RESEARCH NEEDS

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915, but has not had a systematic program to create and update its information needs until quite recently. We are trying to make the identification of such needs a continuous rather than an occasional activity, provide the most up-to-date list available via this website. Individual categories and projects are updated more frequently than this Introduction.

In compiling this list, we have tried to represent needs from all of our Divisions and across a wide range of detail, from fairly straightforward surveys to extremely complex research issues. We know the list is incomplete, but it is a first step in making our needs known. We also recognize that some projects in this list are especially suitable for student or class projects. We have identified a category for such projects, but we encourage educators to review the entire list to see if any of the other projects could be adapted to such an approach.

Rather than listing individual projects in several categories, we put them in what appeared to be the most logical order (to us). Thus we encourage researchers to look through several categories for research ideas. Our logic may not be yours! Although the list is incomplete, we hope it will result in many opportunities to address our information needs in unique and creative ways.

Updated September 18, 2005

  Plants and Animals
  Environment and Landscape
  History and Culture
  Research
     Research Needs       
        Ecosystems, Plants, and Animals
        Geology
        History/Archaeology
        Possible Student Projects
        Social Science
        Wilderness Planning and Use
     Research Permits
     Assistance/Facilities for Research
     Species Checklists
     Other Available Data Sets
     Research Summaries
     Continental Divide Research
          Learning Center
  Fire
  Wilderness
  Weekly Tidbit