LRES Press Releases

MSU and its online master’s program in land resources and environmental sciences within the College of Agriculture helped Azure earn a prestigious scholarship, the American Indian College Fund and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Leadership Fellowship Program, a fellowship created to increase and retain the number of diverse and under-represented faculty at the nation’s tribal colleges teaching in science, math and engineering.

Introducing the HI-SEAS IV Crewmembers – 365 Day Simulated Mars Mission

A new publication from Montana State University Extension is designed to help identify invasive exotic thistles and verify those that are native to Montana.

O'Neill lab studies the importance of bees to the environment their roles as pollinators.

Orloff joined the Schutter Diagnostic Lab in May 2015 as a plant identification specialist.  Among other things, she responds to inquiries regarding weed identification and herbicide injuries to plants.

Location, registration information, and a schedule for the day are available via the link.

Congratulations to the LRES students whose academic achievements in the Spring 2015 earned them places on the president's list and the dean's list!

Join the College of Ag, the Ag Experiment Stations, and MSU Extension on June 22 from 11:00 a.m. - noon (Mountain time), using the hashtag #bigskyagchat to engage in the discussion.

Dr. Rew's workshop, organized by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN), was titled "Biosecurity in Mountains and High Latitudes" and focused on expected increase to invasive risks that climate change is expected to have at higher elevations.

The Post Farm will host a crops and weeds field day at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21st.  Dates, times, and locations for other Agricultural Research Centers are also posted.

Dr. Fabian Menalled and extension colleagues explore new and alternative approaches to weed management. 

Course options include LRES 591 - "Streamside Science: Hands-On Approaches to Water Quality Education."

Wheat may be lacking nutrients because the nutrients are not available or because there has not been sufficient moisture for the wheat to access the nutrients.

Brookshire and Weaver found that increasing aridity in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem over the last four decades caused a long-term decline in grassland productivity that outpaced potential growth stimulation from increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and nitrogen deposition.

Miller and Jones, along with Anton Bekkerman (Dept. of Agricultural Economics), recently published their findings that growers who grow both pea and wheat in their fields reduce their economic risks with maintaining profits.

An overabundance of certain nutrients can be as detrimental to healthy plant growth as a shortage of nutrients.  Early spring is the best time to sample soil because the results will best represent what is available to this year's plants.

The paper, which provides the results of collaborative study that links climate changes in the Arctic and the Antarctic, will be published in the April 30, 2015 edition of Nature.

McDonald, LRES's academic coordinator, received an Employee of the Year Award for Courtesy at the annual Celebrating Excellence in Service ceremony on April 16, 2015.

Hartshorn and Noland each received a sustainability award during the Campus Sustainability Advisory Council's first awards ceremony on April 20th.

Dr. Dave McWethy of MSU's Earth Sciences department, who was recently granted a Fulbright scholar grant, serves on Kim Taylor's doctoral committee, which is chaired by Maxwell.  Taylor is studying how pine plantations influence fire activity and the ecology of native forests.  This research contributes to McWethy's study of wildfires in central Chile.

Longfellow School Students' efforts and those of their supporters paid off.  Scobey Soil is to be officially designated as Montana's state soil.

Mullen shares how the skills he developed while undertaking his Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences shape his work at E&J Gallo Winery.

The bill to name Scobey Soil as Montana's office state soil heads to a House vote with unanimous support from the House Agriculture Committee.  In their role of Montana citizens, and not in their role of MUS employees, members and affiliates of the LRES department testified at the hearing along with Longfellow School students in support of this bill.  (Please note that the views of Montana citizens who are members or affiliates of the LRES department do not necessarily reflect the view of the Montana University System.)

The bill to name Scobey Soil Montana's official state soil passed through the Montana Senate by a close margin and moves next to the House Agriculture Committee.

Miller, Menalled, and other MSU researchers present preliminary results showing the benefits of using sheep to get rid of cover crops and weeds as opposed to tillage.

Yano teaches courses for LRES undergrads and online MS Students.  Jensco earned a Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Science and is a state climatologist and watershed hydrologist at the University of Montana.  They are collaborating with Jia Hu to study nitrogen availability and forest productivity in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest near Missoula.

Sigler was presented the award from the Montana Rural Water Association on February 19th.  He was recognized for revamping the Well Educated program, providing education on water quality concerns, monitoring bacterial loading to surface waters, and exploring nitrogen sources in the Judith River Watershed.