Find a Focus Area
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Amphibians and reptile conservation is critically important to ecosystem function and efforts to conserve biological diversity. Faculty and students in this focal area conduct research on population status and the causes of population declines.
Faculty
Gomez, Erim - Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
Lowe, Winsor - Professor
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Populations of numerous bird species have declined dramatically in recent decades, prompting widespread concern among ecologists globally. Faculty and students studying birds pursue diverse research, from evolutionary ecology and physiology to migration and habitat fragmentation. Taken together, their work is essential for helping conserve bird populations locally, regionally, and globally.
Faculty
Breuner, Creagh - Professor of Organismal Biology and Ecology and Wildlife Biology
Dreitz, Victoria - Professor of Wildlife Biology; Director of Avian Science Center
Riecke, Thomas - James K. Ringelman Chair in Waterfowl Conservation
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Variation is a fundamental characteristic of natural systems, from vegetation assemblages to wildlife communities. Today’s resource professionals and researchers need efficient methods for describing and interpreting patterns of variability in a broad array of ecosystem attributes. Faculty and students in this area focus on the development and application of statistical and analytical methods for assessing the status and trajectory of terrestrial ecosystems across a range of spatial and temporal scales.
Faculty
Affleck, David - Professor of Biometrics & Director of Inland Northwest Growth Yield Cooperative
Dobrowski, Solomon - Professor of Forest Landscape Ecology; Director of Forestry Program
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Klene, Anna - Professor of Geography
Lukacs, Paul M. - Associate Vice President for Research & Creative Scholarship; Professor of Quantitative Wildlife Ecology
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Perry, Tom - Assistant Teaching Professor of Forest Management
Riecke, Thomas - James K. Ringelman Chair in Waterfowl Conservation
Tourani, Mahdieh - Assistant Professor of Quantitative Ecology
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University of Montana is well-known for its work in carnivore ecology, especially tied to wolves and grizzly bears. Faculty and students in this area conduct cutting-edge research that is used to inform complex societal decisions on carnivore conservation and management. Research spans demography, resource selection, social tolerance, top-down control of prey populations, and trophic cascades. Faculty and students have worked closely with agency and NGO collaborators to guide native carnivore conservation and recovery efforts and to inform management strategies to mitigate carnivore impacts on humans.
Faculty
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Johnson, Heather - Boone and Crockett Endowed Chair of Wildlife Conservation
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Millspaugh, Josh - Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation
Sells, Sarah - Assistant Professor; Assistant Unit Leader of MTCWRU
Schwartz, Michael - Adjunct Reseach Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
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Climate change research is rapidly emerging as a focus of interest among natural resource professionals. Understanding climate change involves investigating the ecological, social, and political aspects of global warming. CFC Faculty and student research in this area examines how different ecosystems and human communities are responding to climate change, and how to create effective policies and restoration projects to address climate change.
Faculty
Affleck, David - Professor of Biometrics; Director of Inland Northwest Growth & Yield Cooperative
Ballantyne, Ashley - Associate Professor of Bioclimatology; Director of Systems Ecology Graduate Program
Bocinsky, Kyle - Assistant Research Professor; Director of Climate Extension, Montana Climate Office
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair of Department of Society and Conservation
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Cleveland, Cory - Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Dobrowski, Solomon - Professor of Forest Landscape Ecology; Director of Forestry Program
Gardner, Payton – Associate Professor of Geoscience; Chair, Department of Geosciences
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Harper, Joel – Professor of Geoscience
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Higuera, Philip - Professor of Fire Ecology
Hoylman, Zachary - Research Assistant Professor; Assistant State Climatologist, Montana Climate Office
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Kimball, John - Professor Emeritus
Klene, Anna - Professor of Geography
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Seielstad, Carl - Associate Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Professor of Fire Science
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Tourani, Mahdieh - Assistant Professor of Quantitative Ecology
Wilcox, Andrew – Professor of Geoscience
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Community-based engagement in conservation and natural resource management ranges from place-based collaboration and co-management of protected areas to community forestry and emerging institutions such as community-owned forests. CFC faculty and students working in this area seek to understand, facilitate, and evaluate these types of conservation efforts.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair of the Department of Society and Conservation
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair of the Department of Forest Management
Faxon, Hilary - Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Science
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli - Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Franke Professor of Forestry and Conservation; Director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Weddell, Melissa - Research Faculty; Director of Institute for Tourism and Recreation Management
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science; Chair, Department of Society & Conservation
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Community and ecosystem ecology places a focus on how different species interact with each other within context of the full suite of abiotic and biotic factors operating in an ecosystem. Abiotic factors include things like water, soil, and sunlight. Research in this realm can cover diverse projects, but the unifying theme is species interactions within ecosystems.
Faculty
Brodie, Jedediah - Professor; Craighead Endowed Chair of Conservation
Dreitz, Victoria - Professor of Wildlife Biology; Director of Avian Science Center
Eby, Lisa - Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Restoration
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Tourani, Mahdieh - Assistant Professor of Quantitative Ecology
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Conservation genetics is a broad field that applies genetic and genomic tools in addressing questions about ecology, genomics, and conservation. University of Montana faculty and graduate students have played key roles in establishing and advancing the field of conservation genetics. As one example, UM faculty and students advanced eDNA as a technique to facilitate non-invasive wildlife species monitoring using environmental samples such as water and snow.
Faculty
Good, Jeffrey - Professor
Luikart, Gordon - Professor of Conservation Ecology and Genetics
Schwartz, Michael - Adjunct Reseach Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
Whiteley, Andrew - Associate Professor of Fisheries & Conservation Genomics
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Natural resource decisions are nearly always based on biological, ecological, social, economic, and political considerations. Integrating these factors in a formal, structured manner leads to better decision-making, and in turn, better and more durable outcomes. Decision science has become its own field drawing on aspects of social and biological science, computer science, and data analytics.
Faculty
Dreitz, Victoria - Professor of Wildlife Biology; Director of Avian Science Center
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Sells, Sarah - Assistant Professor; Assistant Unit Leader of MTCWRU
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Wildlife disease is an increasingly important field of study for both species conservation and human health. Zoonotic diseases can devastate wildlife populations and pose direct threats to humans. Faculty and students studying wildlife disease seek to: better understand the role of disease in wildlife population dynamics, identify strategies to reduce disease impacts on wildlife, and advance our understanding of zoonotic spillover to human populations.
Faculty
Luis, Angie - Associate Professor of Population and Disease Ecology
Walsh, Dan - Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Leader
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Earth science is the study of Earth as an integrated system, including the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and interior. It focuses on how these components interact over time to shape Earth’s environment, resources, and natural hazards.
Faculty
Hendrix, Marc – Professor of Geoscience
Harper, Joel – Professor of Geoscience
Wilcox, Andrew – Professor of Geoscience
Gardner, Payton – Associate Professor of Geoscience; Chair, Department of Geosciences
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Ecology and evolution is a broad research category organized into three major conceptual areas: 1) evolution, genetics, and genomics, 2) ecology, behavior, and 3) conservation, and physiology and organismal function. Faculty and students contribute to advances in genomics and in turn improve our understanding of evolution through genetic insights. Additionally, faculty and students address fundamental questions about the ecology, physiology, and behavior of animal and plant species and community composition and dynamics.
Faculty
Breuner, Creagh - Professor of Organismal Biology and Ecology and Wildlife Biology
Cheviron, Zachary - Professor
Emlen, Douglas - Regents Professor of Biology
Good, Jeffrey - Professor
Lowe, Winsor - Professor
Luis, Angie - Associate Professor of Population and Disease Ecology
Luikart, Gordon - Professor of Conservation Ecology and Genetics
Whiteley, Andrew - Associate Professor of Fisheries & Conservation Genomics
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The Environmental Justice focus area provides students with knowledge and skills to understand the causes and consequences of inequitable distributions of resources and exposures to environmental hazards. Students learn to analyze and address environmental justice problems through community-engaged research and collaborative projects. With grounding in theory and ethical principles, students develop skills in problem-solving, policy and spatial analysis, communication, and project management to help empower overburdened and overlooked communities. Projects cover a range of topics including environmental health, climate justice, food security, and Indigenous rights.
Faculty
Bocinsky, Kyle - Assistant Research Professor & Director of Climate Extension, Montana Climate Office
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair, Department of Society and Conservation
Faxon, Hilary - Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Science
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Sundeen, Mark - Associate Professor; Chair, Department of Environmental Studies
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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For too long, nature writers have talked amongst themselves in an echo chamber. The Environmental Writing focus guides passionate authors to a wider audience. Alongside themes of ecology and science, students may delve into religion, trauma, gender, sexuality, race, and justice. They tackle genres of personal essay, memoir, travel, fiction, cli-fi, longform, humor and true crime. The thesis is original and compelling; grounded in the tradition and field; informed and critical to the issues it raises; and written to publication standard.
Faculty
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
Sundeen, Mark - Associate Professor; Chair, Department of Environmental Studies
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Wildfire poses one of the great challenges of the 21st century in the West with growing impacts on economic, environmental, and human health. Our graduate students work closely with faculty to understand these impacts and to develop forward-looking solutions that consider the complexities of fire ecology, fuel treatments, climate change, policy and human behavior, economics and risk. The Northern Rocky Mountains are an unparalleled laboratory to learn about the role of fire on the land, to develop and apply new tools and technology, and to acquire the skills and experience needed to become leaders in fire science and management.
Faculty
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair, Department of Forest Management
Gay, Justin - Assistant Teaching Professor of Ecology
Higuera, Philip - Professor of Fire Ecology
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kolb, Peter - Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Seielstad, Carl - Associate Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Professor of Fire Science
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Graduate students in Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology are trained to link knowledge of population and community ecology to current issues in fish and aquatic conservation and management. Many students take a multi-disciplinary approach interfacing among the traditional fields of aquatic and population ecology, population genetics, watershed science, and natural resource management. The scope of aquatic systems ranges from watersheds, rivers and lakes, to estuarine and biotic communities therein.
Faculty
Eby, Lisa - Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Restoration
Gomez, Erim - Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Whiteley, Andrew - Associate Professor of Fisheries & Conservation Genomics
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The forests of the northern Rockies are an ideal laboratory to learn ecological principles. We span the sensitive grassland-forest and temperate-boreal forest ecotones, and a diverse geological backdrop which provides an ideal system to test relationships between belowground processes and forest ecosystem function. Using a suite of analytical approaches, forest ecology and soils research in our College seeks to understand how forest biodiversity, structure and function respond to historical disturbances and management practices and how contemporary stressors such as climate change, exotic species invasions, changes in nutrient availability, and changes in fire regimes may affect forests across a broad range of spatial scales. Our natural laboratory also extends to tropical and to temperate forests worldwide, allowing us to test the generality of the ecological patterns and phenomena that we observe.
Faculty
Ballantyne, Ashley - Associate Professor of Bioclimatology & Director of Systems Ecology Graduate Program
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Cleveland, Cory - Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Dobrowski, Solomon - Professor of Forest Landscape Ecology; Director of Forestry Program
Gay, Justin - Assistant Teaching Professor of Ecology
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kolb, Peter - Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
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Our forest management research focuses on developing innovative science, silvicultural strategies, and decision support tools to address challenges facing sustainable land management in the Northern Rockies and beyond. Our research examines regeneration, growth and competition relationships, fuel dynamics and fire hazard reduction, economics, roads and harvesting systems, as well as developing novel geospatial technologies and sampling strategies.
Faculty
Affleck, David - Professor of Biometrics & Director of Inland Northwest Growth & Yield Cooperative
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Cleveland, Cory - Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair, Department of Forest Management
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kolb, Peter - Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Perry, Tom - Assistant Teaching Professor of Forest Management
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
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Geography is a big-tent discipline that contains many sub-disciplines and areas of focus. In the FCFC, faculty generally focus on parks and tourism, mountain environments and communities, rural communities, socio-demographics, physical geography, GIS and remote sensing, water resources and natural resources management, and community and environmental planning.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair, Department of Society and Conservation
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Faxon, Hilary - Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Science
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Kimball, John - Professor Emeritus
Klene, Anna - Professor of Geography
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
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The CFC has a dozen faculty and 25 graduate students involved in the application of these technologies to natural resource problems. Particular areas of expertise are fire sciences, hydrology, forest operations, ecosystem modeling, and landscape dynamics related to climate change. The CFC boasts state of the science facilities and maintains close working partnerships with local, state, national and international organizations such as NASA and the USDA Forest Service.
Faculty
Affleck, David - Professor of Biometrics & Director of Inland Northwest Growth & Yield Cooperative
Bocinsky, Kyle - Assistant Research Professor; Director of Climate Extension, Montana Climate Office
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Dobrowski, Solomon - Professor of Forest Landscape Ecology; Director of Forestry Program
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair, Department of Forest Management
Gardner, Payton – Associate Professor of Geoscience; Chair, Department of Geosciences
Harper, Joel – Professor of Geoscience
Hoylman, Zachary - Research Assistant Professor; Assistant State Climatologist, Montana Climate Office
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kimball, John - Professor Emeritus
Klene, Anna - Professor of Geography
Magney, Troy - W.A. Franke Endowed Chair of Forest Conservation
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Rice, William - Associate Professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Seielstad, Carl - Associate Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Professor of Fire Science
Wilcox, Andrew – Professor of Geoscience
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Habitat ecology is foundational to fish and wildlife species conservation and management. Habitat provides the necessary resources to support survival, growth and reproduction of individuals, populations, and communities. Faculty and students working in habitat ecology address animal resource selection and nutrient availability and acquisition, ultimately linking that to animal vital rates. Research informs habitat conservation and management strategies to support species’ population viability.
Faculty
Bishop, Chad - Director of Wildlife Biology Program
Brodie, Jedediah - Professor; Craighead Endowed Chair of Conservation
Eby, Lisa - Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Restoration
Gomez, Erim - Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Johnson, Heather - Boone and Crockett Endowed Chair of Wildlife Conservation
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Millspaugh, Josh - Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation
Naugle, Dave - Professor of Large Scale Wildlife Ecology; Director of Rangeland and Wildlife Conservation Group
Riecke, Thomas - James K. Ringelman Chair in Waterfowl Conservation
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Our faculty in Indigenous Knowledge partner with Indigenous Peoples in projects that seek to empower their communities, address environmental challenges, restorative ecosystems, and revitalize traditional food systems, helping to reestablish long-held sustainable practices that advance conservation practice and resource management. Our graduate students learn key tenets and skills of Indigenous Science as applied to the natural environment, as well as ways of knowing that have been developed by Indigenous societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair, Department of Society and Conservation
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
Sundeen, Mark - Associate Professor; Chair, Department of Environmental Studies
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ICD option allows graduate students to pursue integrated ecological and social studies of international conservation and development, and to apply that knowledge through international field work. ICD studies involves completion of an core curriculum (12 credits), additional coursework in a specific area of academic and professional interest, and completion of an international assignment with the Peace Corps or an international organization.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair of Department of Society and Conservation
Brodie, Jedediah - Professor; Craighead Endowed Chair of Conservation
Faxon, Hilary - Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Science
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Tourani, Mahdieh - Assistant Professor of Quantitative Ecology
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Landscape ecology emphasizes large scale assessment of spatial patterns and ecological processes and their interactions across varying time and spatial scales. Landscape ecology has become increasingly important for informing conservation strategies at a sufficient scale to meaningfully conserve connected habitat across increasingly fragmented landscapes.
Faculty
Naugle, Dave - Professor of Large Scale Wildlife Ecology; Director of Rangeland and Wildlife Conservation Group
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Students in our program can explore political conflict associated with natural resource issues. CFC faculty research interests include public lands governance, wildlife policy, science policy, and contemporary strategies and tools for conservation policy. In addition to coursework on topics such as federal lands, resource management, property ownership, and wildlife policy, students can also pursue a special certificate in natural resource conflict resolution.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair, Department of Society and Conservation
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Millspaugh, Josh - Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Nie, Martin - Professor of Natural Resource Policy; Director of Bolle Center for People and Forests
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Population ecology focuses on measuring, estimating and understanding fish and wildlife population changes across time and space. Faculty and students working in population ecology combine field-based measures of species vital rates with advanced statistical modeling techniques to develop population models. Additional variables measured in the field or remotely via satellites are used to explain and predict population changes, which in turn inform a wide range of species conservation and management strategies.
Faculty
Brodie, Jedediah - Professor; Craighead Endowed Chair of Conservation
Dreitz, Victoria - Professor of Wildlife Biology; Director of Avian Science Center
Johnson, Heather - Boone and Crockett Endowed Chair of Wildlife Conservation
Hebblewhite, Mark - Earle and Pattie Layser Endowed Distinguished Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Luis, Angie - Associate Professor of Population and Disease Ecology
Millspaugh, Josh - Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation
Riecke, Thomas - James K. Ringelman Chair in Waterfowl Conservation
Tourani, Mahdieh - Assistant Professor of Quantitative Ecology
Walsh, Dan - Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Leader
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Our focus is on wildland recreation and nature-based tourism. Past CFC research projects range from studying visitor experiences in Yellowstone National Park, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to transportation planning for Glacier National Park to the use of self-guided GPS multi-media technology at Cedar Breaks National Monument to the ITRR studies of nature-based tourism in Montana.
Faculty
Bigart, Elena - Research Assistant Professor; ITRR Social Scientist and Research Associate
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair of the Department of Society and Conservation
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli - Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Franke Professor of Forestry and Conservation; Director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station
Rice, William - Associate Professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Weddell, Melissa - Research Faculty; Director of Institute for Tourism and Recreation Management
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Ecological restoration is one of the most rapidly growing field of research and employment in natural resources. CFC faculty represent a diverse array of interests in this area ranging from the effects of disturbance on ecological processes in forests and watersheds to the efficacy of management activities for restoring ecological integrity and wildlife habitat connectivity in degraded landscapes.
Faculty
Cansler, Alina - Assistant Professor of Applied Fire and Landscape Ecology
Cleveland, Cory - Professor of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair, Department of Forest Management
Eby, Lisa - Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Restoration
Gay, Justin - Assistant Teaching Professor of Ecology
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Kanno, Yoichiro - Associate Professor & Siebel-Lewis Endowed Chair in Fisheries Science
Kolb, Peter - Associate Professor of Forest Ecology & Management
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
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CFC Social Science faculty bring a broad array of disciplinary backgrounds to the study of natural resource issues including economics, geography, political science, sociology, and environmental and social psychology. This provides students access to a diverse set of analytic tools and approaches for examining human-environment relations. Past projects in this area includes research on the role of planning in rural communities; how landowner views and practices affect conservation, public trust in managing agencies; and public perceptions of wildlife, fire, and environmental change.
Faculty
Bocinsky, Kyle - Assistant Research Professor; Director of Climate Extension, Montana Climate Office
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation; Chair of Department of Society and Conservation
Dodson, Beth - Professor of Forest Operations; Chair of Department of Forest Management
Faxon, Hilary - Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Science
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli - Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Franke Professor of Forestry and Conservation; Director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station
Nie, Martin - Professor of Natural Resource Policy; Director of Bolle Center for People and Forests
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Rice, William - Associate Professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Food systems are an essential component of a more just and resilient future and serve as a lens to study complex human-environment relationships. With a focus on food systems, Environmental Studies Master’s students hone land-based practices, build collaborations, and pursue critical and interdisciplinary research questions. Theses and portfolios are grounded in community, guided by relationships, and responsive to pressing questions about how we humans feed ourselves in a time of unprecedented change.
Faculty
Bocinsky, Kyle - Assistant Research Professor; Director of Climate Extension, Montana Climate Office
Petersen-Rockney, Margiana - Assistant Professor
Stephens, Caroline - PEAS Farm Lecturer
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Ungulate ecologists study various aspects of ungulate ecology to inform management and conservation of ungulate populations and their habitats. Ungulates are critically important as game species and as prey base for carnivore and scavenger populations. As game species, they provide significant revenue for state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies in North America to broadly support wildlife and habitat conservation. As prey species, they are integral to ecosystem function.
Faculty
Bishop, Chad - Director of Wildlife Biology Program
Hebblewhite, Mark - Professor of Conservation Biology and Policy
Johnson, Heather - Boone and Crockett Endowed Chair of Wildlife Conservation
Millspaugh, Josh - Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation
Walsh, Dan - Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Leader
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Hydrology is concerned with the origin, distribution and movement of surface and subsurface waters. Forest and wildland hydrology are sub-disciplines of hydrology that assess and deal with the cumulative effects of land management on water quantity and quality. Watershed management employs preventative strategies to guide sustainable development of natural resources in order to produce desired goods and services without adverse impacts to land and water resources.
Faculty
Gardner, Payton – Associate Professor of Geoscience; Chair, Department of Geosciences
Harper, Joel – Professor of Geoscience
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Hoylman, Zachary - Research Assistant Professor; Assistant State Climatologist, Montana Climate Office
Jencso, Kelsey - W.A. Franke Chair of Watershed Hydrology; Montana State Climatologist; Director of Montana Mesonet
Wilcox, Andrew – Professor of Geoscience
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Research in protected area management examines the role of parks, wilderness, and other protected lands in the U.S. and abroad. Past CFC projects have examined community relationships with protected areas, institutional arrangements and policy frameworks, visitor experience and tourism, resource use and ecosystem restoration, and political conflict.
Faculty
Bosak, Keith - Professor of Nature Based Toruism and Recreation & Chair of the Department of Society and Conservation
Halvorson, Sarah - Professor of Geography
Larson, Andrew - Professor of Forest Ecology; Director of Wilderness Institute
Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli - Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Franke Professor of Forestry and Conservation; Director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station
Nelson, Cara - Professor of Restoration Ecology; Chair, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences
Rice, William - Associate Professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management
Saha, Robin - Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Sanchez, Fernando - Assistant Professor; Director of Cobell Institute
Thomsen, Jennifer - Director of Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management Program
Weddell, Melissa - Research Faculty; Director of Institute for Tourism and Recreation Management
Yung, Laurie - Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
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Wildlife human dimensions utilizes social science, often in concert with biological or ecological science, to study, quantify, and understand human values, beliefs and viewpoints concerning wildlife and natural resources. The field has greatly expanded in recent decades and is rapidly becoming foundational to wildlife conservation and management.
Faculty
Metcalf, Alexander L. - Professor
Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli - Dean of W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; Franke Professor of Forestry and Conservation; Director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station