In 1869, a small group of surveyors lead by John Wesley Powell set out to map the unknown extent of the Colorado River Basin. In 2019 - 150 years later - a group of artists, writers, photographers, and scientists, led by Dr. Tom Minckley from the University of Wyoming, spent 70 days retracing Powell’s 1,000-mile journey on the Colorado River. Why? To reevaluate Powell’s legacy, absorb the unquantifiable power of place, and articulate what the future may hold for water in the American West. “A River Out of Time” is their story, and where we all find ourselves 150+ years after that unprecedented exploration.

Learn more about the 2019 Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE) at https://www.powell150.org/expedition.

Presented in partnership with TACAW.

About the expedition leader:

Tom Minckley, Ph.D. is a professor of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. He is an Arizona native who is a self-admitted desertphile. Dr. Minckley is an expert on environmental change in the arid West and is interested in applying lessons learned by studying the history of ecological resilience of the western landscapes to conservation issues of the present.

Dr. Minckley was the project leader of SCREE - a collaboration of scholars, artists, conservationists and government and nongovernment researchers – whose goal was to broaden socioecological awareness and understanding of the human-environmental relationships in the Colorado River Basin. By placing a historical and cultural perspective on modern science in the region, integrating art and outreach through science, social development, and fine arts in a modern Report of the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, theyprovided a platform to discuss and map the future of the Arid West.

In 2019, Roaring Fork Conservancy hosted Dr. Minckley who provided a Brooksher Watershed Institute on SCREE. That presentation can be viewed HERE.