Great Bears & Glaciers: The Montana Project

Join us this summer as we investigate onsite one of Montana’s wildest and most dynamically changing environments: Glacier National Park. With its towering mountains, crystalline lakes, and abundant wildlife, Montana’s Glacier National Park encompasses one of the most spectacular natural landscapes on earth. Known as the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, this region serves as the headwaters of North America, giving rise to rivers that flow into the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans. Home to large, wide-ranging wildlife species, including grizzly bears, wolves, wolverines, elk, and lynx, the Crown of the Continent contains one of the most intact temperate ecosystems in the world.

Unfortunately, even this remote and wild region is affected by human caused climate change. Because of its high elevation, climate change in Glacier is advancing two to three times faster than the global average. Scientists predict that in twenty years Glacier National Park will no longer have any glaciers. What does this mean for the region’s wildlife? Will grizzlies and other species be able adapt and survive? What are some possible solutions? These are some of the questions that this project will address as we explore the cascading effects of global climate change on Glacier National Park and the surrounding ecosystem.

THE PROJECT

With Glacier National Park as our base, we will conduct forays into the park and surrounding ecosystems to investigate the impacts of climate change on both wildlife and human communities. In doing so, our investigation will carry us into Glacier’s backcountry both on day hikes and a multi-day backpack.

While climate change is undeniably causing landscape level changes to the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, the social and environmental effects present a wide variety of opportunities for research and investigation. One area of questioning revolves around how climate change will affect wildlife species. As a natural laboratory for climate change and wildlife studies, current research projects initiated by the National Park Service and the US Geological Survey focus on wolverines, lynx and grizzly bears, as well as the glaciers themselves. Meeting and working with area scientists will provide team members with the opportunity to employ field study techniques onsite and discover how researches track ecological changes while developing options for wildlife sustainability in the region.

Moving beyond wildlife, this project also examines how climate change considerations are altering land use patterns and human communities in the region. How are local communities and government agencies addressing and responding to climate change? Has global warming changed the role of national parks? What are the economic considerations? In exploring these issues we will meet with agency personnel, biologists, climate specialists, as well as residents and others affected by a changing and more unpredictable climate.

Read the full course description:

EARN 8 SEMESTER CREDITS IN MONTANA BY PARTICIPATING ON BOTH THE YELLOWSTONE AND GLACIER PROJECTS!

PROJECT LEADER

GREG GORDON has taught university and field study programs since 1992, focusing on conservation policy. He currently teaches Endangered Species ecology courses for Wildlands Studies and Environmental History courses at University of Montana.