Earth Day Talk Proved Popular Despite the Snow

Dr. Koren Nydick explaining that excess nitrogen can be deposited way up in Rocky Mountain National Park by wind-driven dust particles.

We had a great turnout of over 50 people for our Earth Day talk this past Saturday, thank you to all who attended despite the blowing snow! Thanks also to the many local businesses who made donations of door prizes or food and drink, both of which really helped to make this event so well-attended. And finally, thank you to our expert presenters and middle school science team for braving the late spring snows in order to teach us about the importance of late spring snows. We learned some fascinating details about how precipitation and temperature have been changing month-by-month; how some of the animals in the park are adapting—or not—to increased temperature extremes; and how our region is adapting to new realities through better management of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). For those who weren’t able to make it, we will be posting a link to the recorded session soon, and we’ll look forward to seeing you at the next one.

Dr. Steven Fassnacht discussing wildly increasing variability in snow-water-equivalent levels over several decades.

Estes Park middle-schoolers, led by science teacher Ravi Davis, discuss the importance of WUI codes and fire-resistant building materials.