John W. Marr Alpine Laboratory in 1982, in recognition of his substantial contributions.
The Taylor Lab has established ~150 nest boxes at the MRS to study breeding and hybridization between black-capped and mountain chickadees, a study that extends downslope to the city of Boulder, and are excited about new collaborations and projects that will help advance our understanding mountain bird ecology and evolutionary biology.聽
Stay tuned for updates from the MRS!