Science Field Research Trips- Montana

Currently freshmen are invited for this experience.

14 students along with two teachers visit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem each summer.  The participants will live and work within the ecosystem for 9 days.  They will experience and learn about the spectacular wildlife of the areas inside and surrounding Yellowstone National Park. Working with local agencies, such as the National Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, students will work on conservation and wildlife restoration projects, collect data related to current field research, and develop and present a proposal for a field-based research project related to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

            2009 – main projects (we took 2 separate groups in 2009):

• Bird box monitoring – data collection from Centennial Valley
• Habitat restoration projects – removing barb wire for pronghorn corridor access, removing invasive trees to promote native growth, and removing electric fencing to reestablish wildlife access to areas (Centennial Valley)
• Snowshoe Hare population study – Numbers of hare directly related to population numbers of lynx. (National Forest land in Montana)
• White Bark Pine study – White Bark Pine is the prime food source for Grizzlies.  Grizzlies have been taken off the endangered species list recently yet white bark pines are struggling with disease and infestation.
• Grizzly Bear monitoring project – Set up and monitor video cameras in national forest transect areas.  Grizzly fur is collected for DNA sampling in those areas. 
• Wolf study in Yellowstone National Park – morning monitoring in Lamar Valley
• Population Study of wild cutthroat trout – Yellowstone National Park