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Telluride Science Advisory Role, and a Memoire
  • 29
  • 03
  • 2021

Telluride Science Advisory Role, and a Memoire

By David Shaw

It’s an honor for me to serve as a Senior Advisor to the Telluride Science and Research Center in Telluride, Colorado.  Telluride Science was founded in 1984 to convene leading scientists for exploration of new frontiers in molecular science and nanotechnology to benefit healthcare, energy futures, new materials and the environment. More information can be found here.

My relationship with the town of Telluride goes back more than 50 years to a very different time in it’s history.   And I am pleased to share this memoire of a role that it played in my early life.  While Telluride Science explores new frontiers in science, the town of Telluride was once a place to experience historic 19th century frontier days in the American west.

Growing up amidst industrialized New England in the 1960s, my friends and I were often captivated by historic and fictional accounts of great journeys of adventure and discovery.  We loved science fiction about space and ocean exploration.  And we could become inspired and enchanted by books, films, and television shows about America’s western frontier – knowing its role in creating a distinctive, adventurous American spirit.  We learned about native American cultures, voyages of exploration and discovery such as the Lewis and Clark expedition, early settlers and pioneers, the gold rush, vast wilderness landscapes, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and more.  

We were eager to experience the West, and in 1970 managed to find our way from New Hampshire to the remote ghost town of Telluride in Colorado’s imposing San Juan Mountains.  Telluride had a colorful history as a prosperous mining town in the late 19th century and our time there brought to life a world that had captured our imagination.  

This short film is intended to tell the story of our adventure travel to Telluride, to share what we found there, and to capture the role that early adventures can play in navigating to a life of exploration and discovery.  

Telluride, a memoir from David Shaw on Vimeo.