UM researchers have teamed up with K-12 teachers of the Montana Geographic Alliance to develop and test middle school curriculum designed to illuminate cultural and environmental changes in North America while simultaneously teaching students cyber-based skills.

The National Science Foundation recently funded the project with a $250,000 grant from its Cyberinfrastructure Training, Education, Advancement and Mentoring for Our 21st Century Workforce program. The grant was awarded to Heather Almquist, faculty affiliate in UM's Department of Geography; Sarah Halvorson, UM associate professor of geography, and Lisa Blank, UM professor of curriculum and instruction.

The curriculum provides middle school classrooms with an authentic, user-centered and collaborative learning experience. Students will collect paleoecological, paleoclimate and archeolgocial records and combine them with Native American oral histories to develop a picture of past geographic conditions where no written record exists.

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UM will offer a presentation for international students and scholars titled "Know Your Rights" from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, in the University Center Theater. The event is organized by UM and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana.

The session will cover civil rights issues, the criminal justice system and police procedures for various types of offenses. Participants also will learn about the kind of legal services available on campus.

UM Legal Counsel David Aronofsky will lead a panel discussion during the event. Other panelists will include:

• Tara Elliott, U.S. Department of Justice
• Jodi Bard, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Gary Henricks, Missoula City Attorney's Office
• Curt Trowbridge, Missoula Police Department
• Anne Hamilton, UM Legal Services for Students

International students and scholars are encouraged to attend the event, which also is open to the public. For more information call UM Foreign Student and Scholar Services at 243-2226. 

UM and area community members can learn about global issues at free International Brown Bag Lecture Series events. Most lectures in the series, hosted by UM International Programs, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 303 of Stone Hall (formerly the Old Journalism Building).

The first lecture in the series, "Using Information and Communication Technology to Empower the Person with Disability in Developing Countries" by Sang-Mook Lee, visiting scholar from Seoul National University in South Korea, will be held at noon Thursday, Sept. 8, in University Center Room 330.

For a full lecture series schedule, visit the International Programs website. For more information call 243-6865.

UM's Office for Civic Engagement will hold the annual Fall Volunteer Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 6-7, in the UC Atrium.

Students and community members can learn about numerous volunteer opportunities available around Missoula from representatives of more than 20 nonprofit organizations at the fair. The event is free and open to the public.

The Office for Civic Engagement is a department of the Davidson Honors College. It serves as the University's primary agent of community activism and civic responsibility.

TIAA-CREF will offer individual counseling sessions to assist faculty and staff with retirement planning from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 27-28, and from 8 to 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at UM.

Appointments are required for the sessions, which will be held in the University Center. To make an appointment, call the TIAA-CREF Phone Center at 800-842-2009.   

President Engstrom welcomes members of the campus community to meet with him to discuss issues and topics of their choice. Please call 243-2311 or email prestalk@umontana.edu to make an appointment to meet with President Engstrom during these times.

President Engstrom's scheduled office hours for autumn semester are:

• Wednesday, Sept. 28: 2-3:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 27: 2-4 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 8: 9-10:30 a.m.

Socials will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. most Fridays during autumn semester in the Davidson Honors College Lounge. Autumn semester dates and event sponsors are:

• Sept. 9: School of Extended & Lifelong Learning
• Sept. 16: College of Forestry and Conservation
• Sept. 23: College of Arts and Sciences
• Oct. 7: Academic Affairs
• Oct. 21: Mansfield Center
• Oct. 28: President Engstrom
• Nov. 4: International Programs
• Nov. 18: Sponsor TBA
• Dec. 2: President Engstrom
• Dec. 9: Sponsor TBA

Director of Internship Services Terry Berkhouse has been asked to conduct the exploratory phase in the creation of an Office for Academic Enrichment to promote, coordinate, track and assess co-curricular enrichment opportunities for UM students, promoting universal undergraduate participation in enrichment opportunities. The office will facilitate communication and cooperation between existing academic enrichment programs by providing a one-stop office for information.

Anthropology and Native American studies Professor Neyooxet Greymorning traveled to Australia at the end of May to fulfill part of his responsibilities as an adjunct professor with Southern Cross University. While there he worked closely with the head of the College of Indigenous Australian Peoples. He also traveled to several Aboriginal language communities: Birrbay, Tuncurry, Warrimay (dialects of Gathang), Gumbaynggirr and Dhanggati to assist with their language revitalization efforts. 

Political science Assistant Professor Robert Saldin and African-American studies and history Assistant Professor Tobin Miller Shearer have been awarded an American Library Association grant, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, to bring a traveling exhibit to UM titled "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War." In addition to hosting the exhibit, Saldin and Shearer will organize panel discussions and workshops for the University and local educators.

Anthropology Associate Professor Noriko Seguchi attended an interdisciplinary workshop on the representation of Okinawans March 24-27 in Okinawa, Japan. The workshop was part of the Kyoto University Institute for Research and Humanities interdisciplinary research initiative, "A Japan-Based Global Study of Racial Representations."

Atkins, T.A. and K.D. Cummings. 2011. "Utility of Oral Reading and Retell Fluency in Predicting Proficiency on the Montana Comprehensive Assessment System." Rural Special Education Quarterly, 3(2): 3-12.

Campbell, D.G. (co-author). 2011. "Suicide risk management: Development and analysis of a telephone-based approach to patient safety." Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy and Research.

Drake, Richard. 2011. Review of "A Cosmopolitanism of Nations: Giuseppe Mazzini's Writings on Democracy, Nation Building, and International Relations." In The European Legacy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009) 16(4), pp.547-548. (Eds.) Stefano Recchia and Nadia Urbinati. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Mildrexler, David J., Maosheng Zhao, Steven W. Running. 2011. "Satellite finds highest land skin temperatures on earth." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 92 (7): 855-860.

Seguchi, Noriko, Ashley McKeown, Ryan Schmidt, H. Umeda.C.L. Brace. 2011. "An alternative view of the peopling of South America: Lagoa Santa in craniometric perspective." Anthropological Science. 119 (1): 21-38. 

Sriraman, Bharath (co-editor) 2011. "Circumpolar Indigenous Issues, Knowledge, Relations to Education, Science, and Mathematics." In Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education. 42(2): 99-223.

Stanley Jr., G.D. 2011. "The naked Lazarus effect and the recovery of corals after the end-Permian mass extinction." Kölner Forum für Geologie und Paläontologie.19: 164-165.

Stanley Jr., G.D. (co-author). 2010. "Middle Triassic coral growth bands and their implications for photosymbiosis." Palaios. 25: 754-763.

Vanita, Ruth. "Ancestry." In Wasafiri. Issue 67, January 2011.

Vanita, Ruth. "Speech." In Boxcar Poetry Review. Winter 2010.