About MRS

We provide infrastructure, logistics, and scientific support for environmental research in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Mountain Research Station logo with Rocky Mountain Columbine

The Mountain Research Station is an interdisciplinary research facility of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado, dedicated to advancing the understanding of mountain environments. 

The MRS has supported over a century of field-based research and education in Colorado's Front Range. 

Here, researchers, students, educators, and community members work together to study the biological, ecological, and physical processes that define mountain systems. 

 

MRS at a glance

Mountains sustain life far beyond their high peaks. They provide critical habitat for diverse living organisms and supply clean water to nearly half of the world’s population. Yet these ecosystems are changing rapidly, and many of those changes remain poorly understood.

At the station, scientists collect environmental and biological data across elevations and through the seasons. These long-term records help researchers detect ecological shifts, identify rare events, and distinguish lasting trends from normal year-to-year variation—insights that are essential for understanding how mountain ecosystems and water resources are changing.

Beyond supporting field research, the station fosters learning and connection. We train the next generation of scientists through undergraduate field courses, and invite the public to explore high-elevation landscapes through seminars, tours, and interpretive trails. Our mission is to advance knowledge of and care for the natural systems that sustain life in the Rockies and beyond.

MRS contacts

Scott Taylor - Station Director
Mike Haffey - Station Manager
Dave Hill - Facilities Professional
Jen Morse - Climate Technician

News

More news

News focussed on the station

Vice chancellor for sustainability visits the Mountain Research Station and Niwot Ridge (INSTAAR)

CU Boulder’s Andrew Mayock recently toured the Mountain Research Station, a high-altitude climate station and the Tundra Lab at Niwot Ridge. INSTAAR faculty were eager to meet the vice chancellor and discuss future collaborations.

CU Boulder chancellor Justin Schwartz visits the Mountain Research Station (INSTAAR)

The chancellor recently visited the Mountain Research Station, where INSTAAR faculty gave a primer on climate and ecological science at the site. The group also made a trip up to the tundra lab, a remote research station at 11,500 feet above sea level.

A world-class field research station in CU Boulder’s backyard (RIO)

Article from CU Boulder's Research & Innovation Office. CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station has a three-pronged mission—host some of the most influential and long-running ecological research in the world, give students a peerless education in mountain environments, and link the public to learning about important ecosystems.

‘Classroom in the sky’ inspires generations of researchers, students (CU Arts & Sciences)

Just north of Nederland, about 26 miles from Boulder, is CU Boulder’s “classroom in the sky”—the Mountain Research Station. It is home to some of the world’s longest-running alpine research, from how vegetation responds to wildfires, to how wildlife responds to climate change, to the changing composition of the soil itself.

Station history

 
CU Biology field camp led by Drs. Ramaley and Caldwell near Tolland, July 1909

CU Biology field camp led by Drs. Ramaley and Caldwell (right) near Tolland, July 1909 (Photo: Archives, UCB Library)

The station's current research is rooted in more than a century of field science. In 1908, CU Boulder Professor Frances Ramaley established the the Mountain Laboratory in Tolland, about 25 miles southwest of Boulder. Ramalay was an early voice in the nascent field of ecology, and he believed that mountain landscapes provided an unparalleled opportunity to study diverse ecosystems and environmental conditions within a relatively small geographic area. In 1920, the University of Colorado expanded on Ramalay’s vision and established what became the modern Mountain Research Station, now one of the oldest continuously operating mountain field stations in North America. For generations, students, researchers, educators, and community members have come here to learn directly from the landscape and contribute to a growing understanding of mountain systems.
 

Learn about our history over the past 100+ years

The land

We recognize our responsibility to the original caretakers of this land, water, and air: the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Hinono’ei (Arapaho), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), and Paleoindian peoples and all of their ancestors and descendants, past, present, and future. We acknowledge the mixed relationship Indigenous communities have experienced with western science in the past and we strive to improve these relationships.

Drone photo showing a mountain research station tucked along gravel roads amongst a conifer forest with jagged peaks and blue skies above

The Mountain Research Station campus looking west toward the Indian Peaks (photo: Gabe Allen).

The Mountain Research Station is based at 9,500 feet (2,900 m) in the Front Range of Colorado's southern Rocky Mountains, about 26 miles (40 km) west of Boulder. 

The station campus lies within the University of Colorado's Columbine Springs Reserve and, in turn, is surrounded by the Roosevelt National Forest. Most research takes place within the reserve and on nearby Niwot Ridge, much of which lies above treeline and is protected as the U.S. Forest Service-managed Niwot Ridge Special Research Area. Abutting the ridge to the north and west is the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Some research projects extend into the adjacent Green Lakes Valley within the City of Boulder Watershed, where research is permitted by special authorization. Because the Boulder watershed protects Boulder’s drinking water supply in a fragile alpine environment, it is closed to public access. Visitors should know that trespassers will be fined.

Field areas

Why mountains matter

Mountains occupy only a fraction of Earth’s surface, yet they play an outsized role in sustaining life. They provide habitat for an extraordinary diversity of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, while supplying clean freshwater to nearly half of the world’s population. Their ecosystems are highly sensitive to changes in climate, pollution, and land use, serving as important early indicators of environmental change. 

Despite the importance of these landscapes, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. Scientists are continuing to investigate critical aspects of how mountain ecosystems function and how snowpack, water resources, biodiversity, and ecological communities will respond to a rapidly changing climate. As environmental pressures intensify worldwide, mountain research is increasingly important—not only for understanding these remarkable landscapes, but also for helping societies manage water resources, conserve biodiversity, and prepare for the future.

A hub for long-term science

 

Answering fundamental questions about mountain environments requires long-term observations, specialized facilities, and collaboration across scientific disciplines. The Mountain Research Station supports research in ecology, hydrology, atmospheric science, geology, and environmental change, while its location along a steep elevational gradient provides access to ecosystems ranging from montane forests to alpine tundra. Together, these characteristics make the station an exceptional natural laboratory for studying how mountain environments function and respond to environmental change. 

Long-term environmental records are among the MRS's greatest strengths. Decades of climate, ecological, and atmospheric observations allow researchers to identify trends, interpret rare events, and place today's environmental changes in a broader historical context.

The station also serves as a hub for national and international research collaborations, bringing together scientists from universities and organizations around the world.

Click any image to zoom
Black and white photo of tens of people crowded on a forested hillside as part of a 1947 geology class
Three scientists in dark hooded parkas service climate station equipment at high altitude on a windy winter day in the Rocky Mountains. Behind them are jagged snowy peaks.
Two research kneel over a quadrant on Niwot Ridge
Two researchers use a measuring tape to measure a pine tree diameter
5 researchers stand at the water's edge of one of the Green Lakes with the Indian Peaks in the background
Researchers dig a deep pit in the snow. One researcher is standing in the pit and the other is sitting on the edge of it.
A researcher releases a pika out of a mesh bag onto a rock
A metal tower, several stories high, stands above a mountain tundra landscape
A researcher kneels in an alpine meadow sailing bumble bees
A researcher checks instrumentation in the snow at the saddle stream
Researchers sit an alpine meadow amid field equipment
A researcher sits on a metal structure high up to sample a conifer
Sara Padula works on a chickadee nesting box while wearing snowshoes
Students stand around an instrument for data collection in a green subalpine meadow.
A researcher climbing a meteorological tower in the subalpine forest
A group of researchers stand near a brightly lit moth trap sheet at night
Two people work at head height on an elevated steel track holding a movable environmental sensor that moves through a high altitude Colorado forest
On a blue sky day in the alpine, a group of researchers prepare ecology equipment outside of the Tundra Lab, a quonset-style hut

Learning, collaboration, and community

Research is only one part of the station's mission. We also foster learning and the exchange of ideas across disciplines and audiences through field courses, seminars, workshops, and scientific gatherings. We support students of all ages, from K-12, to undergraduates, to grad students.

Whether you're a researcher, student, educator, or visitor, the Mountain Research Station offers opportunities to explore and contribute to our understanding of mountain ecosystems and their importance to society.

Background image: A group of scientists gather around a turf transplant experiment on the tundra of Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Credit: Daniela Cusack

Education Facilities Visit

Our commitment to the future

Como Creek in the early summer

Como Creek in the early summer

Today, mountain environments face many challenges—from climate change and biodiversity loss to shifting water availability. As it enters its second century, the Mountain Research Station remains dedicated to advancing scientific understanding, training future generations of environmental leaders, and connecting people with the natural systems that sustain life in the Rockies and around the world.

Visitors to the station become part of a tradition that stretches back more than 100 years. Together, we share a commitment to learning from these landscapes and applying that knowledge to a changing world.

 

Please consider making a gift to support research, education, and outreach opportunities at the station.

  Why give to the MRS?

   Want to learn more about MRS?

Get an overview of how the MRS supports research, learning, and community. 

Meet our team members, read news stories, and dive into a century+ of station history.