{"id":13484,"date":"2026-02-16T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mountain-studies-institutes-new-executive-director-bridges-science-and-policy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:37:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:37:41","slug":"mountain-studies-institutes-new-executive-director-bridges-science-and-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mountain-studies-institutes-new-executive-director-bridges-science-and-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Studies Institute\u2019s new executive director bridges science and policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Molly
Molly McKeon, the new executive director of Mountain Studies Institute, is about a month into the role. She brings expertise in environmental policy to the institute. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

There\u2019s no better way to learn about a river than being upside down inside it, says Molly McKeon, a Durango resident and the new executive director of the Mountain Studies Institute.<\/p>\n

At a time Southwest Colorado\u2019s concerns about drought and water conservation are heightening, she said she brings expertise in bridging science and policy.<\/p>\n

McKeon began her role at the institute about a month ago, but she\u2019s spent a lifetime preparing for it.<\/p>\n

She, like many people who call Durango home, grew up recreating in the outdoors. She said she skied, kayaked and explored. Her explorations led her down a path of wonderment about the natural world and into a career in environmental policy.<\/p>\n

She previously worked for Environmental Incentives, LLC, where she said she led a team of researchers and facilitators in building a portfolio of global natural climate solutions.<\/p>\n

\n

Mother, teacher, director<\/h4>\n

Molly McKeon, Mountain Studies Institute\u2019s new executive director, said two significant life changes last year led to her pursuing work with the institute. The federal shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development made her work developing a climate solutions portfolio at her previous job essentially moot, she said. And she learned she was pregnant around the same time she left her past job.\u201cI had my first son here in Durango, and it just made me realize that I wanted to be investing my time and energy here,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is our home, and I want this to be a place that he\u2019s proud and excited about growing up (in).\u201dShe said she wants to be a model for her son about what it means to be engaged in one\u2019s community. McKeon had her eyes on MSI. She said the executive director role was the third job at the institute she applied for \u2013 the candidates for two of the jobs were the best fits for them, and she was a match for the director role. In previous jobs, she said she blended technical skills and program management in the environmental and conservation spaces, and her \u201ctrifecta of skills\u201d in budget, operations and implementation made her a strong fit for executive director. In addition to her new role at MSI, McKeon also teaches global environmental politics at Fort Lewis College. She said she started work at both jobs the same day \u2013 not something she recommends, although she has found teaching and sharing her passion for the environment and the \u201cscience to policy nexus\u201d with students exciting and rewarding.\u201cBringing all those fresh voices into the conversation \u2013 I love their perspectives and energy,\u201d she said. When she isn\u2019t hard at work, McKeon said she enjoys backcountry skiing and hiking trails in Durango and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Christian Burney<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MSI formally gained nonprofit status in 2002 with help from the U.S. Forest Service and the late U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, according to 360Durango. McKeon said its founding was based on the need for better mountain science to guide decision-making by mountain communities.<\/p>\n

That mission is as relevant as ever, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this era of drought and wildfire and more demand than ever on our water systems, this question of, \u2018How do we manage mountain ecosystems?\u2019 and what that means for mountain headwaters is becoming more and more important,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The institute is researching stream restoration and snowtography \u2013 the practice of using snowpack and forest remote sensing data to understand how soil is capturing water and distributing it through watersheds. She said that research will inform forest management decisions to maximize water capture from snowpack.<\/p>\n

The snowpack project continues to grow, with sites planned for as far west as Dolores, she said. MSI is also expanding its Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments sites into the La Sal Mountains along the Utah-Colorado border.<\/p>\n

McKeon said she looks at the project growth as a long-term investment into data collection of unique ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have desert landscapes running almost directly up to 13,000-foot peaks,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re experiencing changing conditions and changing weather patterns more acutely than many other places, and so it allows us to capture that information and start to unpack what some of our options may be to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adaptation is a key part of McKeon\u2019s vision for the institute. She said what she loves about MSI is its commitment to rigorous science and its ability to shift its focus to the concerns of the day.<\/p>\n

Concerns are growing about fire, water and impacts to upstream and downstream communities alike, and MSI is meeting the moment. She wants to lead the institution in building more bridges to those downstream communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest priority coming into this role is to help build the infrastructure for an organization that\u2019s going to last for another 20 years as we continue to grow,\u201d she said. \u201cWe bring so much value not just to Durango, Silverton, Mancos, Dolores, Pagosa (Springs), but to downstream communities as we think about the overall health of our river systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

teaches global environmental policy at Fort Lewis College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[155,1030,28,1290,145,994,295],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-headlines","tag-natural-science","tag-science-general","tag-trueanthem","tag-water"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13484"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19001,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13484\/revisions\/19001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13484"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}