Robert Ferrell

Robert spent most of his childhood and adolescence living and traveling around Europe. Following in his father’s footsteps, Robert knew early on he wanted a career in physics. Part way through college, however, he took a breath and moved to Kansas where he spent the next two years working as a cowboy on his cousin’s cattle ranch. After receiving his Ph.D in theoretical physics Robert spent ten years in Boston, initially at a private tech company and then as a researcher at MIT.

The West, however, continued to beckon, so he moved to Santa Fe in 1999, and worked at Los Alamos National Labs. In Santa Fe, he met his wife, Lisa, whose family has deep ties to the Chama Valley. Today, Robert devotes all his time to raising yaks and cattle on their two ranches outside Chama. Research is in his DNA, so he spends a great deal of time searching for ways to improve the lands, its resources, and the animals (both wild and domestic) that graze and live upon them.