MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Bobbi Peckarsky 

PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD AND CO-FOUNDER

Bobbi’s first summer at RMBL was 1974 when she was a high school teacher in Madison, Wisconsin. She took two classes: Rocky Mountain Flora taught by the infamous Harriet Barclay and Aquatic Ecology taught by Stan and Ginny Dodson.  That summer she became smitten with streams/rivers and RMBL and entered a PhD program at UW Madison with Stan Dodson in 1975.  Since then she has spent every summer at RMBL as a grad student (1975-1978), postdoctoral researcher/teacher (1979), faculty member at Cornell University (1980-2004), and Honorary Fellow/Adjunct Professor (“retired”) at UW Madison (2005-present).  She brought her soon-to-be husband (Steve Horn) to RMBL first during winter, then summer 1978 to be sure billy barr approved of the marriage, which would not have been possible if Steve did not also love RMBL.  Bobbi and Steve raised their two children (Bryan and Alison) at RMBL, and that experience became a huge part of who they are as a family.  Both kids “worked” for mom as small children helping collect stream invertebrates, and then as high school/college student research assistants. Bobbi’s entire family has been an important part of the legacy of Rocky Mountain Rivers, and embodies its mission, vision and values.

  • Edge of the Driftless area of south central Wisconsin (spring and fall); and mountain retreat in the front range of Colorado (summer and winter)

  • 50+ summers of research, teaching, mentoring and outreach at RMBL; PhD UW Madison; 26 years on the faculty of Cornell University; 20 years as a “retired” Honorary Fellow and Adjunct Professor at UW Madison. Two grown children (39 and 41) and two grandchildren (9 and 12).

  • Can be observed still not successfully attempting to balance staying productive in “retirement” and not being stressed; struggling with being a young person in an old person’s body; embracing the transition from “momma doc” to “gramma doc”

  • Sharing acquired wisdom (one of the few advantages of old age) with brilliant and enthusiastic young scientists, teachers and mentors; learning more from them than they learn from her, thereby helping her continue to grow.

Kara Cromwell

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER

Kara is a stream ecologist and science communicator who finds inspiration at the intersection of ecology with everyday life. The first mountain rivers to capture her imagination were in the Appalachian foothills where she learned to fly fish with her grandfather—and eventually her love for rivers became a career path.  In 2012 Kara came to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado to be mentored as a PhD student by Dr. Bobbi Peckarsky and her vibrant team of Benthettes. After a decade of collaboration with the Benthettes, Kara persuaded Bobbi that the legacy of this work in the Gunnison Valley could be supported by a nonprofit that would sustain this work and grow its impact. 

Beyond RMR, Kara works as a consultant through Confluence Ecology, which she founded to engage citizens, students, and nonprofit stakeholders with the ecology of place in her current home community of Missoula, Montana. As a Faculty Affiliate at the University of Montana she continues aquatic science research and teaches ecology in formal and informal settings. In her spare time, Kara feeds 2 small children and a sourdough starter that’s been in her life since 2007.

  • Foothills of Missoula, MT

  • MS in salmon ecology (Univ of Idaho); PhD in mayfly ecology (Univ Wisconsin); migratory path through WY, TN, MD, WA, ID, CA, WI, & MT with summers spent in CO since 2012; two reproductive events resulting in daughters ages 9 & 11

  • Typically observed in frenetic multitasking, negotiating complex tradeoffs between producing children and producing science; significant time spent in foraging and feeding behaviors, prefers to forage on high quality food and beverage resources (e.g., billy’s chocolate)

  • Using science to create a sense of meaning and community for non-experts.

Aaron Konning 

VICE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD

  • Foothills of the Sierra west of Reno, NV.

  • Key Life History Events: Third grade decided to be a zoologist; twenty-third grade became a certified zoologist (PhD Zoology, UW-Madison); has spent over 10 years living in the tropics (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Thailand, Cambodia), finally established a home range in Nevada in 2020.

  • Often seen chasing a precocious 7-year-old through daily routines while his proficient mate chases tenure; sits for long periods of time thinking about spatial protection for freshwater fishes (or just spacing out), occasionally writes down what he’s thought.

  • Secretly and not-so-secretly engaging students in learning about the natural world, preferably while it surrounds them.

Aaron is a freshwater conservation ecologist whose primary research focus over the past decade and a half has been on the rivers of Southeast Asia and the critical community fisheries they support throughout the region. Originally from Michigan, where he grew up thinking he was going to study macroinvertebrates, Aaron had the good fortune to have been recruited to assist Kara and Bobbi with fieldwork at RMBL during two summers while he and Kara were completing their doctoral degrees at UW-Madison. Having obtained honorary Benthette status and having moved his family to the  mountains (albeit the Sierra Mountains), he remains committed to the RMR cause. 

Aaron will begin a teaching faculty position at the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall of 2024 where he will teach topics in ecology, evolution, conservation, and ichthyology as well as field-based methods in ecology at UNR’s research forest, not-quite-RMBL-high in the Sierras above Lake Tahoe. Aaron’s daughter took her first steps in Bobbi and Steve’s Cave in Madison while house-sitting one summer, and regularly oscillates between being besties and frenemies with Kara’s girls.

Marge Penton 

SECRETARY

Marge has worn several hats in her career.   She was originally trained as a freshwater biologist with a specific interest in phycology (the study of algae) thanks to Dean Blinn at Northern Arizona University and particularly in the study of diatoms thanks to Dave Czarnecki.  Good fortune was met after receiving her MS degree, when Bobbi Peckarsky at Cornell hired her as a Research Technician in the early 1980s. The transition from algae to aquatic insects was welcomed as Bobbi also encouraged Marge to keep her algal interests alive. The RMBL connection was established in the early 1980s and she became a lifelong Benthette.

Leaving Cornell in the late 1980’s, she then moved back to Arizona and became a certified high school science teacher.  Spending summers as a Benthette at RMBL continued. After marrying Neal she missed a summer in order to give birth.   Fortunately, her husband and son joined her most summers when possible at RMBL. Now, most years, she gets to visit the Benthettes annually to ‘get her feet wet’.

While spending most of the year in Arizona as a retired person, she spends time volunteering at the local National Wildlife Refuges along the Colorado River and birding.

  • The Mojave Desert near the shores of the Colorado River in western Arizona has become my habitat. Natural habitat would be in the RMBL area!

  • I have been a Benthette for over 40 years with many of the summers spent at RMBL. Like Tracy, playing softball for the Queens was definitely life changing, heck, I can brag that billy barr was one of my coaches! I have a B.S. with a dual major (Biology with FW emphasis/ Chemistry) from NAU in Flagstaff and M.S. (Phycology) from UArkansas. I spent about a decade in Ithaca NY as a Research Tech for Bobbi and at the Boyce Thompson Institute. Then 23 years as a high school science teacher in AZ. Proud mom of a grown son.

  • An affinity for all things freshwater including kayaking and birding for waterfowl. Just being outdoors and engaging in naturalist pursuits and citizen science is ideal. I participate in a summer migration from the desert when temps are well over 100 degrees F at home.

  • Trying to be useful in retirement by volunteering/serving on a non-profit board for the Friends of the Bill Williams River and Havasu National Wildlife Refuges. Outdoor education and supporting birding in my area are among my endeavors.

billy barr

TREASURER

  • The areas around Gothic, Co and occasionally in Gunnison to do errands

  • Spring 1972 when I walked into the Environmental Science department at Rutgers within an hour after they got a notice about needing someone to do water chemistry in Gothic so i took the job, got to Gothic, and stayed. Then April 1988 getting caught in a large avalanche and managing to get popped out of it and stay alive.

  • Getting out at sunrise and sunset despite the weather (or because of it) to record the daily conditions and data.

  • Adjusting to the change in my job, balancing less stress and more boredom and going to part time yet still trying to meet the students in summer. Realizing how to get by with a body that gets damaged easier and heals slower and functions less, and learning to find the humor in it. Dealing with winter conditions that though milder than years ago can be more difficult.

Billy grew up in Trenton, NJ and went from Trenton High School to Rutgers University, and from there ended up in Colorado doing water chemistry on a water quality study of the East River in 1972.  He decided to stay in Colorado after school and worked at RMBL, first doing plumbing, electrical and phone line work, and was also on a forest firefighting hotshot crew for 5 summers. 

During the winter of 1980 He became the business Manager at RMBL and has worked on finances there since then.  As a sidelight he started to record weather data and has compiled data on that for over 50 years.  He still resides in Gothic year-round.

Havalin Haskell 

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Born and raised in Crested Butte, CO, I grew up going to RMBL summer science camps and playing in the mountain streams of the Gunnison Valley. I met Bobbi Peckarsky in high school in 2020 and became a Benthette; a pivotal moment in my sense of self and direction. In the years that followed, I spent my summers working alongside Bobbi on a research project on a nuisence diatom, Didymo, and helping collect non-consumptive water rights data.

I recently graduated from Colorado College, where I studied Environmental Science, Political Science, and Journalism, drawn to the intersection of science, policy, education, and storytelling. Along the way, I attended two UN climate summits, interned at Colorado Public Radio, and spent time at National Geographic Society, where I honed my skills in scientific communication that I now get to develop further working within the Rocky Mountain Rivers community.

I’ve never quite been able to leave behind the serenity and joy of Benthette summers—it’s where I feel most grounded and most myself. I returned throughout college, and now I’m grateful for the opportunity to help carry forward the community and work that have so profoundly shaped my personal and professional path as it evolves into RMR.

  • The aspen groves and mountainsides of Crested Butte, Colorado.

  • Born and raised in Crested Butte, Colorado, I took a field ecology class at RMBL in 2020, met Bobbi, and became a Benthette (cue life pivot). I spent the next couple of summers studying Didymosphenia geminata, then headed to Colorado College to study environmental studies, journalism, and political science. Along the way, I attended two UN climate summits, interned at Colorado Public Radio. Now back where it all started, helping build Rocky Mountain Rivers with Bobbi and Kara.

  • Chronically overcommitted, thanks to endless curiosity and a slight addiction to being busy. Often observed taking long, meandering walks (destination optional) while deeply invested in a podcast or audiobook. Practices yoga to stay grounded, picks up the guitar when the mood strikes, and believes in the non-negotiable power of a daily chocolate.