The lab is as expected to a non-scientist — one that you would see in the movies. Black counter-tops line three walls. Unrecognizable instruments litter open surfaces. Refrigerators adorned with signs stating “no human food” are nestled between larger instruments. Keaton Wilson takes over a corner of the room in the University of Montana Biological Research Building.

Kaleb Retz was snowmobiling in an open clear cut when the terrain suddenly became very steep. “It happened so fast, I didn’t really know what was going on until it was over,” he said. Retz, a marketing major at the University of Montana, was caught in an avalanche for just a few seconds but didn’t get buried in the snow.

Amongst forest treasures, like antlers and pine cones, he sits in his office, taming his long white beard with his left hand. He sends e-mails while overlooking his lumber yard. “I don’t have a cell phone. Well I do, but I don’t know where it is,” Vander Meer says while leafing through his address book: pages of contact information, typed out in 10-point font.

It’s brisk, but not quite cold enough for the ponds to be frozen.Canada Geese and mallards swim in the reflection of Bass Peak and St. Joseph Peak, which are capped with snow. A visitor might spot badger, kingfisher or sandhill crane. But to Joan and Gary Dickerson, the plants that support such diverse wildlife are the most interesting part of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.