Yellowstone Ecological Research Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 810544086
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Bozeman, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4065561414
- Rating
- 62
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $116,834
- Expenses
- $83,141
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROBERT CRABTREE (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- ROBERT CRABTREE (PRESIDENT)
- KENNETH WILSON PHD (VICE PRESIDE)
- KRYSTYNA WOLNIAKOWSKI (SECRETARY/TR)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the yellowstone ecological research center (yerc) is to empower communities and individuals with data-driven science and technology to activate land, water, and wildlife stewardship across the greater yellowstone ecosystem and beyond. Yerc envisions a world where our communities are empowered to think like an ecosystem, where the health of our natural world can be diagnosed with robust and accessible scientific data, monitored through innovative technological solutions, and addressed through an inclusive community of stakeholders with an informed awareness and the ability to adapt to rapid environmental change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Since 1993, yerc has conducted research in and around yellowstone national park on an ecologically diverse set of projects. One pillar of the research being conducted is to collect long-term datasets that capture real trends better than the average research project that lasts just two field seasons. A second is to analyze that data at appropriate spacial scales and at different levels of the biological organization -from genes to regional ecosystems. A third is in collaborating with agencies, universities, and other private organizations so that our work is relevant, accessible, and put to good use solving real world problems. Finally, we are translating our science into adaptive decision-making for the health of ecosystems. Our long-term research and community science monitoring programs - rivernet, landnet, and wildnet and yellowstonenet - provide data streams that fuel an internet platform that solves real world problems. Rivernet is a community science water quality and quantity monitoring program to improve the resolution of data. Landnet is a community based cooperative for diagnostics and prognosis monitoring for agro-ecosystem health. It will provide data on soil carbon content, soil moisture and infiltration, plant diversity, and biodiversity. Wildnet combines emerging technologies, community collaboration, and ecosystem science to find solutions for pressing wildlife conservation issues, such as providing early identification of disease in animals. Yellowstonenet features a network of people (citizen stewards) and our emerging cloud-based computer platform, which will provide fast turn-around data delivery and user interactions through use of an app. Ongoing programs include predator-prey dynamics, disturbance impacts, and high-tech landscapes. Some recent projects include setting up new stream gauges to collect a series of depth and flow measurements across all stream stages, and making this available to be easily downloaded. One field crew performed routine water quality monitoring in the upper yellowstone river and analyzed the data for important nutrients. Another sponsored project is working to find a collaborative solution to the chronic dewatering of mill creek, a prime native yellowstone cutthroat trout spawning tributary. Yerc maintains a field research station in paradise valley, and works with many university intern and research assistant programs to conduct this research. We continue to work with local community and school groups to develop lesson plans to engage local students, create materials for distribution, papers, talks and presentations. Yellowstone ecological research center dissolved the organization as of 12/31/24. All remaining assets were distributed to another 501(c)(3).
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 46
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 45.3%; rating input score 45
- Program expense ratio: 63.6%; rating input score 64
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 28.8%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -10.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -12% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -15.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 45.3% of revenue deployed · 63.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $53K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.