The Research Institute at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, led by Executive Vice President Dr. Mark D. Varien, is honored to announce that our first William D. Lipe Chair of Research, Dr. Kyle Bocinsky, has accepted a position at the University of Montana as the new Director of Climate Extension in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. He will be departing Crow Canyon’s Research Institute in February after serving as Director and assisting in the development of projects and programs since 2015.

Dr. Bocinsky worked closely with Crow Canyon researchers since starting as a graduate student at Washington State University in 2008. His archaeological research focuses on human-environment relationships in the past and climate change impacts on ancestral Pueblo farming communities. As a graduate student, he worked on the Village Ecodynamics Project and interned with the Basketmaker Communities Project. In 2017, Dr. Bocinsky was named the first William D. Lipe Chair of Research and Director of the Research Institute.

“Kyle contributed enormously to the development and success of the Research Institute at Crow Canyon,” said Dr. Varien. “We are so proud to be a part of his professional success and are thrilled to continue to work with him as an associate and colleague in his new role.”

The focus of Dr. Bocinsky’s research has gradually shifted to working with contemporary communities to develop climate resilience. His new role in Montana will be to make climate data and information more useful and usable for people living in Montana and the Northern Rockies. He will be a primary liaison with constituencies ranging from Tribal governments and colleges to agricultural producers and the outdoor recreation industry. He will continue doing research broadly around the dynamics of socio-ecological systems.

“This will be an exciting opportunity not only to develop my passions for research on climate and society, but also to be more present in my community in western Montana,” Dr. Bocinsky said of his new position.

Since 2017, Dr. Bocinsky has been regularly commuting to Cortez from Missoula, Montana, where he lives with his husband John and their family. He will continue to collaborate closely with Crow Canyon researchers as a Crow Canyon Research Associate.