The Cliff Ecology Research Group was formed in 1985 within the Department of Botany at the University of Guelph. The group is an interdisciplinary team that analyses the structure and function of cliff ecosystems. Doug Larson began his career studying the ecology of coastal tundra, and then studied the ecology of lichens and mosses growing on rock outcrops in southern Ontario. Uta Matthes worked on the ecology of coastal lichens in California and currently manages projects dealing with physiological, population, and community ecology. Peter Kelly has previously worked on arctic soil formation processes, and now concentrates on dendroecology and demography. Doug Larson has won several teaching and research awards, and has attracted wide media coverage to the new area of cliff ecology.