Montana Institute of the Environment
Executive Summary
1. The Montana Institute of the Environment (IoE) will provide a statewide leadership
and administrative umbrella for research and outreach in environmental and
ecosystem sciences, bringing together the faculty and student expertise on all
campuses of public higher education in Montana, for faculty and students who
decide to participate. It is expected that if successful the Institute will evolve in
purpose and programming beyond its initial starting point under the auspices of the
state-wide EPSCoR program.
2. The Montana IoE will be an MUS institute with co-equal hubs, one at The University
of Montana and one at Montana State University. Each hub will function within the
academic environment and culture of the respective campuses and be administered
by co-Directors reporting to the Vice President of Research and the Provost on each
campus, respectively.
3. The Montana IoE will provide an intellectual framework to foster better
communication and collaboration within the MUS as well as with tribal colleges;
federal, state and local agencies; non-governmental organizations; businesses; and
communities.
4. The Institute will develop mechanisms supporting broad interdisciplinary initiatives
and inter-institutional collaborations that bridge traditional silo-style academic
structures. Some of its early activities within the EPSCoR Program are designed to
cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
5. The Institute will harness the scientific, technological and educational strengths of
our universities by fostering interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty and
students across diverse subjects such as climate science, environmental
microbiology, fisheries and wildlife management, sustainable agriculture, forestry, fire
science, watershed hydrology, invasive species, land-use change, environmental
statistics, snow sciences, geosciences, environmental engineering, science
communication, and social sciences related to the environment.
6. The Institute will also increase state and national visibility for the MUS’s
environmental and ecosystem science research and education programs by
showcasing the strengths within and across institutions. This will, in turn, enhance
MUS capacity to recruit and retain nationally competitive faculty, graduate students,
and undergraduate students in the environmental and ecosystem sciences.
7. The Montana IoE is an initiative of the MUS award from the NSF-EPSCoR program.
This $24M/5-year award will be distributed in near-equal share between UM and
MSU. These funds will provide administrative support; enhance faculty hires to fill
specifically identified gaps in environmental disciples; provide incubation grants for
enhanced interdisciplinary research infrastructure and development; facilitate new
research funding; support graduate and undergraduate student research; and
encourage outreach and public engagement in the area of environmental science
and sustainability.
8. Sustaining the Institute beyond the EPSCoR award will be dependent upon its
success in stimulating supported activities well beyond NSF EPSCoR. NSF
EPSCoR is a capacity building program and if the capacity building is successful the
Institute should have on-going support provided by returns from external sources.