

My Pika Summer
Hello there! I’m Emily, a soon-to-be senior at CU Boulder, and lucky enough to be a part of the 2017 pika team (#teamPika17). I have always loved mountains and animals, and could not think of a better way to combine the two. Every field day I get to drive up into the mountains, go for a hike, marvel at the natural beauty around me, and see some adorable little critters, all while doing some pretty sweet science at the same time. Some of my favorite days so far have been when


Pika Research is Serious Business.
Hey guys! My name is Hilary Rinsland and I'm a rising senior from the University of Richmond in Virginia (elevation 150 ft). I’m a pre-veterinary student, but I’m known as one of the “Flea Girls” on #teamPika17. Mosey (the other flea girl) and I have independent projects focused on pika fleas. My project will really begin after the field work, when I take fleas from trapped pikas back to the lab in Virginia to look for evidence of plague. That work can help us to understand t


From Redwoods to Alpine: A Flatlander’s Story
From Redwoods to Alpine: A Flatlander’s Story
I came to the Mountain Research Station here in Colorado from Humboldt State University as a student in the REU program (Research Experience for Undergraduates). I am on my way to being a super senior and I study Wildlife Conservation & Management. I traveled from a coastal town about 7 meters above sea level to end up at 2,900 meters here in the mountains. Needless to say, there was an adjustment period while I was “elevational


The incredible shrinking pika (habitat) of Niwot Ridge?
Hi. I’m Max Wasser, a senior Ecology student at the University of Colorado-Boulder. This is my third year working with the pika team and our advisor, Chris Ray. I'm working towards completing an honors thesis - a many-page paper detailing my research - that I will present when I graduate. Having worked with Chris for three years, I've seen and helped with some really amazing projects, and was lucky enough to begin to work on my own project during my freshman summer.