June 9 2009

It is Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s 50th summer at the RMBL. That is a pretty amazing record when you think about it. And the odd thing is that such longevity is not unusual. Ken Armitage was speculating that his string of 43 summers of continuous research is also a record (Paul and Anne missed a couple of summers), though Ward Watt probably has that record in his sites. When you throw in a cohort of scientists who started in the early 70’s (for example scientists Nick Waser, Mary Price, David Inouye, Barb Frase to name a few) you realize that there is over 500 years of collective experience with the ecosystems around Gothic. People initially kept coming backing because of the wonderful community, the collection of engaging scientists, and the beautiful locale. It has helped that the growing season fits nicely into the academic season (you can see much of the interesting biology in between spring and fall classes). And scientists with families wouldn’t keep coming if we didn’t allow kids. Through time, though, such longevity has turned into an important part of the science at the Lab. We live in a changing world; much of that change happens on long timeframes- years, decades, and centuries. The longevity of the scientists will allow us to understand that change and understanding the change is an important part of managing it. RMBL is becoming one of the best understood ecosystems precisely because of the annual migration that brings field scientists to Gothic each summer.
David Inouye mentioned a tourist watching the fourth of July parade saw the students in veratrum skirts and asked if those were really the scientific leaders of tomorrow. Yep, they are. And chances are some of them will be marching in veratrum skirts decades later.