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Great big river
A myriad of university projects flow from the needs of the Yellowstone's land and people
by Carol Flaherty
The Yellowstone isn't just a river. It is one of the great defining forces of Montana. From trickles of melting snow in Yellowstone National Park, it gathers momentum until its idyllic blue waters hammer cliffs into cobbles.
The 692 miles of the Yellowstone River shape the lives within and around it. Practically speaking, it ends when it leaves Montana near Sidney, lost in a union with the Missouri River just east of the Montana-North Dakota border. By then, it has served Montana as a fishery, a watering hole, and a source of irrigation, recreation and community water.
The Yellowstone River also fascinates. Most people marvel at its beauty, but some, especially scientists, marvel at its complexity. The interrelationships of life within and around the river provide both a beautiful learning environment for MSU students and a setting in which their efforts and that of the university's faculty can serve the state. Here are a few snapshots of the hundreds of teaching, research and Extension projects along the river.
Student studies a Yellowstone tributary's culverts and fish near Gardiner
Lugging out used batteries is part of Andy Solcz's master's thesis work, which includes maintaining trout tracking technology along Mulheron Creek north of Gardiner. Solcz, an MSU biological sciences student, tracks trout as they migrate upstream through the creek's culverts. First, he traps the fish in this Yellowstone River tributary, then implants a very small transmitter into the fish. As the fish negotiate upstream culverts, sensors track their progress. The work is part of a Montana Department of Transportation-funded project to determine which culvert designs allow the easiest flow of both fish and water. Solcz's advisers are MSU's Joel Cahoon in civil engineering and Tom McMahon in ecology.
Trapping mosquitoes at Big Timber to track West Nile Virus
Marc King, right, MSU Extension agent in Sweet Grass County, and MSU Extension entomologist Greg Johnson, work together to reset a mosquito trap near the Sweet Grass County fairgrounds. Johnson and his team have studied mosquitoes in Montana for four summers, charting the movements particularly of the West Nile virus-carrying Culex tarsalis mosquito. After trapping, the mosquitoes are ground up and their DNA checked for signs of the virus. Though most mosquito traps are placed along the Yellowstone or Milk Rivers, infected mosquitoes can be found in most of the state.
Student's landscape plans may improve ZooMontana's ambiance
MSU College of Agriculture landscape design students worked with Bill Pond and ZooMontana staff at Billings to develop a detailed landscape plan that would improve the ambiance and flow of visitors at the zoo. ZooMontana, the only zoo and botanical gardens within a 400 mile radius, specializes in cold-climate species such as red pandas, Siberian tigers and Big Horn sheep. Zoo Education Director Janice Blansette said that if the budget allows, the zoo would like to implement the students' design suggestions.
MSU nursing students tend patients in Billings and throughout Montana
Nursing student Amy Lubick tends a newborn at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. The MSU College of Nursing has more than 800 students on five campuses in the state, including about 180 in Billings. The college is the largest supplier of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the state and is Montana's sole provider of graduate nursing education. The college's administration is located on the main campus of MSU, but lower- and upper-division education occurs in medical facilities in Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula.
Research centers focus on fitting research to Montana microclimates
Matt Walter drives a pipe trailer into position so that gated irrigation pipe at the Southern Agricultural Research Center can be moved to another field. Southern, which is at Huntley, and the Eastern Agricultural Research Center at Sidney, anchor research on Eastern Montana's cropping needs. The two centers feature work on both irrigated and nonirrigated crops. With a combination of state funds and private donations, both Southern and Eastern updated their infrastructures recently, with Southern gaining new administration and lab space. Eastern's updates included chemical and equipment storage facilities.
Pompeys Pillar
Pompeys Pillar is a massive sandstone outcrop on the banks of the Yellowstone River. It has been a landmark and observation point for the thousands of years that humans have occupied the area. About 30 miles east of Billings, Capt. William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition described the pillar in his journal on July 25, 1806, on the expedition's return from the Pacific. Still dominantly agricultural, the area is most directly served by research at MSU's Southern Agricultural Research Center at Huntley.
15,000 bites a day are more than a nuisance
At the USDA's Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory at Miles City, MSU entomologist Greg Johnson researches the effectiveness of a variety of new insecticides and delivery methods to deter horn flies from biting cattle. Flies can number 600 per cow, each biting 25 times a day, decreasing milk production and calf weight. The ongoing study found that, while insecticides decreased the flies, they did so for a shorter time than usually indicated on insecticide labels.
MSU Extension and Terry school teacher cooperate on after-school program
Middle School teacher Carolyn May has worked with Sharla Sackman, MSU Extension agent in Prairie County, to establish an afterschool program for Grandey Middle School students in Terry. Kids receive an afternoon snack, and then may participate in a variety of activities, which range from homework to active games or 4-H-sponsored projects, until about 5 p.m. Usually once a month, the students have activities at the local nursing home.
Glendive's SRS Crisafulli
Sparks often fly at SRS Crisafulli in Glendive. The company engineers, manufactures and services large electro/hydraulic systems. Using both traditional steel fabrication and the newest computer-aided design, SRS Crisafulli builds high-capacity pumps, dredges, power units and accessories. Dale Detrick, the Eastern Montana field engineer with the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center at MSU, has conducted Lean Manufacturing seminars for company employees, and the company has implemented ideas from the programs. The company added to its manufacturing system after the "Lean" seminar, and also improved lighting and shop organization based on the seminar.
> Spring 2007 Contents
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