New Faculty 2022
ALEXANDER BLEWETT III SCHOOL OF LAW
DEPARTMENT OF LAW
Anna Conley, Assistant Professor
Anna Conley is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana. Her areas of expertise include complex civil litigation, comparative law and international law. Anna has a J.D. from the George Washington Law School, and an LL.M. and Doctor of Civil Laws (D.C.L) from McGill University’s Law School. Anna has litigated many large-scale complex cases, participated in several rule of law initiatives, and published extensively in international and comparative law. She has Global Perspectives on Law, a comparative law course that covers the four major legal traditions of the world, and International Law and Organizations.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY
Josey Hazelton-Boyle, Assistant Professor
Dr. Hazelton-Boyle is an Assistant Professor in the Max S. Baucus Institute Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Montana. Her research interests center around questions of power and social equity in transportation administration and policymaking. Dr. Hazelton-Boyle is interested in the role transportation administrators play in advancing mobility justice in car-centric environments. Her recent research draws from intersectional feminist theory to examine how public transportation agencies pursue gender equity. She received her PhD in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2022 and completed her BA and MPA from California State University, Stanislaus.
Lauren McKeague, Assistant Professor
Lauren K. McKeague joins UM as an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. She previously worked in several capacities for the state of Florida and nonprofit community, including the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Her research centers around interorganizational collaboration and networks, particularly in the area of disaster management. She holds degrees from Virginia Tech, Florida State University, and the University of Florida.
Sandi Pershing, Visiting Professor
COLLEGE OF THE ARTS AND MEDIA
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
Jacob Baynham, Pollner Professor
Jacob Baynham is the incoming T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor at the School of Journalism. This fall, he will teach a class on profile writing and will advise the Kaimin newspaper. He lives in Missoula with his wife, Hilly McGahan, and their two boys, Theo and Julian.
Christine Trudeau, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Christine Trudeau is the managing editor for the Indigenous Investigative Collective (IIC) project Covering Covid-19 in Indian Country. She is a citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and serves on the Native American Journalists Association’s Board of Directors. In her work with the IIC, she has collaborated with Indigenous journalists and news organizations across the country to bring investigative coverage of Indigenous Affairs to the fore. She is also a current Muckrock Transparency Corps cohort fellow for 2022. Previously, Trudeau was the contributing editor for High Country News’ Indigenous Affairs Desk, managing their Catena grant-funded coverage of natural resources. She received her BFA at the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2014 and her M. S. in 2016 at the Columbia Journalism School. Her work can be heard and read in High Country News, NPR, Alaska Public Radio, and National Native News. Trudeau has a background in audio and investigative reporting, covering Indigenous affairs, politics, climate change, health, and education. Trudeau was a 2018/2019 Investigative Fellow with Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting.
SCHOOL OF THEATRE AND DANCE
Jessica Lang, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Jessica Lang graduated in 2017 with a BFA in Costume Design/Technology from The School of Theatre and Dance. She moved to Phoenix, AZ for a three-year apprenticeship at Arizona Opera constructing costumes and working backstage; eventually going on to work professionally in Florida and Montana. Jessica enjoys crocheting and crafting when she’s not exploring the American Southwest and our nation's National Parks.
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Andrea Luoma, Interim Director of UMEM
Ph.D. in Leadership and master’s degree in Organizational Communication with focus on management training and development from Washington State University, and Bachelor’s in international relations and political science, emphasis on Japan and Foreign Affairs from St. Cloud State University, Minnesota.
Academic experience has been gained in large public, large and small private universities and internationally at Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland; United States International University, Nairobi; and the International College of Management Sydney, Australia.
Primary teaching areas include: leadership, communication, organizational behavior, cross-cultural, strategic and change management, ethics, special event management, meeting and conventions, hospitality, hotel and tourism management, and career preparation at internship and placement levels for Associates, Bachelors, Master’s, MBA and Doctoral students.
Career experience has been as an event and meeting manager in the professional development sector of higher education for eight years. Corporate experience was gained from several multinational companies including: Microsoft, Honeywell, Westinghouse, General Mills, Children’s Hospital, Treetop Inc. and the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport.
Dr. Andrea is also a NeuroLeadership consultant and NeuroCoach who helps individuals, teams, and organizations alter communication patterns, amplify relational skills and enhance trust. She helps rebuild toxic environments and bring them into balance, positivity and cohesive teams. Recent clients include: the Scotland Hospitality Industry Trust, Sound Transit Seattle, Visit Seattle, Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, and the Nigerian Ministry of Tourism.
Dr. Andrea accentuates the impact and consequences that with every interaction – conscious, verbal and intentional or not - you pull others to you or push them away. She is a certified NeuroCoach© and certified in Conversational Intelligence© and the Appreciation Languages in the Workplace©.
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
Alexa Rauser, Lecturer
A native Montanan, Alexa received her MAcct and undergraduate degree in Business Administration (accounting) from the University of Montana. After graduation, she began her career in auditing at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she audited both public and private companies across multiple industries. She holds a CPA license in Utah and currently works at MX Technologies and as a lecturer in accounting. In her spare time, Alexa enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, son, and two dogs, Frankie and Bruce Wayne.
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING
Leah Diehl, Assistant Professor
Leah Diehl received her Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Alabama and holds a CPA license in the state of Michigan. Prior to working in academia, she worked for a middle-market public accounting firm, specializing in business tax. Her research focuses on how to improve the information search process for tax professionals. Dr. Diehl currently teaches courses in tax and managerial accounting.
Erik Guzik, Assistant Professor
Dr. Erik Guzik received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has taught within the Gabelli School of Business at Roger Williams University and as Associate Professor at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and the University of Montana Western. He served as Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at USAO and received the Oklahoma Regents Award for Superior Teaching in 2008, the Regents Award for Scholarly Research and the Creative Oklahoma Great Inspirations Award in 2012, and nominations for the CASE U.S. Professor of the Year in 2014 and 2015 while at UM Western. His latest research has centered on the economic dimensions of creativity and the unique conditions provided by higher education securing regional innovation. Since 2016, Erik has worked closely with national healthcare organizations to develop one of the first remote patient monitoring (RPM) software solutions in healthcare, launching the startup PatientOne in Missoula with funding from Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest Revolution Fund, Dundee Venture Capital, and Next Frontier Capital.
Christina Robichaud, Assistant Professor
Christina Robichaud recently graduated from University of Kansas with a PhD in Strategic Management. Her research interests lie in the influence of leader cognition on strategic decision making. In addition, Dr. Robichaud holds a law degree and a bachelor’s in business administration.
Sam Spector, Visiting Assistant Professor
Sam completed his PhD from the University of Otago in New Zealand. He subsequently held a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Otago's Centre for Sustainability. He then served as the Graduate Diploma Program Director at Queenstown Resort College and a Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Canterbury, also in New Zealand. His research focuses on sustainability in corporate contexts, and he has published extensively on topics in that area.
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Patricia Akello, Assistant Professor
Patricia Akello hails from northern Uganda, in East Africa. Her higher education journey began at one of the most prestigious universities in Africa, Makerere University, where she attained a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Computer Science. She came to the United States as a peace activist, working for the non-profit Invisible Children both to raise awareness of a 36-year-long civil war in northern Uganda, Congo, and Central Africa that involved child soldiers and to lobby Congress for military support to end the conflict. Following the completion of her season in the non-profit domain, she enrolled at the University of Texas at San Antonio's department of Information Systems and Cyber Security in 2015, where she earned a Master of Science in Information Technology (2017), a Graduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization (2017) and a Ph.D. in Information Technology (2022). During her training at UTSA, she served as a Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Graduate Research Assistant, Lecturer, and co-lead of two international immersions to Italy and Israel related to Technology and Cyber Security. Her research interests are in the areas of cloud security and privacy compliance, including assessing the security implications of strain on security and privacy compliance. A number of conferences and journals have featured her research, including the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM, and the International Journal of Information Management (IJIM)"
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Erica Allen, Assistant Professor
Erica Allen is a graduate of the University of Montana at several Levels. She obtained her BMED, Ed. M. and Ed. D. at the University of Montana. Following several years teaching K-12 music, she served as an elementary principal and as a K-12 superintendent. Through her education and practical experience, Erica brings a strong understanding of the Educational Leadership curriculum. She is excited to combine this understanding with her classroom and adult teaching experience in this new position at the University of Montana.
DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELING
Shannon Lollar, Assistant Professor
Shannon Lollar graduated from the University of North Texas for both her masters and doctorate degrees and is a new assistant professor in the Counseling department and is incredibly eager to become part of UM! Shannon is an experienced clinical mental health counselor, who is looking forward to growing her researcher and instructor identities. She has never lived outside of Texas and is both nervous and excited for her first Montana winter!
COLLEGE OF HEALTH
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Jen Barile, Assistant Director of Field Education/Clinical Assistant Professor
In addition to teaching, Jen coordinates field education programming for the online MSW program. Jen graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany with a major in Women’s Studies and a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She received her Master of Social Work from the University of Montana in 2014. Jen has over 15 years’ experience working as an integrated social work practitioner in the Missoula community. During this time, Jen has worked with youth in foster care, individuals experiencing homelessness, survivors of intimate partner violence, migrant workers, and those with refugee status. Jen possesses a broad range of social work skills and experience including direct service, case management, nonprofit leadership and management, research, grant writing and political advocacy. Born and raised in New York State, Jen moved to Montana over 20 years ago to work as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. When not working at the University, you can find her kayaking, camping, cross-country skiing, or traveling the globe!
Laura Guay, Assistant Clinical Professor
Laura Guay is an Assistant Clinical Professor for the online Master of Social Work program. She received her Master of Social Work from the University of Montana. Laura’s expertise is in developing trauma-informed and resiliency-focused systems that serve children, families and communities impacted by historical, intergenerational, and complex trauma. Most recently, Laura’s work has focused on programming within tribal communities across the country that seek to decolonize traditionally Western approaches to wellness and healing. Laura lives in the Bitterroot Valley with her wife and two small children who keep her focused on making life an adventure.
DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, HEARING, AND OCCUPATIONAL SCIENCES
Danielle Fahey, Assistant Professor
Danielle is starting as an Asst Prof in SLHOS studying grammatical processing in aphasia, bilingualism, and uncommon language structures. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow in the Neurosyntax Lab at the University of South Carolina Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She earned her PhD in Linguistics from the University of South Carolina Linguistics Program. Prior to that, Danielle was a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL).
Jane Reynolds, Assistant Professor
Jane Reynolds (she/her) is an assistant professor in the School of Speech-Language-Hearing & Occupational Sciences. She is in the final stages of PhD candidacy in the same program and is a proud UM alum for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Ms. Reynolds is a medical speech-language pathologist (SLP) and is passionate about providing clinical and classroom education in the areas of voice, swallowing, upper airway, and neurogenic communication disorders. Her research focuses on exploring innovative ways to improve quality of life and access to specialized SLP services for patients with chronic cough. She loves trail running, reading, and traveling.
SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL THERAPY AND REHABILITATION SCIENCES
Claire Adam, Associate Professor
Claire has a PhD in Public Health from the University of Montana, a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Washington, and a BA in Biology and German from Bowdoin College. Prior to completing her PhD, she was in clinical practice as a Physical Therapist for 10 years, primarily working with children with disabilities. She is broadly interested in research focused on improving health outcomes for people with disabilities. Her current research is focused on falls with an emphasis on fall prevention and post-fall quality of life in older adults with cognitive impairment. She is originally from Seattle, Washington and has lived in Missoula since 2015.
Dustin Slivka, Associate Professor
Dustin Slivka was born and raised in rural central Montana. He completed his B.S. from Rocky Mountain college before completing his masters degree from the University of Montana in 2001. He spent the next two years working on research projects and teaching a few classes. He then moved on to complete his doctoral degree at Ball State University in Human Bioenergetics. Dr. Slivka then took a post-doc position here at the university of Montana working with Dr. Brent Ruby in the Montana center for work physiology and exercise metabolism for the next four years. Eventually, he had to move on and took a tenure track position at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he achieved the rank of professor. His love for the mountains and strong working collaborations have now brought him back to the University of Montana with his wife and two kids.
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH SCIENCES
Rachel Peterson, Assistant Professor
Dr. Rachel Peterson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences. Her research is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging to investigate how community-level contexts contribute to healthy aging, and to identify opportunities to promote healthy aging and health equity in diverse populations. Rachel comes to UM after spending 3 years as a postdoctoral scholar in Social Epidemiology at the University of California Davis. Rachel grew up in Wyoming and earned a BS in Journalism and an MA in International Studies from the University of Wyoming. She also earned an MPH from Des Moines University and a PhD in Health Promotion from the University of Arizona. Rachel has more than 10 years of applied public health experience that informs her research and teaching.
Ethan Walker, Assistant Professor
Ethan Walker is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences at the University of Montana. His research focuses on assessing the health effects of air pollution and testing intervention strategies aimed at reducing air pollution exposures and improving health in vulnerable populations. His work emphasizes the use of low-cost sensors and data science methods to study air pollution in field settings. Ethan has a PhD in Environmental Health with a specialization in Epidemiology (Colorado State University), a master’s degree in public health (Colorado School of Public Health), and a bachelor’s degree in nursing (University of Kansas School of Nursing).
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
Jordan Malof, Assistant Professor
Jordan Malof is joining the Computer Science Department at the University of Montana this Fall. He joins UM from Duke University in Durham, NC where he received his Ph.D. in 2015, and had since been working as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Jordan's research focuses on the development of novel machine learning and computer vision models to solve cutting edge problems in diverse fields such as Materials Science, Remote Sensing, and Sustainability.
Anh Nguyen, Assistant Professor
Anh Nguyen is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science. Her research interest broadly focuses on developing novel sensing and intervention technologies for smartphones and wearable devices to advance the completion of cyber-physical systems in healthcare. She is the recipient of two Best Paper Awards, three ACM SIGMOBILE Research Highlights, one Best Paper Runner-up Award, Best Paper Award Nominee, and Honorable Mention Grad Talk. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2022.
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Brian Blanchfield, Associate Professor
Brian Blanchfield is the author of three books of poetry and prose, most recently Proxies: Essays Near Knowing, winner of a 2016 Whiting Award in Nonfiction. The recipient also of the Academy of American Poets' James Laughlin Award and a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award in Poetry, Brian has taught creative writing and literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Bennington College, Pratt Institute of Art, and University of Idaho, where he was, until recently, Director of Creative Writing.
Sean Hill, Assistant Professor
Born and raised in Milledgeville, Georgia, Sean Hill is the author of two poetry collections, Dangerous Goods (Milkweed Editions, 2014), awarded the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, and Blood Ties & Brown Liquor (UGA Press, 2008), named one of the Ten Books All Georgians Should Read in 2015 by the Georgia Center for the Book. Hill has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the Cave Canem Foundation, the Bush Foundation, Stanford University, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Hill’s poems and essays have appeared in Callaloo, Harvard Review, The Oxford American, Poetry, Terrain.org, Tin House, and numerous other journals, and in two dozen anthologies including Black Nature, Villanelles, and Dear America. He has taught at several universities, including the University of Alaska – Fairbanks and Georgia Southern University. Hill is an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing Program in the Department of English at the University of Montana. More information can be found on the Sean Hill Poetry website..
Jeff Ross, Adjunct Assistant Professor
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM
Monika Bilka, Visiting Assistant Professor
Paul Guernsey, Visiting Assistant Professor
Paul’s areas of study are in the interdisciplinary fields of environmental humanities and Native American and Indigenous studies. His work engages environmental philosophy, environmental sociology, environmental justice, and environmental policy with a focus on capitalism, settler colonialism, and the legacy of chattel slavery as social structures of environmental violence and dispossession.
COBELL INSTITUTE, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM, NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES
Fernando Sanchez-Trigueros, Assistant Professor
Fernando has held recent positions at UM as a Director at Elouise Cobell Institute of Land and Culture, an Assistant Professor in Native American Studies, and an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies. His Research emphasis is in Human dimensions of the environment, Geographic Information Science, and Native American adaptations of Geographic Information Systems. His Professional experience includes managing collaborative ventures between Native Nations, universities, and federal agencies in the American West. His academic degrees include: BA History, MS Human Evolution, MS Applied Statistics, MS Geographic Information Systems, MS Management Information Systems, PhD Human Evolution. Professional Certificates in Business Analytics, Information Security, Operations Research (Systems Optimization).
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
Eric Zimmer, Visiting Professor
Eric Zimmer is a historian from the Black Hills of South Dakota. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and is currently the A.B. Hammond Visiting Assistant Professor of Western United States History at the University of Montana.
Zimmer spent six years as a senior historian at the consulting firm Vantage Point Historical Services, Inc., where he worked on a variety of narrative, digital, oral, and exhibit-based history projects for clients across the United States. Since 2015, he has been a volunteer historian for the Rapid City Indian Boarding School Lands Project, an Indigenous-led community research initiative in his home town of Rapid City, South Dakota. He is also at work on a book called Red Earth Nation: Reclamation and Recovery on Meskwaki Land (University of Oklahoma Press). That project explores the remarkable story of the Meskwaki Nation, a Native American tribe in Iowa that bought back some of its homeland in 1857. The Meskwaki story offers context and insight for anyone interested in the modern movement to reclaim Indigenous lands in the US and elsewhere.
Zimmer’s scholarship and the collaborative projects with which he is affiliated have received high honors from the Western History Association, the Midwestern History Association, the National Council on Public History, the American Society for Environmental History, the American Association for State and Local History, and more. He has served as the primary grant author or co-PI on several projects, securing funding support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Windrose Fund, Monument Lab, the American Philosophical Society, the American Historical Association, the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Indian Country Today Media Network, and in several scholarly journals.
DEPARTMENT OF MATH
Michael Sulock, Adjunct Instructor
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Julie Olomi, Assistant Professor
Julie is joining the Psychology department at U of M from Denver, Colorado. She is originally from France but moved to northern California for high school and college. She is a trauma psychologist and her research focuses on gender-based violence. Julie is thrilled to be in Montana where she can continue to hike, camp, climb, and wear her chacos with pride.
DEPARTMENT OF WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Dora LaCasse, Assistant Professor
Dora LaCasse was born and raised in western Montana and attended UM for undergrad before receiving her PhD from Penn State in 2018. Her research focuses on language variation, change and contact, and draws on broader cross-linguistic patterns to further our understanding of Spanish morphosyntax.
MISSOULA COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGY
Victor White, Assistant Professor
Victor White is the Radiologic Technology Program Director at Missoula College with a joint appointment as Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Community Health at the University of Montana. Dr. White’s career in Radiology spans 30 years as a Radiographer, Radiology Department Manager and Educator. He has worked at clinics, small and medium sized rural hospitals and large medical centers in Decatur IL, St. Louis, MO, and Billings, MT to name a few.
Dr. White is certified in Radiography by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), and is a licensed Radiologic Technologist in the State of Montana. He has a PhD in Health Education from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale IL, a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Illinois at Springfield in Springfield, IL, and a Master of Science Degree in Radiologic Science from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX.
OFFICE OF THE PROVOST
Co-Lab for Civic Imagination
Michael Rohd, Professor and Director
Michael Rohd is a theatremaker, a facilitator, an educator, a writer and a process designer whose focus is Civic Imagination and Innovation. He is Director of the Co-lab for Civic Imagination at University of Montana, author of the widely translated book Theatre for Community, Conflict, and Dialogue, co-founder and ensemble member with the 21 year-old national company Sojourn Theatre and an Artist for Civic Imagination at Center for Performance and Civic Practice (CPCP, which he co-founded in 2012). He frequently serves as an advisor/coach/consultant around the US on projects at the intersection of arts, community development and local government with a focus on capacity-building for cross-sector, public good collaborations in areas such as Public Health, Education, Sustainability, Housing, and Racial Equity.
W.A. FRANKE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION
WILDLIFE BIOLOGY PROGRAM
Kyle Bocinsky, Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Kyle Bocinsky is an assistant research professor in the Department of Society and Conservation and the Director of Climate Extension for the Montana Climate Office, housed in the WA Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He serves users of climate data and information in Montana, including outreach supporting agriculture, forestry, recreation, and urban and rural resilience planning, with a special emphasis on partnering with Native Nations to meet their climate resilience goals. Kyle is an anthropological archaeologist who specializes in cross-disciplinary, computational approaches to studying resilience in socio-ecological systems, with a focus on high-elevation arid agricultural systems. In addition to his positions at UMT, Kyle holds appointments at the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute and the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. He loves living in the Northern Rockies — and especially being outdoors with his husband, daughters, and dogs year round.
Scott Ferrenberg, Research Professor
Scott Ferrenberg is a research faculty member of the Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences and Associate Director of the Montana Forest Conservation Experiment Station where he oversees Lubrecht Experimental Forest and Bandy Experimental Ranch in the Blackfoot Watershed. Scott comes to UMT from New Mexico State University where he was an assistant professor of biology. He completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado and a postdoctoral researcher appointment with the U.S. Geological Survey in Moab, Utah. His research focuses on the ecology of forests and deserts of the Intermountain West, with the aim of improving our understanding of how climate change will affect plant communities and carbon cycling.
Zach Hoylman, Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Zachary Hoylman is an assistant research professor in the Department of Forest Management and the Assistant State Climatologist for the state of Montana in the Montana Climate Office, housed in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. He is a hydrologist that specializes in ecosystem-climate-hydrology interactions, drought informatics, remote sensing and geospatial data analysis. His current research is focused on drought monitoring under the context of a changing climate and enhancing the capacity of Montana to cope with drought. Zach spends most of his free time in the woods floating, fishing, backpacking and skiing.
INSTITUTE FOR TOURISM AND RECREATION RESEARCH
Melissa Weddell, Research Professor
Dr. Melissa Weddell accepted the Director of the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research position in the Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana in Missoula. She value working with federal, state, and local organizations to develop management plans that educate the public and assist with the responsible development of rural recreation and tourism destinations that benefit users and boost local economic commerce. Through her research, she understands the unique local concerns in developing natural areas, encouraging recreation, and attracting tourism while working collaboratively to provide inclusive recreation that improves the quality of life.
Prior to joining the University of Montana, she spent 13 years at Appalachian State University as a Recreation Management faculty, department chair, program director, co-chair of the council of chairs, and faculty senator. Before her academic career, she held positions in various public and private business and industry settings as a small business consultant, corporate trainer, and human resource manager.
Weddell holds a doctorate in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from Clemson University, an MBA from Southern Illinois University, and an undergraduate degree in Small Business Management & Entrepreneurship from Ball State University.