Current Graduate Students

Abaye Abebe
Advisor: Rob Payn
abayeabebe@gmail.com
Research Area: Hydrological analysis and modeling in an Earth System Modeling framework.

Byron Amerson
Advisor: Geoffrey Poole
byron.amerson@gmail.com
Research Area: A multi-scale evaluation of the rate and magnitude of water exchange between surface flow and the alluvial aquifer in restored and unrestored river channels
Zane Ashford
Advisor: Cathy Zabinski
Research Area: Impacts of Cropping Systems on Soil Health in the Northern Great Plains

Ryan Barnes
Advisor: Perry Miller
Research Area:

Thomas "Tommy" Bass
Advisor: Bruce Maxwell
tmbass@montana.edu
Research Area: Considerations of ecological and social interactions in food system development, scale, diversity, management, and vulnerability

Laura Berrios-Ortiz
Advisor: Fabian Menalled
laura.berriosortiz@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Weed agroecology and management

Andrew Bobst
Advisor: Rob Payn
albobst@hotmail.com
Research Area: Using Beaver Mimicry Stream Restoration as manipulative experiments to better understand groundwater/surface-water interactions, and transient water storage in floodplains.

Keenan Brame
Advisors: Tim McDermott & Anne Camper
kbrame3@gmail.com
Research Area: Freshwater quality on the Little Bighorn River involving microbial pathogens, their mode of transport through a freshwater system and their anticipated impacts on water quality due to climate change projections.
Peter Bugoni
Advisor: Jane Mangold
peterbugoni@gmail.com
Research Area: Renovating Monocultures of Exotic Cool-Season Grass Seedings to Diverse Multifunctional Ecosystems

Dan Chichinsky
Advisors: Fabian Menalled& Tim Seipel
Research Area: Integration of thistle rust into organic management of Canada thistle

Shea Crowther
Advisors: Kevin O'Neill & Anthony Slominski
swbcrowther@gmail.com
Research Area: Investigating The Impact of the Interaction of the Neonicotinoid Pesticide Imidacloprid and Temperature on Post-Winter Alfalfa Leafcutting Bees, Megachile rotundata

Het Desai
Advisors: Fabian Menalled & Lovreet Shergill
Research Area: Monitoring and management of problematic weeds in Montana cropping systems

Matt Deyoe
Advisors: Tony Hartshorn & Bill Kleindl
Matt.deyoe@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Determining benthic macroinvertebrate trophic structure on a superfund restoration site using stable isotopes

Hannah Duff
Advisor: Bruce Maxwell
hannahduff8@gmail.com
Research Area: The effects of habitat heterogeneity on crop yield and biodiversity in small grain production systems in the Northern Great Plains. Her work uses profit mapping to identify low-producing areas that can be taken out of production to save producers time and money and create wildlife habitat in agricultural landscapes. Quantifying the economic and ecological effects of midfield islets (refugia) will determine if they provide benefits such as enhanced biodiversity, ecosystem services and farm productivity in our agroecosystems.
Lochlin Ermatinger
Advisor: David Weaver
Research Area: Using the spectral signature of wheat to detect wheat stem sawfly infestation in growing wheat plants.

Mary Farina
Advisor: Scott Powell
mfarina@whrc.org
Research Area: Assessing spatial and temporal variability in Arctic-boreal carbon fluxes using satellite and drone remote sensing.

Zachariah Fighter
Advisors: Jane Mangold & Scott Powell
zachfighter@gmail.com
Research Area:

S. Katie Fogg
Advisor: Geoffrey Poole
s.katie.fogg@gmail.com
Research Area: Simulating hyporheic influences on stream channel temperature

Madison Foster
Advisor: Rob Payn
madisonjfoster@gmail.com
Research Area: Linking diel patterns in the processing of stream nitrate concentrations to stream corridor hydrologic and biogeochemical function in agricultural headwaters

Brett Griesbaum
Advisor: Scott Powell & Jasmine Neupane
Research Area:

Kara Hettinger
Advisors: Perry Miller & Tim Seipel
karahettinger11@gmail.com
Research Area: Integrated weed management of perennial weeds (Cirsium arvense, convolvulus arvensis) in organic cropping systems

Skye Keeshin
Advisor: Stephanie Ewing
skye.keeshin@student.montana.edu
Research Area: I am interested in connections between hydrologic processes and water quality in Montana. One of my projects is in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana looking at water quality and surface-groundwater connection around a reclaimed coal mine. Additionally, I work in the Gallatin Valley around Bozeman looking at processes of rangefront recharge to the valley aquifer and discharge to spring creeks in the lower portion of the valley. I’m interested in how this surface and subsurface movement of water dictates the introduction and transport of contaminants like nitrate.

Taylor Kennedy
Advisor: Bob Peterson
Research Area:
Samuel Koeshall
Advisor: Perry Miller
samuel.koeshall@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Investigating intra-field variability of field pea protein and greain yeild across Montana cropping systems, quantifying N credits and soil fertility following long-term legume and non-legume crop rotations in semi-arid cropping systems, and other Montana cropping systems research related to pulse crop problems.

Carl Krause
Advisor: Stephanie Ewing
Research Area:

Lauren Kremer
Advisor: Tim Covino
Research Area:

Emma Kubinski
Advisor: Fabian Menalled
emma.kubinski@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Carrots as a Model for Holistically Increasing Sustainability of Vegetable Production.

Sophia Lattes
Advisor: Fabian Menalled & Mac Burgess
sophia.lattes@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Integrated weed management for Montana organic vegetable farms.

R. Sasha Loewen
Advisor: Bruce Maxwell
sashaloewen@gmail.com
Research Area: The use of on farm precision experimentation (OFPE) to improve management practices in organic grain farming.

Ryan Malmquist
Advisor: Jack Brookshire
Research Area:

Ian McRyhew
Advisor: Jane Mangold
Research Area: Grassland restoration and pollinator conservation on Tribal lands degraded by annual invasive grasses.
Caitlin Mitchell
Advisor: Stephanie Ewing
caitlin.mitchell@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Investigating the biogeochemical cycle of nutrients through cultivated soils and groundwater-stream systems.

Elizabeth Mohr
Advisor: Geoffrey Poole
elizabethjmohr@gmail.com
Research Area: Simulation and experimental investigation of biogeochemical cycling in flowing water ecosystems.

Colter Mumford
Advisor: Lisa Rew
colter.mumford@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Quantifying the efficacy of management methods to control Bromus tectorum in the Centennial Valley of Southwest Montana

Winifred Nichols
Advisor: Bill Inskeep
winifred.nichols@student.montana.edu
Research Area:

Hayley Oakland
Advisor: Geoff Poole
hayley.oakland@gmail.com
Research Area: Ecosystem engineering by net-spinning caddisflies and associated effects on microbial communities, stream metabolism and nutrient cycling

Alyssa Piccolomini
Advisor: Bob Peterson
Research Area:

Jack Poole
Advisor: Stephanie Ewing
jack.poole@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Investigating electrical resistivity tomography data in relation to aerial and on ground vegetation analyses.

Elizabeth Reiva
Advisors: Fabian Menalled & Roland Ebel HHD
Research Area: Household Biodigesters: A Source of Biofertilizer

Madeline Roberts
Advisor: Timothy Covino
Research Area: Hydrologic and erosional effects of steep-hillslope logging on Monarch Pass, Colorado

Meghan Robinson
Advisor: Adam Sigler
Research Area: Data driven irrigation scheduling for reducing deep percolation and runoff and optimizing water and nutrient use efficiency

Rich Schonenberg
Advisor: Tony Hartshorn
rich.schonenberg@montana.edu
Research Area: Utilizing the 2020 Bridger Foothills Fire as a case study for post fire erosion monitoring.

Lilly Sencenbaugh
Advisor: Lisa Rew
lilly.sencenbaugh@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Effectiveness of traditional and novel management control strategies of Ventenata dubia and Bromus tectorum

Akamjot Singh Brar
Advisor: Fabian Menalled
Research Area: Weed Management in Specialty crops

Meryl Storb
Advisor: Rob Payn
meryl.storb@gmail.com
Research Area: Watershed hydrology stream ecosystem interaction.

Jackson Strand
M.S. Entomology
Advisors: David Weaver & Tracy Sterling
jackson.strand@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Understanding the importance of smooth brome in promoting a Braconid parasitoid that targets the Wheat Stem Sawfly

Henry Stowell
M.S. Land Resources & Environmental Sciences
Advisors: Cathy Zabinski & Eberly
henry.stowell@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Identifying plant growth promoting rhizobacteria candidates to increase oil yields of Camelina sativa, and predicting effects of climate change on oil yields of Camelina sativa.

Morgan Suddreth
M.S. Land Resources & Environmental Sciences
Advisors: Bill Kleindl & Tony Hartshorn
Research Area: Development of rapid wetland assessment strategies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Erin Teichroew
Advisor: Lisa Rew
Erin.teichroew@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Evaluating different management treatments for reducing Bromus tectorum cover and reestablishing native grass species

Caleb Williams
Advisors: Clain Jones & Timothy Seipel
caleb.williams@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Investigating and testing soil nutrient density, as well as overall soil health, on Native American reservation land

Madelyne Willis
Advisors: Stephanie Ewing & Christine Foreman
madie.willis@gmail.com
Research Area: Microbial analysis of the Taylor Glacier ice core: investigating the presence and possible impacts of englacial microbial activity through time
Rennie Winkelman
Advisor: Andrew Felton
rennie.winkelman@student.montana.edu
Research Area: Ecological responses to bison reintroduction on the Northern Great Plains

Robert Wyatt
Advisor: Bob Peterson
Research Area: