Whitlock photo by Kelly Gorham, MSU News Service
Cross-State Cooperation
MSU’s Kathy Whitlock and UM’s Ric Hauer co-direct the new Montana Institute on Ecosystems.
By Deborah Richie
C
Universities unite for ecosystem institute
ompetition is the name of the game between The University of Montana and Montana State University, right? For the first time in U.S. history, two public universities from the same state, in this case UM and MSU, have formed a grand consortium for ecosystem science. In fact, the Montana Institute on Ecosystems spans the entire higher education system, involving faculty, undergraduates and graduate students from Montana’s two larger research universities, as well as the state’s two-year and tribal colleges. The institute breaks traditional boundaries right and left, leaving the Griz-Cat rivalry behind to reach across disciplines such as agriculture, geology, dance and journalism. Working together to understand and sustain the ecosystems that support Montanans is all about being on the same team. “We have some of the best people in the world at these two universities,” says Ric Hauer, UM’s institute director. “The two administrations, the Board of Regents and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education all came together to develop a clearly good idea.” Cathy Whitlock, the MSU institute director, chats with her counterpart Hauer multiple times a week to co-steer the fledgling program, which was formed in November 2011. She credits MSU President Waded Cruzado and UM President Royce Engstrom for their openness to new ways of doing
business since they took their respective leadership reins in 2010. “We see it as a grand experiment,” Whitlock says. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to guide the institute through these initial stages.” The two directors point to the impressive speed of the institute’s growth soon after the National Science Foundation awarded it $20 million over five years. In its first month, the institute attracted 200 faculty affiliates. By summer 2012, the new organization supported research for nearly 60 faculty, some 40 graduate students and upward of 25 undergraduates. The NSF funding comes from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, dedicated to helping smaller-population states compete with states such as California, New York and Michigan. Montana has received EPSCoR funding since 1980, when the program started, and has the best track record for using its funding to increase its percentage of the overall NSF money. Take that impressive grant record. Add nearby breathtaking ecosystems that include the Crown of the Continent and the Greater Yellowstone. Then top it off with renowned scientific faculty and strong schools of forestry, journalism, agriculture, the arts, engineering and more. Ice the cake with federal, state and nonprofit ecosystem partners located in Montana. Perhaps
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