2015 MPG Conference

February 27th, 2015

Block title

MPG Research Conference
Monday 3/2 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 3/3 8am - 5pm

Join MPG at the Holiday Inn Parkside downtown in Missoula for our yearly research conference. MPG staff and supported researchers will present recent findings and describe future goals. The conference will allow all who conduct investigations at MPG, as well as the general public, to learn about current projects and to share ideas. Topics will include avian science, rangeland restoration, mammal ecology, pollinators, plant phenology, and soil ecology, among others. The public is invited to attend and you do not need to register for this event.

Monday, March 2nd

8:00 am Philip Ramsey Introduction
8:15 am Ylva Lekberg Do Soil Microbes Matter for Plant Invasive
Success?
9:05 am Jeffrey S. Pippen Lepidoptera Monitoring Year One
9:30 am Lorinda Bullington Endophytes, Plants and Pathogens
Break
10:15 am Beau Larkin Current Monitoring and Restoration Projects at
MPG North
11:05 am Adam Shreading Blood-lead Levels of Golden and Bald Eagles
Wintering in the Bitterroot Valley
11:30 am Morgan Luce A Novel, Rapid, Cheap and Reliable Method to
Assess Root Viability
Lunch
1:30 pm Joshua Lisbon Education and Community Outreach Projects
Update
1:55 pm William Blake Lewis’s Woodpecker Banding and Monitoring at
MPG Ranch
2:20 pm Mike Sawaya Noninvasive Genetic Sampling of Carnivore
Populations at MPG Ranch
Break
3:05 pm Kate Stone Movements and Habitat Use of Saw-whet Owls
(Aegolius acadicus) During Fall Migration
3:55 pm Teagan Hayes Linking Plants and Elk: What Can Biomass Tell
Us?
4:20 pm Marc Peipoch Biological Form and Function Across Montana’s
Riverine Floodplains: the Case of the Bitterroot
River

Tuesday, March 3rd

8:15 am Matthew Shertz Garter Snark Population Characteristics on MPG
Properties
9:05 am Marirose Kuhlman Bee Monitoring Update
9:30 am Mollie Herget An Investigation of the Impacts of Seed Origin on
Grassland Restoration Success
Break
10:15 am Dan Mummey Analysis of Plant Communities to Inform
Restoration Plant Materials Selection
10:40 am Peter Rice Restoration of Native Plants to Cheatgrass
Dominated Grassland
11:05 am Alan Ramsey MPG Ranch Black Bears
Lunch
1:30 pm Rob Domenech Summary of Raptor View Research Institutes Eagle
Research on MPG Ranch
2:20 pm Alanna Shaw Poa secunda genetics: A Comparison of Local and
Commercial Plant Materials
Break
3:05 pm Megan Fylling Fall Songbird Migration Along the Bitterroot
Corridor
3:30 pm Mike McTee The Biogeochemistry and Remediation of
Elemental Sulfur Contaminated Soils
3:55 pm Anna Noson How Timing and Placement of Breeding Territories
in Woody Draws Relate to Underlying Habitat
Conditions for 5 Focal Species on MPG Ranch
4:20 pm Craig Jourdonnais Hunting Public Elk on Private Land: An Awkard
Mesh of Goals and Objectives

About the Author

Joshua Lisbon

Joshua graduated from the University of Montana, Missoula, in 2009 with an M.A. in Intercultural Youth and Family Development. Joshua has designed and implemented wilderness and experiential-based education programs for various agencies since 2001. He has worked in Missoula since 2005 predominately with disadvantaged populations providing challenging and empowering programming for youth and adults alike.At MPG, Joshua works to coordinate with local agencies and school districts as well as the university to connect students and members of the community to MPG’s work. He also recruits and mobilizes volunteers to accomplish various projects for the ranch. In his free time, Joshua enjoys exploring Montana’s wild places. As an avid outdoorsman, he enjoys any pursuit that keeps him connected to the natural world.