2026 RMNP Biennial Research Conference Details

A man reads a scientific poster. — Poster session at the RMNP Biennial Research Conference.
NPS Photo/A. Schonlau

The Basics

When: March 4-5, 2026, 8:00am - 5:00pm
Where: The Holiday Inn Estes Park
101 S Saint Vrain Ave, Estes Park, CO (Click here for venue information)
Presented by: Rocky Mountain Conservancy
Theme: Park Stewardship: From Discovery to Decision
Registration: No pre-registration required. This conference is free and open to the public.
Questions: Please direct all questions to event staff at ROMO_Research@nps.gov

Event Summary

During the 2026 Biennial Research Conference, over 300 participants engaged with research and management topics at Rocky Mountain National Park. The event featured 26 oral presentations by research partners and park staff that covered a variety of topics including:

fire effects and forest management
historic park structures
research by Rocky Mountain Conservancy Fellows
alpine ecosystems
wetland restoration
wildlife science and
long term monitoring project in the park.

Presentations as part of the alpine ecosystem session were also available virtually and were screened at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center in Grand Lake, CO to increase accessibility to the conference.

Additional events included a poster session with 22 presentations which allowed attendees to engage in one-on-one conversations with researchers, a Conversation Cafe about Wetland Ecosystems, and a panel on Alpine Ecosystem Stewardship.

Conference Proceedings

A printable version of the 2026 Biennial Research Conference Proceedings are available here

Conference Schedule

A printable version of the schedule is available here

Wednesday March 4, 2026
8:00 – 8:30 AM	Morning Mixer and Coffee
Welcome
8:30 – 8:50 AM	Gary Ingram CDRLC Staff	Conference Introduction, Land Acknowledgement, and Awards
Fire Effects and Forest Management
8:50 – 8:55 AM	Moderator	Session Introduction
8:55 – 9:15 AM	Jill Baron	Distinguishing Wildfire and Anthropogenic Sources of Nitrogen Deposition in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park
9:15 – 9:35 AM	Leah McTigue	Colorado Fires and Biodiversity
9:35 – 10:00 AM	Nate Williamson Christina Fossum	A tale of two fires: Exploring Forest community change within RMNP’s Lodgepole Pine ecosystem following the East Troublesome Fire and the re-introduction of prescribed fire to RMNP’s front country Ponderosa pine ecosystem
10:00 – 10:20 AM	Benjamin Helms	Terrestrial Laser Scanning Estimates of Frequent-Fire Forest Structure in the Colorado Front Range
10:20 – 10:40 AM	Kevin Willson	A management tool to visualize restoration treatments that achieve historical overstory structure from present-day forest structure
10:40 – 11:00 AM	Break
Learning from Historic Structures
11:00 – 11:05 AM	Moderator	Session Introduction
11:05 – 11:25 AM	Nicole Arendt	This is NOT HGTV – Mission 66 and Learning to Love and Preserve Boring Midcentury Buildings
11:25 – 11:45 PM	Michael Welsh	Archival Research, Document Analysis, and Database Development of Historic Irrigation Structures in Rocky Mountain National Park
11:45 – 1:00 PM	Lunch
Next Generation Science: Rocky Mountain Conservancy Research Fellows
1:00 – 1:10 PM	Moderator	Session Introduction
1:10 – 1:30 PM	Chris Maienza	Arboreal Armageddon: Post-fire Plant Communities in Rocky Mountain National Park
1:30 – 1:50 PM	Theo Kuhn	Long-term stream temperature trends, sensitivity, and the role of groundwater in RMNP streams
1:50 – 2:10 PM	Katie Gannon	Algal Blooms in Mountain Lakes: What drives their growth? And what are the consequences for nearshore biogeochemistry?
2:10 – 2:30 PM	John Lambert	A field survey of the preparedness of wilderness day hikers and trail runners in Rocky Mountain National Park
2:30 – 2:50 PM	Break
Challenges and Changes for Alpine Ecosystems *Presentations within this session are available virtually. The link for virtual participation can be found at go.nps.gov/RMNPConference2026
2:50 – 3:00PM	Moderator	Session Introduction
3:00 – 3:20 PM	Daniel F. Doak Claire Powers	Analysis of GLORIA alpine plant community data across the southern Rockies: Climate and species traits shape responses of the alpine flora to a changing world
3:20 – 3:40 PM	Chris Ray	Will pikas be lost from the park?
3:40 – 4:10 PM	Ann Mills Michelle Gibbons	Rocky Mountain National Park Alpine Tundra Restoration: Past, Present, and Future
4:10 – 4:45 PM	Panel: Alpine Tundra Ecosystems Stewardship Join park staff and partners for a Question and Answer panel discussion on alpine ecosystem stewardship. Kyle Patterson – Management Specialist, Jim Bromberg – Restoration Ecologist Mitch Hauptman – Law Enforcement Specialist
4:45 – 4:50 PM	CDRLC Staff	Day 1 Wrap Up

Thursday March 5, 2026
8:00 – 9:00 AM	Poster Session The poster session is an opportunity to read about a variety of research projects and activities in the park and engage in discussion directly with the presenter. Join us for coffee and light breakfast snacks.
Welcome
9:00 – 9:05 AM	CDRLC Staff	Welcome and Introduction
Restoration in Action: Wetland Ecosystems
9:05 – 9:10 AM	Moderator	Session Introduction
9:10 – 9:30 AM	Isabel de Silva Shewell	From Design to Digging in: Updates on Wetland Restoration in the Kawuneeche Valley
9:30 – 9:50 AM	Itai Bojdak-Yates	Stream Restoration Monitoring on Beaver Creek, Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park
9:50 – 10:10 AM	Linda Zeigenfuss	Coming of Age… EVMP at 15 Years
10:10 – 10:30 AM	Hanem Abouelezz Will Deacy	High-altitude thermal infrared aerial surveys for estimating moose populations and demographics in Rocky Mountain National Park
10:30 – 10:35 AM	CDRLC Staff	Announcements
10:35 – 10:50 AM	Break
10:50 – 11:50 AM	Conversation Café: Exploring Wetland Ecosystems Join RMNP staff and partners for structured, small-group discussions on wetland ecosystems and their importance in the park. Advanced Sign Up is Required for Participation
11:50 – 1:00 PM	Lunch
Science for Adaptive Wildlife Management
1:00 – 1:10 PM	Moderator	Session Introduction
1:10 – 1:30 PM	Rachel Billings	A Tale of Two Pikas: Acoustic & Genetic Characterization of Hybrid Zone Dynamics
1:30 – 1:50 PM	Airy Peralta	Accounting for thermal refugia in American pika habitat in Rocky Mountain National Park
1:50 – 2:10 PM	Emily Golden-Beam	Coyote Microbiomes Reveal Biological Responses to Human Recreation and Urbanization
2:10 – 2:30 PM	Boyd Wright	The Poudre Headwaters Project: A Cornerstone of Greenback Cutthroat Trout Recovery Efforts
2:30 – 2:50 PM	Break
Understanding Change with Long Term Monitoring
2:50 – 3:00 PM	Moderator	Session Introduction
3:00 – 3:20 PM	Noah Estrada	Vegetation Shifts in the Colorado Front Range, 1972-2025
3:20 – 3:40 PM	Scott Rashid	Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) and Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) Research in RMNP
3:40 – 4:00 PM	Mary Jade Farruggia	Long-term trends in the biogeochemistry of Rocky Mountain headwater lakes reveal complex patterns and drivers
4:00 – 4:20 PM	Jennifer Nestler	From Backlog to Action: Collaborative Data Management in the Rocky Mountain Network
4:20-4:30 PM	CDRLC Staff	Conference Wrap Up

Poster Session

The poster session offers a relaxed environment to explore diverse research topics at your own pace and engage in one-on-one conversations with presenters.

Move freely between posters, ask detailed questions, and discuss findings directly with researchers. This format encourages deeper discussions and allows you to focus on the work most relevant to your interests. It's an ideal setting for networking, discovering new collaborations, and getting personalized insights into current research.

Presentations by Last Name

Van Baronofsky - Who colonizes and who persists? American pika territory occupancy in the current Rocky Mountain climate
Danny Basch - Not just Bears in the Woods: Managing Human Waste in the Wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park
Dan Cribby - Plains to the Park: Community Science in the Rocky Mountains
Alex Ertel - A National Park for Whom? Why Browns Bears Could Not Find Refuge in the Colorado Rocky Mountains
Jessie Foster - Hidden History Revealed: Sharing the Story of Yaye and Ryoji Kato as a Means of Stewardship
Wade Frisbey - Rocky Mountain National Park Hazard Tree Program Overview
Jules Hamlin - American pika call complexity across sites, possibly suggesting hybridization of Colorado subspecies
Natalie Hieber - Using Next Generation Sequencing to Address Taxonomic Uncertainties Surrounding Potentilla rupincola
Madelyn Hill - Mapping Historic Landownership Prior to the Creation of Rocky Mountain National Park
Jonathan Hughes - Managing no-shows in public resource allocation: The economics of campground reservations
Christopher Jones - Landscape-Scale Assessment of Forest Composition and Regeneration Following Bark Beetle Outbreaks and Wildfire Disturbances
Adeline Kelly - Investigating the impact of wildfire on high-elevation lake water quality
John Lambert - The Epidemiology of Search and Rescue in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2018-2024
Cynthia Langguth - Tracking Alpine Plant Communities: Creating Phenological Datasets Through Community Science
Katie Marascio - Merging Vegetation Plot Datasets
Sarah Nalley - Wildfire severity filters dragonfly assemblages by mating-related traits
Dr. Kyle Nardi - Leveraging an Earth System Model to Understand Rain-on-Snow Flooding Events in National Parks and Gateway Communities
Dr. Megan Oldfather - Bridging the Gap Between Research and Action - A Front Range Mountain Consortium
Dr. Isabella Oleksy - On thin ice- implications of shorter winters for the future of freshwater phytoplankton phenology and function in Loch Vale and beyond
Ailey Pittman - Local pikas might be more vulnerable to changes in winter snowpack than summer temperature
Madison Tucker - Mapping Water Histories: Archival Reconstruction of Historic Ditches in Rocky Mountain National Park
Abigail Volk - The First Synthesis of North American Alpine Environments
Nathan Williamson - Rocky Mountain Fire Effects Data Dashboard for Decision Support