The 2009-10 State of the Rockies Series focuses on “Food and Agriculture in the Rockies: Current Challenges and New Trends.” Six students spent the summer conducting field research, and their findings are published in the State of the Rockies Report Card: www.coloradocollege.edu/StateoftheRockies/reportcard.html

The student researchers were Patrick Creeden ’10 who studied threats to ranching, ways to preserve ranchland, and open space; Zoe Wick ’10 who researched demographics in agriculture, American Indians, women operators in agriculture, and migrant farm labor; Katherine Sherwood ’10 who researched land in agriculture, organics and the new food economy, and the Big Thompson water project; Emil Dimantchev ’11 who researched the financial side of agriculture, subsidy allocation, and alternative agricultural enterprises; Jayash Paudel ’10 who researched farm organization and, with Dimantchev, studied alternative agricultural enterprises and wrote about small and beginning farmers; and Russell Clarke ’10 who researched agricultural production, particularly bison, dairy, and beef production.