Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories
Dates: | November 10-19, 2020 |
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Meets: | Tues. and Thurs. from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM |
Location: | Online Presentation |
Cost: | $55.00 |
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Please note: This course program requires membership in a 2020 - 2021 OLLI at MSU Membership or 2021 - 2022 OLLI at MSU Membership or 2021 - 2022 OLLI at MSU Membership
Over this four-session course, we will explore the dynamic nature and salient features of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) through a series of case studies. We will journey from the high elevations of the ecosystem where the snow is deep and winters are long, and from where water is released throughout much of the growing season. We will use this transition from snow to water to discuss the seasonality of conditions, the green wave of life-supporting vegetation and predictable changes in river flow. Our tour will include stories of changing snowpack and describe change to whitebark pine, an iconic species of the GYE and bellwether of alpine forest health. We will discuss vegetative communities and threats posed by fire, drought and an ever-expanding list of invasive species. We will discuss how changing climatic conditions are likely to affect the GYE's wetland habitats and the amphibians that are so tightly linked to them. Finally, our journey will end as we explore how the quality and quantity of rivers are linked to the high elevation snow. Understanding how climate influences each of these vital signs and the possible changes yet to come will be threaded throughout the story; we will conclude with climate forecasts for this region and discuss how each of these vital signs is likely to change by centuries end.
Across the GYE, the National Park Service's (NPS) Greater Yellowstone Network is coordinating assessments of ecological health through collaborative, multi-agency monitoring and planning at park and regional spatial scales that address contemporary threats to parks. This course will highlight the importance of collaborative, cross-boundary strategies to connect parks, inventory and monitoring networks, and partnering agencies to leverage scientific connections to maximize their conservation impacts.
Nov 10: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - The High Country
Nov 12: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Mid-elevation - Part 1
Nov 17: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Mid-elevation - Part 2
Nov 19: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Flowing Waters and Climate
Across the GYE, the National Park Service's (NPS) Greater Yellowstone Network is coordinating assessments of ecological health through collaborative, multi-agency monitoring and planning at park and regional spatial scales that address contemporary threats to parks. This course will highlight the importance of collaborative, cross-boundary strategies to connect parks, inventory and monitoring networks, and partnering agencies to leverage scientific connections to maximize their conservation impacts.
Nov 10: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - The High Country
Nov 12: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Mid-elevation - Part 1
Nov 17: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Mid-elevation - Part 2
Nov 19: Measuring the Pulse of Yellowstone: The Untold Stories - Flowing Waters and Climate
Fee: | $55.00 |
Online Presentation
This is a real-time (live) online class that meets at the specified day(s)/time(s) listed.We will send you a reminder email with login instructions one business day before the program start date. If there are additional sessions, we will send reminders the morning of those sessions.
Jana Cram
Jana Cram is a biological science technician and aquatic field crew lead for the Greater Yellowstone Network (GRYN). She assists in water quality monitoring across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, including Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Teton National Park, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway and Yellowstone National Park. She also leads amphibian surveys in Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP. Before arriving at GRYN in 2019, Jana was a biological science technician and crew lead at Indiana Dunes National Park, where she worked in resource management on fisheries projects and restoring oak savannahs, prairies, bogs and pannes. Her undergraduate degrees are from Rutgers University in New Jersey and Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana.Rob Daley
Rob Daley, GRYN's data manager, grew up in the mountains of central Idaho and worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 19 years. In 2003, he joined the National Park Service in Bozeman. He supports GRYN's program of science with databases and systems to collect, manage, describe, analyze and share inventory and monitoring data. This includes maintaining science information in national data systems like NPSpecies and the NPS Data Store. Presenting results and information with maps is his favorite thing about working to support public lands and resources.Kristin Legg
Kristin Legg has served as the program manager for the GRYN since 2010. Prior to this position, she led the natural and cultural resource management divisions at Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Pipestone National Monument. She began her career in Yellowstone National Park. She received her M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University, studying the habitat use and movements of bighorn sheep in the Gallatin Mountains. Her undergraduate degree is from Denison University in Ohio.Andrew Ray
Andrew Ray is an ecologist with GRYN in Bozeman, MT. He received his Ph.D. from Idaho State University and holds an M.S. from Northern Michigan University and B.S. from Purdue University. He conducts amphibian work in Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Crater Lake National Parks. He also works on water quality studies in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP.Erin Shanahan
Erin Shanahan is an ecologist with the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program in Bozeman, Montana. She has been the lead for the Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Program since its inception in 2004. Through her work monitoring whitebark pine, she has had the privilege to visit some of the most magnificent areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In addition, she leads the network's upland vegetation monitoring program and in past work has studied a wide range of species from bees to bears. She received her M.S. in ecology from Montana State University.David Thoma
David Thoma is an ecologist with the GRYN in Bozeman, MT and the Northern Colorado Plateau Network in Moab, UT. His background is in soil science, watershed hydrology and remote sensing. He leads the satellite-based land surface monitoring programs for his networks and studies the links between climate and vital signs with his colleagues and collaborators. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, M.S. degree from Montana State University and B.S. degree from University of Arkansas.Stefanie Wacker
Stefanie Wacker is the vegetation ecologist for Yellowstone National Park. Her area of interest is terrestrial plant invasions and restoration of disturbed areas. She earned a B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder in geography and environmental science and an M.S. in biological science from South Dakota State University.Date | Day | Time | Location |
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11/10/2020 | Tuesday | 9 AM to 11 AM | Online Presentation |
11/12/2020 | Thursday | 9 AM to 11 AM | Online Presentation |
11/17/2020 | Tuesday | 9 AM to 11 AM | Online Presentation |
11/19/2020 | Thursday | 9 AM to 11 AM | Online Presentation |
Learn more about the NPS Greater Yellowstone Network's Inventory and Monitoring program by watching this Montana Institute on Ecosystem's Rough-Cut Seminar Series presentation, Understanding Dynamic Ecosystems: The Pursuit of the Greater Yellowstone Network, given in December 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f02zLXdiprU&t=449s
Explore the Greater Yellowstone Network's website: https://www.nps.gov/im/gryn/index.htm