Rory has a PhD in Mountain Hydrology from the University of Colorado and a BA in Ecology and Wildlife Biology from Colorado College. Dr. Cowie has worked in remote mountain ranges around the world including projects on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya, the Annapurna and Everest regions of Nepal, Mt. Blanc and the Italian Alps, and across the Rocky Mountains and Alaska Ranges in North America. Dr. Cowie's most extensive work has occurred in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado and is currently based in Silverton, CO.
Dr. Cowie's professional interests are focused on the processes controlling hydrologic fluxes in mountain regions and across greater earth systems. Specifically, he works on understanding surface water and groundwater interactions in natural and human altered environments. Dr. Cowie's work focuses on both the development of remediation strategies to improve water quality in disturbed settings, and understanding how changing climate will impact water resource management practices across various spatial and temporal domains.
Alpine Water Resources uses physical hydrology principles combined with analytical chemistry analysis to unravel complex hydrogeology scenarios in mountain settings. Practical applications include identification of surface and sub-surface water flow paths connecting source waters to discharge points in natural (i.e. wetlands and fens) and anthropogenic (i.e. hard rock mining tunnels) locations across mountain watersheds.