Environmental Research and Long-term Monitoring

Bonderman Field Station at Rio Mesa provides placed-based, long-term research related to ecological, hydrological, and natural resource management that is relevant to the Colorado Plateau and to the upper Colorado River Basin. Along the Dolores River, the Center is superbly positioned to be at the forefront of ecological and environmental research for water-related and terrestrial research opportunities. Rio Mesa is engaged in long-term atmospheric, hydrologic, and vegetation monitoring.

The American West has been and will continue to be significantly shaped by human decisions and our water and land-use policies. These policies as well as global change processes underway affect both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems directly and indirectly through feedback conncectivities.

The Bonderman Field Station at Rio Mesa is also an outdoor laboratory for the humanities, social sciences, cultural studies, and sustainability policy discussions. As such, it provides a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary studies that emphasize the environment in its broadest sense.

Click here to learn about some of the ongoing research projects