Research Notes pg3

Bull elk focus on food not danger

John Winnie Jr. (Photo courtesy John Winnie Jr.)

Bull elk in the northwest part of the Yellowstone Ecosystem care more about food than anything else during the winter, and they're paying for it, according to MSU researchers. Oblivious to danger at dinner time, bull elk in the Gallatin Canyon are about six times more likely than females to be killed by wolves, said Scott Creel, an ecologist studying wolf-elk interactions in the Porcupine, Taylor and Tepee/Daly drainages between Bozeman and West Yellowstone. Cow elk, on the other hand, figuratively put down their forks and become vigilant when they sense wolves. John Winnie Jr., a doctoral student working with Creel, said the bull elk are famished. Entering winter in much worse condition than the cows, the bulls are desperately trying to cope with the weight loss they incurred during mating season. Hence, the promise of food overrides the presence of danger.

Theses, dissertations now online

Snowshoe hares in the Greater Yellowstone, avalanches at Bridger Bowl, the American soldier, and habitat shared by elk and cattle are among the many topics that have been studied by students who received their master's and doctoral degrees at MSU in the past year. The results of those and other projects are now available on the Internet by going to http://www.montana.edu/etd/ and clicking onto "View ETDs" The site provides theses and dissertations written by MSU students in 2003 and 2004. Starting this fall, MSU is requiring graduate students who decide to write a thesis or dissertation to publish it on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation system. Students will no longer need to publish their work in book form.

William Hiscock (photo Erin Raley)

MSU physicist receives international medal

William Hiscock, head of the physics department at MSU and director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, received the 2003 Frank J. Malina Astronautics Medal from the International Astronautical Federation. It is the only worldwide award in this field, and Hiscock was the only recipient for 2003. Hiscock received his medal and certificate during the 55th IAF Congress Award Banquet held Oct. 8, 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The award is given to an educator who demonstrates excellence in taking the fullest advantage of the resources available to promote the study of astronautics and related space science. The federation is dedicated to space exploration, development and research in all forms. It has 161 members from 45 countries.

NSF awards MSU graduates $121,500

Cory Rupp (photo Stephen Hunts)

Cory Rupp, a 2004 MSU graduate from Billings, was among 1,000 students nationwide who received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship this spring. The fellowship is worth $121,500 over three years. It covers $10,500 a year in tuition and includes a $30,000 annual stipend, which will allow Rupp to pursue a master's and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Rupp said he had originally wanted to attend an out-of-state institution as an undergraduate, but found that MSU offered the same education for a fraction of the cost. Anna Hagenston, a 2000 MSU graduate from Billings, received the same fellowship. She enrolled at Yale University to study neuroscience.