Saguache County Sustainable Environment & Economic Development

For ScSEED board member Robert Donaldson, the path to Saguache County was shaped by a lifetime of curiosity, education, and a love for the American West.

 

Born into what he affectionately calls “a family of academic vagabonds,” Donaldson’s childhood followed his parents from one university to another across the country. Although his academic journey eventually led him to earn a Ph.D. in Plant Science and a 40-year career at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the mountains of the West were never far from his heart.

 

“Every summer we’d camp our way back across the West,” Donaldson recalls. “Those experiences stayed with me.”

 

One of those family road trips brought him through the San Luis Valley in 1955. Years later, while attending the University of Texas, he regularly returned to Colorado with friends to escape the summer heat, camping and climbing in the mountains. Even as his career took him to universities and research institutions across the country, the West continued to call him back.

The opportunity finally came when his daughter, Emily, accepted a teaching position at the Crestone Charter School. During visits to the Valley, Robert and his wife Julie found themselves drawn to the landscape and the people.

 

“My wife looked at the mountains and the ponderosa pines and said, ‘This place sings to me,’” Donaldson says. “So west we went.”

 

The move became permanent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the couple found peace exploring Saguache County’s remote backroads, hiking little-used trails, camping in quiet places west of the Continental Divide, and rediscovering the sense of adventure that had first drawn them west decades earlier.

 

Throughout his academic career, Donaldson found his greatest satisfaction not only in scientific research, but in helping young people discover their own futures. He organized internship programs, connected students with working laboratories, secured grant funding for hands-on learning, and encouraged fellow faculty members to move beyond traditional lectures by engaging students directly in scientific discovery. A Fulbright Fellowship took him to Turkey, where he continued that work while experiencing the warmth and hospitality of another culture.

Today, Donaldson sees those same opportunities here in Saguache County.

 

“I’d like to see more ways for our young people to experience different careers firsthand,” he says. “Whether it’s construction trades, healthcare, retail business, or entrepreneurship, we can help students discover meaningful work while building a stronger community.”

 

That vision is what drew him to ScSEED.

Donaldson believes economic development is ultimately about creating opportunities for people to build rewarding lives close to home. By supporting businesses, expanding workforce development, and creating affordable places to live, he believes Saguache County can retain more young people while preserving the rural character that makes the Valley so special.

“ScSEED can help make those things happen,” he says. “We have an opportunity to create a county where people can work, live, and continue enjoying the extraordinary landscapes that surround us.”

 

As ScSEED welcomes Robert Donaldson to its Board of Directors, the organization gains not only decades of experience in education and science, but also someone who believes that investing in young people is one of the most important investments a community can make.