This is the second FLC student profile of local people making a difference to the Earth.
By Madigan Stewart
March 11, 2026
In the mountains of southwest Colorado, biodiversity rarely makes the headlines. The most important players are often easy to overlook and buzzing somewhere just out of sight. But for Fort Lewis College biology professor Dr. Ryan Schwarz, those small creatures are at the center of a much bigger story.
Dr. Schwarz’s work connects to one of the major environmental crises: biodiversity loss. While species have always gone extinct throughout Earth’s history, Schwarz is concerned less with biodiversity loss and more with the rate at which it is happening. Rapid environmental change, habitat destruction, and human land use decisions are at the forefront of disappearance of species (Potts et al., 2010).
His fascination with the natural world began before he became a professor. Growing up in southern Arizona, Schwarz spent time exploring coastal environments where tide pools filled with marine life intrigued him. Strange fish washed ashore, and encounters with unusual sea creatures sparked curiosity about how diverse nature could be. Those childhood experiences helped ignite a lifelong interest in biology.
As Schwarz continued his education, he focused on wildlife management and conservation to contribute to the protection of threatened and endangered species. Over time, his research shifted toward a group of organisms that are commonly overlooked. His early research on native Hawaiian spiders opened the door to the understudied world of insects.
That shift proved significant. Insects represent a substantial portion of the biodiversity on Earth, making them essential to understanding ecosystem function. Yet compared to mammals or birds, insects receive little public attention. For Schwarz, this imbalance highlights an important gap in conservation efforts. Protecting biodiversity requires understanding the organisms that make up most of it.
His research eventually led him into work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture studying honeybees. Although honeybees are not a native species, they served as an important model organism for studying parasites and symbiotic relationships. That work expanded into an interest in native pollinator species that play crucial roles in plant reproduction and ecosystem stability (Leandro, 2023).
Southwest Colorado provides an ideal environment for this research. The region’s varied elevations and mountain ecosystems create conditions that promote pollinator diversity and speciation. Different plant communities across these elevations support groups of insects, forming ecological relationships that scientists are working to understand (Armstead et al., 2024).
One challenge Schwarz faces is how little information exists about local insect species. Scientists do not know where certain populations occur or whether they are declining. To fill those gaps, Schwarz has focused on place-based research, studying the biodiversity that exists in the region’s own landscapes.
Much of this work involves collaboration. Schwarz works with landowners and conservation organizations like the Mountain Studies Institute, and government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. These partnerships allow researchers and stakeholders to share information and develop strategies that support biodiversity.
Land management decisions can significantly impact insects. Property owners altering natural habitat or land use practices can influence which species thrive and which disappear. By collaborating directly with stakeholders, Schwarz helps translate scientific knowledge into real-world conservation decisions.
Another important part of his work happens in the classroom. Schwarz teaches conservation biology courses that introduce students from various academic backgrounds to environmental issues. Some of those students will go on to work in biology or conservation, while others will carry a new awareness of biodiversity into their daily lives and communities. Either outcome helps expand the network of people paying attention to environmental change.
Schwarz emphasizes the importance of community involvement in scientific discovery. Monitoring insect populations across a large region is difficult for any researcher, so observations from residents can be valuable. Reports of unusual insects or unexpected population changes often lead to new discoveries, including previously undocumented populations.
In fact, Schwarz’s more recent research interest in local firefly populations began because no one else in the region was studying them. By diving into scientific literature and collaborating with a network of researchers interested in western fireflies, he was able to begin documenting populations.
For Schwarz, discoveries represent more than academic achievements. They are a larger effort to understand and protect biodiversity. Insects may not capture public attention like larger animals do, but they form the backbone of terrestrial ecosystems. Without them, pollination and ecological balance would quickly unravel (Potts et al., 2010).
In a world facing biodiversity loss, the smallest creatures may hold the biggest answers.
And in southwest Colorado, Dr. Ryan Schwarz is making sure they are not ignored.
References
Armstead, S., Carper, A., Davidson, D., Blanchard, M., Hopwood, J., Larcom, R., Black, S., Briles, C., Irwin, R., Jolma, G., et al. (2024). Colorado Native Pollinating Insects Health Study.
Leandro, C. (2023). Insect and arthropod conservation policies: the need for a paradigm shift. Curr. Opin. Insect Sci. 58,.
Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, J. C., Kremen, C., Neumann, P., Schweiger, O. and Kunin, W. E. (2010). Global pollinator declines: Trends, impacts and drivers. Trends Ecol. Evol. 25, 345–353.
Madigan Stewart is a fourth-year wildlife biology student at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. She is originally from Missoula, Montana, and has always felt most at home outside. She is motivated by her curiosity for wildlife and the desire to protect the natural world.
She is fascinated by how everything in nature is connected, and cares about biodiversity because it keeps ecosystems strong, balanced, and full of life. Protecting it means protecting the wild places that have shaped who she is.