The Rockies Project \u201chelped me gain an awareness and appreciation for the complexity of managing issues that involve many different stakeholders,\u201d Dimantchev said. \u201cIt allowed me to test abstract concepts in a real-world setting, busting the CC bubble wide open and exposing me to views on the front lines of the issues we were discussing\u00a0 in class.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew Lee-Ashley, a former State of the Rockies visiting researcher, is now a senior fellow and the director of public lands at Center for American Progress. He recalls that the \u201cState of the Rockies Project was, for me, a major bridge between the classroom and a career.\u00a0 It\u00a0was my first chance to find my own voice and my own perspective, and to write for a much broader audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps more crucially for current and future members of the Rockies family, Lee-Ashley mentions the network of SOTR alums that continues long beyond time at Colorado College. \u201cA true measure of the State of the Rockies Project\u2019s impact is the\u00a0number of its\u00a0alums\u00a0who have devoted their careers to public service and to tackling Western natural resource challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 2015-16 cycle includes four more students: Burkett Huey \u201916<\/strong>, Maya Williamson \u201917<\/strong>, Jonah Seifer \u201916<\/strong>, and John Jennings \u201916<\/strong>. They will delve into a new focus area for the project, titled \u201cThe Scales of Western Water.\u201d Working individually and in teams, along with faculty researchers, they will research, collect, and analyze data from across the Southwest, and compile reports for publication. This research, while valuable in its own right, may also grow to form the basis for the students\u2019 theses or a major independent work. These professional reports also provide information and insight for all users \u2014 practitioners, policymakers, and citizens of the West. For example, in 2006 the report Climate Change: Modeling a Warmer Rockies and Assessing the Implications, was cited in a Supreme Court case between Massachusetts and the Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n Huey says that, so far, the Rockies Project has been \u201can amazing learning experience. I\u2019ve learned so much about the West\u2019s\u00a0water problems and potential solutions\u00a0in such a short time. This program has given me wonderful learning resources and great\u00a0opportunities to do meaningful\u00a0field research.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rockies Project examines the issue of water in the West using a scaled approach \u2014 studying it from droplet to delta, and everything in between. The role of water is extremely complex, particularly in the West. With declining snowpack, less water in the rivers, and a severe drought across Arizona, New Mexico, and California, water issues have never been more critical.<\/p>\n The factors affecting water across the Rocky Mountain West range from economic and social to cultural and biological. The Rockies Project Fellows will investigate these factors to compile new and accurate information and learn from stakeholders on all sides of the issue. Fieldwork takes place across Colorado\u2019s Front Range and in a variety of river basins, with student researchers actively seeking out diverse perspectives to strengthen and deepen the discussion.<\/p>\n At the helm of the Rockies Project are Eric Perramond, associate professor in the Environmental Program and Southwest Studies, and Brendan Boepple \u201911<\/strong>. Perramond is a human-environment geographer, as well as a political ecologist, and Boepple\u2019s B.A. from Colorado College was in political science.<\/p>\n \u201cOne aspect that cannot be underestimated is Brendan\u2019s continued presence as assistant director,\u201d said Perramond of his colleague. \u201cBrendan ensured that the logistical and experiential transition for students went smoothly as we changed directors, and he\u2019s been a vital and congenial colleague in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n Between the two of them, the future of the Rockies Project as a cross-disciplinary platform looks incredibly bright. Already affiliated with Colorado College\u2019s Innovation Institute, the Rockies Project looks to expand its reputation as well as its range. Perramond hopes that the Rockies Project will grow \u201cless dependent on the time resources of faculty, and develop into something that focuses more on intellectual guidance and professional development for students. We\u2019d like to inject a more critical edge into the work we do.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Rockies Project often was viewed as a simple summer research project,\u201d Perramond said. \u201cIt\u2019s so much more than that. We want it to be seen as a mechanism for career building and networking, long after a student has left CC.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the ambitious range of study that the Rockies Project is about to embark upon, as well as the assured and passionate guidance of faculty and scholarly mentors, it\u2019s hard to see Perramond\u2019s vision doing anything other than succeeding. That can only be good news, and not just for the college, but also for the Rocky Mountain West as a whole.<\/p>\n
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