UM President George M. Dennison has been honored with a Second Nature Climate Leadership Award in the Individual President/Chancellor category.

Dennison received the award at the Climate Leadership Summit of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, held Oct. 12-13 in Denver.

As he retires Oct. 15 after more than 20 years leading his alma mater, Dennison will leave a legacy as a recognized champion for commitment to sustainability and for UM's position now as a model campus in the nation for its climate change efforts.

For more information about UM sustainability programs and Dennison's many accomplishments over the years, visit the Greening UM website.

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UM officials hope to shrink the carbon footprint of campus by nearly a quarter by building a $16 million, wood-fired, biomass boiler onto the existing heating plant.

UM recently was awarded a $180,000 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to complete plans for the project, which would reduce the University's natural gas usage by 70 percent and provide year-round steam to campus.

Robert Duringer, UM vice president for administration and finance, said the University will seek state Board of Regents approval for the project during a Nov. 18-19 meeting in Missoula. If that happens, plans for the plant would be completed this winter and construction likely would begin next spring.

"This project would be paid for with bonds and savings from not using natural gas," Duringer said. "It also would involve no tuition money."

The boiler would be about 120 feet long, 100 feet wide and 40 feet tall. It would be built on the east side of the existing heating plant. Duringer said the heating plant now produces half a megawatt of electricity. With the expansion, that output could potentially double.

He said the industrial-sized biomass boiler would burn an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 tons of wood a year instead of using natural gas. Most would be logging residue such as treetops and limbs. It also might use beetle-killed trees and some trees from thinning projects.

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Two of the most vibrant and leading advocates for improving the nation's education, Barbara and Craig Barrett, will speak at UM on Thursday, Oct. 28.

During their campus visit, Barbara Barrett, former U.S. ambassador to Finland and president and CEO of Triple Creek Guest Ranch in Darby, and Craig Barrett, retired CEO and chairman of the board of Intel Corp., will receive the 2010 Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs Pioneer in Industry Award.

The award, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding entrepreneurs, will be presented to the Barretts at a VIP reception at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Gallagher Business Building second-floor piazza. To purchase tickets for the reception or for more information, call Larae Hackney at 406-243-4830 or e-mail larae.hackney@business.umt.edu.

The Barretts will hold open forums on campus earlier that day that are free and open to the public. They will speak about the ever-changing, high-velocity business landscape.

The forum for the campus community will take place at 2 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building Room 106. An open forum to address the Missoula community will be held at 5 p.m. in the University Theatre.

UM Regents Professor of History Paul Lauren will give the next installment of the Provost's Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series on Wednesday, Oct. 27. Lauren will present "Human Rights in Words, Images and Sounds" at 7 p.m. in the University Center Theater.

The lecture, held in conjunction with UM's annual Day of Dialogue, will explore how determined and courageous men and women in history and in our contemporary world have struggled to uphold human rights. It is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

Lauren, who has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, was the first faculty member at UM to be named a Regents Professor. He earned a doctorate at Stanford University and has received numerous awards for his teaching, advising and mentoring, research, administrative leadership and public service. His published books, chapters and articles are widely acclaimed, and his works have been translated into seven languages.

Day of Dialogue, held annually at UM, will take place this year on Thursday, Oct. 28. It is a campuswide symposium focused on the topics of race, gender, ethnicity, ability/disability, religion, sexual orientation, employment hierarchy and academic discipline. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members will deliver presentations, performances, workshops, and more throughout the day.  

Washington Post staff writer Eli Saslow will deliver the 2010 T. Anthony Pollner Lecture titled "Inside the Bubble: Covering President Obama" at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, in the University Center Theater at UM. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Saslow, the T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor for autumn semester at UM's School of Journalism, began writing for The Washington Post in 2004. He covered the 2008 presidential campaign, writing profile stories about Barack Obama and then chronicling the new president's transition to life inside the White House. Saslow has won multiple awards for news and feature writing. Previously a sports writer for the Post, two of his stories appeared in "The Best American Sports Writing."

Saslow is teaching a course in narrative nonfiction writing at the UM School of Journalism. He also mentors the staff of the student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin.

The Pollner professorship was created in 2001 by the family and friends of T. Anthony Pollner, a 1999 journalism school graduate who was killed in an accident in 2001. Saslow is UM's 10th Pollner professor.

A National Institutes of Health grant to protect human subjects when clinical research is conducted in rural populations has been awarded to UM.

The nearly $750,000 grant went to UM Research Professors Ann Cook and Helena Hoas of the University's Department of Psychology. Cook and Hoas will explore the approaches used by physicians, research coordinators, nurses and administrators who conduct research in states with large rural populations.

The grant will support efforts to identify the ethical issues that face clinicians who conduct research in private practices and rural hospitals and clinics. It also will allow Cook and Hoas to explore how features of the rural environment may influence clinicians' abilities to maintain research integrity.

The new NIH grant will help expand their research to those who conduct clinical studies in a 12-state area.

The next speaker in a UM forum series that explores emerging issues in natural resources and environmental policy will talk about a California study that addresses the future of energy systems.

Jane C.S. Long is principal associate director at large for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a fellow in LLNL's Center for Global Strategic Research. She will present "California's Energy Future Study: Portraits of the Energy System in 2050" from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, in the UM Law Building Castles Center. The forum is free and open to the public.

Long, who works on reinvention of the energy system, adaptation in response to climate change and geoengineering, will speak about a study of California's energy system in 2050 undertaken by the California Council on Science and Technology. By executive order, the state is to reduce emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

The forum is co-sponsored by the UM Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and the University's Resource Conservation Program.

UM students interested in a career in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering are invited to apply to the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program.

Next spring the foundation will award scholarships to students who will be college juniors and seniors during the 2011-12 academic year. Students must be nominated by their institution to be considered for an award. The UM submission deadline for all 2011 applications is 5 p.m. Nov. 5. Applications must be submitted to Laure Pengelly Drake in Davidson Honors College Room 102. Students are encouraged to see her as early as possible for an explanation of the process and for help with the application drafts.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a current, full-time sophomore or junior and working toward a baccalaureate degree, have a B average or equivalent, stand in the upper fourth of his or her class, and be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or U.S. national who will pursue a career in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986. The award covers eligible expenses up to $7,500 per year.

For more information, call Pengelly Drake, UM's Goldwater faculty representative, at 406-243-6140 or e-mail laure.pengellydrake@mso.umt.edu.

China's role in the world -- from its economic behavior, position on diplomatic matters and expansion of its military to its activities in Africa and the U.S.-China relationship -- is in the news and at the center of foreign policy discussions around the nation.

To help Americans understand this dynamic relationship and have their questions answered by leading experts, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations will conduct a unique 50-city event, "CHINA Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections," on Monday, Oct. 18.

The town hall will take place at 6 p.m. in Missoula at UM's James E. Todd Building Room 210. It is free and open to the public. The Missoula event is co-sponsored by UM Continuing Education, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, the Montana World Affairs Council and the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Featured speaker U.S. Ambassador Jon M. Huntsman Jr. will discuss the U.S.-China relationship in a live webcast from Beijing. He then will respond to questions from audience members. The webcast will be followed by an on-site presentation by Chinese human rights activist Dimon Liu, who will give a related talk on "Human Rights Activism and Human Rights Policy."

An international team of scientists from China, the U.S. and Japan have discovered tiny, tentaculated anemone fossils from the Lower Cambrian strata of South China that may change our whole understanding of how modern corals evolved and their relationships with sea anemones.

The rare fossils were named Eolympia pediculata, and their discovery in 535-million-year-old phosphorite deposits of Shaanxi, China, makes them the oldest fossils of their kind.

The fossils are only half a millimeter in diameter, but researchers were able to peer deeply into these once soft bodies using a new computer-aided technology called microtomographic analysis. It revealed three-dimensional details of the fossils, allowing researchers to better understand their anatomy and relationships with living counterparts.

"The quality of the preservation of this ancient soft-bodied fossil and its tiny size is pretty unusual, but what is even more amazing is what the morphological features are telling us about evolution," said UM geosciences Professor George Stanley, a member of the research team that made the discovery. "They are telling us that it is a possible stem group to all later corals and soft anemones -- a group we collectively refer to as Hexacorallians."

Members of the international team of scientists in addition to Stanley are Jian Han, Shin Kubota, Hiro-omi Uchida, Xiaoyong Yao, Degan Shu, Yong Li and Kinya Yasui. The discovery was reported Oct. 13 in the science and medical journal PLoS ONE.

The sixth annual "Bulls, Blues and Brews" benefit and silent auction, hosted by the UM law school's Environmental Law Group, will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at the Missoula Children's Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, located at 200 N. Adams St. in Missoula.

"Bulls, Blues and Brews" is held each year to promote putting Montana's laws to work to protect the state's environment. Admission is $10. Those who attend must be 21 or older, and IDs will be checked at the door. Live music will be provided by the Discount Quartet, with special guests Chuck Florence and David Horgan.

This year's event will raise funds to assist the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, a newly formed nonprofit law firm based in Bozeman that is dedicated to preserving wild lands, wildlife and wild waters. Proceeds also will go to the Environmental Legal Education Network, an organization that works to enhance connections between law practitioners and law students.

The silent auction will feature donations and coupons from dozens of local stores, restaurants, residents, professors and students who share a passion for protecting Montana's environment.

ELG is a UM School of Law student-run organization dedicated to raising environmental awareness within the legal and law school community. For more information, call or e-mail David Whisenand, ELG president, at 406-640-3283 or david.whisenand@umontana.edu.

The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded Montana Public Radio three federal grants to expand coverage to Libby and Polson and improve service in the north Flathead area. The UM-based station also received funds to upgrade its satellite distribution equipment and main recording studio in Missoula. The projects will happen in phases over the next 18 to 24 months.

The station must raise nearly $200,000 in matching funds, said MTPR general manager William Marcus. "We know there is support for this expansion, and we look forward to bringing MTPR to unserved or underserved parts of Montana," he said.

In addition to the new transmitters, MTPR will move its Kalispell transmitter to the top of Whitefish Mountain Resort and install a translator to maintain good coverage in Kalispell. The grants will also address the viability of the Missoula-based satellite uplink that distributes the MTPR signal to transmitters in Butte, Helena, Great Falls and Hamilton. The MTPR recording studio will benefit from a new audio board and a fully networked digital storage and playback system.

MTPR is a public service of UM and broadcasts both NPR and local programming.

The UM chapter of Alpha Phi sorority will host a Red Dress Gala at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts, located at 200 N. Adams St.

The event, which will feature dinner, music and a silent auction, is a fundraiser for the Alpha Phi Foundation, which supports women's cardiac care research. Tickets are $35 each or $60 per couple and are available by calling Jacquelynn Williamson, Alpha Phi's marketing chair, at 406-208-2819 or e-mailing jacquelynn.williamson@umontana.edu.

Attendees are asked to wear formal red attire or red accents to raise awareness of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.

The mountains of Missoula will transform into the mountains of Kyrgyzstan with the traditional music of Ordo Sakhna on Saturday, Oct. 16.

The 10-person ensemble of prize-winning musicians from Kyrgyzstan will perform at 3 p.m. in UM's Music Recital Hall. They will present ancient traditional melodies and dastans (short sections of epics) that have been passed down for centuries.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. They may be purchased by calling UM's School of Music at 406-243-6880.

Ordo Sakhna will display the beauty, color and diversity of many traditional instruments and styles of dress while performing. The ensemble will travel nearly 6,000 miles to share their epic nomadic civilization of Central Asia with American audiences for the first time.

KBGA College Radio 89.9 FM at UM will host a concert by Class Actress, Small Black and Shahs at 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at the Palace Lounge. Admission to the show is $5 for those 21 and older and $7 for those under 21. The event is open to ages 18 and up.

Class Actress is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and pulls from a variety of styles. The band ranges from the '80s synth pop of Depeche Mode and New Order to the vivaciousness of early Madonna and the bubbly heartbreak of Mazzy Star.

Touring with Class Actress is Small Black, an emerging band also from Brooklyn. Their self-titled full-length album debuts this fall. They describe themselves on Myspace as "acousmatic, tape music, concrete and pop."

Opening the show is Shahs. Originally from Minneapolis, he now lives and makes music in Missoula. On Myspace, Shahs describes his music as "tropical, live electronics and visual."

The UM chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society will hold a "Trick or Read" book drive Oct. 25-29 as part of its fall literacy service program. The group is collecting new or lightly used children's books for preschool to elementary school-aged children.

Collection boxes will be located at The Source in the University Center, the Phyllis J. Washington Education Center, the Children's Learning centers in McGill Hall, and the Craighead apartments. The books will be donated to the Watkins Children's Center and daycares around Missoula.

The Golden Key International Honour Society is an organization that focuses on academics, service and leadership. For more information about the book drive, call Gregory Lanoue, UM Golden Key treasurer, at 406-241-6861 or e-mail gregory.lanoue@umconnect.umt.edu.

The UM Physical Therapy Student Association will offer 20- and 40-minute massages during campus fundraising clinics in October and November.

The clinics will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Oct. 25-28 and Nov. 1-4, 8-11 and 15-18, in Skaggs Building Room 129. Enjoy a 20-minute massage for $12 and a 40-minute massage for $20. Appointments are required.

Proceeds will help UM physical therapy students attend local and national educational and research conferences. To make an appointment, call 406-243-4753.

Community members who are looking for a deal on outdoor gear or who want to sell their equipment should check out UM's Used Outdoor Gear Sale from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, in the University Center Atrium.

The sale, a semiannual fundraiser for the UM Campus Recreation Outdoor Program, is free and open to the public. The program collects 15 percent of the sale price of each item.

Those who want to sell gear can bring it to the UC between 7 and 11 a.m. Unsold gear must be picked up between 5 and 7 p.m.  For more information, call the Outdoor Program at 406-243-5172.

Montana rode a career-best passing performance by Justin Roper and a career mark by Chase Reynolds to a 47-28 victory Oct. 9 over the Idaho State Bengals in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Reynolds made Montana history when he carried in a 3-yard, second-half touchdown. The TD was Reynolds' 54th career touchdown, passing Lex Hilliard and putting him in first place in the Griz record book.

Roper, Montana's senior quarterback, threw for a career-high 319 yards, going 28 of 42 with two touchdowns. He also led the game in rushing, picking up 61 yards on eight carries, including a 35-yard scamper. Junior receiver Antwon Moutra led all receivers with 94 yards on five catches. Junior kicker Brody McKnight also had four field goals.

Defensively, senior safety Erik Stoll had two interceptions, sophomore linebacker Jordan Tripp had a team-high eight tackles and senior end Severin Campbell had two sacks.

Montana (4-2, 3-1 Big Sky Conference) will face the Portland State Vikings in Hillsboro, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 16.

The UM women's golf team carded a 298 in the final round of the LPGA International Xavier Invitational in Daytona, Fla., helping the Griz to a second-place finish. The tournament concluded on Oct. 10.

The 298 tied for the third-best single round score ever at UM. The Grizzlies' 54-hole total of 907 was third-best in school history.

Daytona State took the tournament title with a score of 894. Xavier was third at 915. Montana's  Lauren Howell and Carissa Simmons finished fourth and tied for fifth, respectively.

The UM soccer squad suffered a pair of Big Sky Conference losses last weekend, falling Oct. 8 at Sacramento State and Oct. 10 at Portland State.

Sacramento State scored three second-half goals in a 3-0 victory over UM. It was the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.

The Hornets scored what would be the game-winner in the 48th minute, then added an insurance goal in the 65th minute and the match's final goal in the 89th minute.

UM then was beat 3-0 by Portland State in Hillsboro, Ore. The Grizzlies were shut out for the fourth straight match and dropped to 1-10-2 overall.

The Grizzlies will face Weber State at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, and Idaho State at 1 p.m., Oct. 17. Both matches are at South Campus Stadium in Missoula.

The UM volleyball team split a pair of league matches on the road last weekend, beating Northern Arizona and losing to Northern Colorado.

UM fought back from a 2-1 deficit to post a 17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12 victory Oct. 7 at NAU in Flagstaff, Ariz. The win was Montana's fifth straight over NAU and gave the Lumberjacks their first loss at home this season in five matches.

Senior Jamie Thibeault was a force for UM, finishing with a career-high 12 blocks. Freshman Brooke Bray had a season-high nine blocks, and junior Brittany Quick added seven. Bray also finished with 26 digs.

Northern Colorado remained unbeaten in league play with a 3-1 victory Oct. 9 over UM in Greeley, Colo.

The Bears, the Big Sky's top hitting team, hit .347 and became the first team in nine matches to out-block the Grizzlies.

Montana dropped to 8-10 overall and slipped into fourth place in the Big Sky Conference at 4-3. UM will host Big Sky opponent Sacramento State at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct 16, in the Adams Center West Auxiliary Gym.