Researchers Launch Fat Marmot Week to Crowdfund Climate-Stricken, Federally Defunded Mammal Study

After record-low snowpack killed over 100 of 160 study marmots in Gothic, Colorado, researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory are turning to a Fat Bear Week–style public vote (opening August 24) to replace lost federal grants. The event tests whether crowdfunding can sustain a decades-long wild mammal study facing both budget cuts and climate-driven population collapse.