For nearly 80 years, leading scientists and students from around the country arrive at our remote field station high in the Rocky Mountains to work side-by-side studying the still-wild ecosystems of this rugged, yet fragile land. Few places are as well understood, or documented. Research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory is contributing scientific knowledge that is vital to understanding our rapidly changing world.

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How Birds May Control Their Immune Systems

Dr. Johannes Foufopoulos, a biologist at the University of Michigan, studies disease in white-crowned sparrows. Parasites and disease are common, but they can be difficult to see and understand without looking closely, as Johannes does. Vertebrates, including humans, evolved sophisticated immune systems to minimize problems with disease. Until recently, scientists believed that immune systems remain constantly "on." However, research now indicates that running the immune system takes energy and that animals can tune their immune systems up or down, depending upon how much protection they need. Read the full text here.

"I fell in love with the Rockies when I first saw them in 1947. But my real love affair started in the summer of 1959 at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab, The area is a wonderful outdoor laboratory for biological research, which my colleagues and I use to unravel the mysteries of ecology and evolution."

— Paul Ehrlich, Professor, Stanford University
Author, The Population Bomb