Category: People

Coalition Building in the Blackfoot Watershed – Salma Huque

Posted on by Josh Blake

My research project this academic year, in collaboration with fellow Ucross researcher Owen Luo, is to estimate the economic benefits of the Blackfoot Challenge’s public-private partnerships on the local community. The Blackfoot Challenge is a Western Montana nonprofit working with private landowners to undertake collaborative conservation and stewardship solutions. In contrast to the physical conservation Read more about Coalition Building in the Blackfoot Watershed – Salma Huque[…]

First Month in the Field and Yellowstone Trip – Myroslav Bur

Posted on by Josh Blake

My first time stepping onto the soil of sagebrush-dominated steppe was a breathtaking experience for me, someone who grew up among the limitless forests of northern Ukraine. The contrast between this arid, open, mountainous landscape and the dense woods commonly observed during my entire lifetime still leaves me with admiration. Seeing the Wind River Range Read more about First Month in the Field and Yellowstone Trip – Myroslav Bur[…]

Mormon Cricket Virtual Reality and My Fieldwork Roadside Reality Show (with an Audience of Usually No One) – Li Murphy

Posted on by Josh Blake

They Call Me the Cricket Drifter This summer, I’m investigating the behavioral ecology of Anabrus simplex, also known, perhaps regrettably, as the Mormon cricket*. Locally, I’ve become known as “The Cricket Lady” and, more dubiously, “The Bug Gut Drifter,” thanks to an experiment involving a slick of hemolymph and my truck during a rainstorm. (A Read more about Mormon Cricket Virtual Reality and My Fieldwork Roadside Reality Show (with an Audience of Usually No One) – Li Murphy[…]

The kindness of strangers in the remote open prairies—Isabella Goodman

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The northern great plains aren’t the most social space, they aren’t your typical eco-tourism destination, and the vast endless wide-open space doesn’t necessarily cultivate a lot of human-to-human interactions. We sometimes go hours without seeing another car.  This became apparent at the first site of my field work campaign. I am driving from southern Saskatchewan Read more about The kindness of strangers in the remote open prairies—Isabella Goodman[…]

Yarning: An Indigenous Knowledge Approach to Ethnographic Methods with Heritage Lands Collective—Carine Rofshus

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

My first week with Heritage Lands Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to integrating Indigenous Knowledges (IK) into Tribal co-management of ancestral lands, was spent at the Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah. Bears Ears is the ancestral homelands of the Hopi, Ute, Navajo, Rio Grande Pueblos, and the Zuni. Joseph Gazing Wolf (Lakota/Amazigh/Nubian) and Read more about Yarning: An Indigenous Knowledge Approach to Ethnographic Methods with Heritage Lands Collective—Carine Rofshus[…]

Lessons from a Minolta X-700 —Alaina Geibig

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

My dad captured nearly my entire childhood on grainy-textured, saturated film prints. Recently, with him moving from the far side of Colorado, we endeavored to trim the photo contents of four sagging storage tubs. It was a slow task of recollection, necessitating hot tea and stories. With containers half-sorted, I noticed that the film record Read more about Lessons from a Minolta X-700 —Alaina Geibig[…]

Fire Training with Fire SIG – Nate McMullen

Posted on by Josh Blake

When Josie Valette and I took over as co-managers of the Fire Student Interest Group (SIG) last spring, we agreed on a goal: squeeze every drop out of the unique leadership opportunity we possibly could. The potential for educational and professional programming was limitless, and we wanted to make the most of it. So when Read more about Fire Training with Fire SIG – Nate McMullen[…]

Enhancing Public Transit in Crested Butte, Colorado—Kathleen Maeder

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Crested Butte, a mountain town located high in the Colorado Rockies, prides itself as a community infused with creativity, authenticity, and a deep sense of connection to the Town’s unique history and character. Yet the Town is at a crossroads: to preserve the qualities that make Crested Butte so beloved, it must reduce its car Read more about Enhancing Public Transit in Crested Butte, Colorado—Kathleen Maeder[…]

Mapping Beaver Conflicts: A Step Toward Coexistence— Xiaofan Shen

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

This fall, I found myself immersed in the world of beavers, data points, and digital maps. As a research assistant with Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative, I am collaborating with the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Program (BCRP) at the National Wildlife Federation to leverage geospatial tools to visualize beaver conflicts and highlight effective mitigation solutions Read more about Mapping Beaver Conflicts: A Step Toward Coexistence— Xiaofan Shen[…]

Parking Reform as a Pillar for a Sustainable Transportation Transformation— Joshua Hernandez

Posted on by Vanesa Aguay Guerra

Crested Butte, Colorado is a small town of less than 2,000 people nestled in the Rocky Mountains, over 220 miles southwest of Denver. A former coal mining town, Crested Butte draws locals and tourists alike as the gateway to the nearby Crested Butte Mountain Resort for skiing and snowboarding. Town leadership is balancing transportation needs Read more about Parking Reform as a Pillar for a Sustainable Transportation Transformation— Joshua Hernandez[…]

Desolation Canyon—Alex Wells

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Over my summer as a Western Resource Fellow with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), I spent my time diving into some of the complexities of implementing stream restoration in the West. Whether that was creating outreach materials to communicate the relevance of stream restoration to water rights holders or developing a tool for the NFF Read more about Desolation Canyon—Alex Wells[…]

The dynamics of an ending field season, why soundscape conservation matters for people and nature and unfiltered love—Joshua Kesling

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The end of a field season can yield a suite of emotions. For some, the transition from field settings to temperature and humidity-controlled data organization and refinement centers (namely, our homes, offices, and corner coffee joints) brings unfettered joy. In others, the changing gears reminds us of the time we spent waist-deep in high alpine Read more about The dynamics of an ending field season, why soundscape conservation matters for people and nature and unfiltered love—Joshua Kesling[…]

Underground History Lessons in King County—Ingrid Thyr

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Last weekend, I checked off one more box from my summer to-do list as I descended beneath the streets of Seattle and attended Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour. For approximately 75 minutes, I got a crash course in early Seattle history and enough musty basement air to last me for a while. And, although this adventure Read more about Underground History Lessons in King County—Ingrid Thyr[…]

Why it’s Cardinal to Observe the Relationship Among Mountain Wildlife, Spatial Scales, and Ecosystem Dynamics—Joshua Kesling

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Many wildlife species receive support from mountain natural areas interspersed throughout the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Upper elevation field sites, ranging from 6,500-8,500 ft above sea level, cover several ecoregions or ecosystems and landscapes determined by biological, geological, chemical, and physical factors.   For instance, in the uplands beyond the freshwater shorelines, dense conifer forest stands (i.e., Read more about Why it’s Cardinal to Observe the Relationship Among Mountain Wildlife, Spatial Scales, and Ecosystem Dynamics—Joshua Kesling[…]

Making Climate Action Data More Accessible and Engaging—Ingrid Thyr

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

“How do you explain ‘quintile rank’ to make it easily understandable?”  “Should we use morning, afternoon, or evening temperature?”  “Should there be more narrative around this statistic?”  “How can we incorporate data or stories from users?”  “How many blurbs is too many blurbs?”  These are the sorts of questions that have been occupying my day-to-day Read more about Making Climate Action Data More Accessible and Engaging—Ingrid Thyr[…]