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SMART FIRES RII Track-1 Project

Wildfire plays a vital role in Montana’s diverse ecosystems but also poses a growing threat to Montanans’ health, safety, and livelihoods. The National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR program is supporting a research and education project to understand and improve the use of prescribed fire to manage wildfire and its impacts in our state. Researchers from Montana universities and colleges are working with state agencies, private companies, and non-profit organizations to develop technologies, partnerships, and educational opportunities that strengthen our ability to prevent, respond to, and live with wildfire.

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Gathering at Lubrecht Experimental Forest

SMART FIRES team investigates citizen science opportunities during Lubrecht Experimental Forest visit

On a beautiful fall day in September, a team of Montana NSF EPSCoR researchers, students and outreach professionals from several Montana colleges and universities gathered at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest near Greenough, Mont. to view prescribed fire experimental plots while also considering how citizens and communities can contribute to statewide research.

ReadBlog SMART FIRES team investigates citizen science opportunities during Lubrecht Experimental Forest visit
Land Cover GLOBE Observer

Citizen Science demo during All-Hands Meeting 2024

All participants in the EPSCoR All-Hands Meeting on Sept. 16-17, 2024 are invited to participate in citizen science investigation using a free app supported by NASA that allows volunteers to learn more about our shared environment by taking observations of the land, clouds, trees and mosquito habitat.We will use the app, called GLOBE Observer, during our trip to the Lubrecht Experimental Forest on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

ReadBlog Citizen Science demo during All-Hands Meeting 2024
Photo of Dr. Owen with a background of colorful grass.

Interview with Dr. Lucy Owen: New UM Machine Learning Hire

What is your specialty? I am a computational cognitive neuroscientist. I’m really interested in brain network dynamics and larger systems that relate to patients where you can pick out biomarkers that are similar across patients to help diagnoses.

ReadBlog Interview with Dr. Lucy Owen: New UM Machine Learning Hire
Photo of Dr. Wojnowicz with a background of a coastal city.

Interview with Dr. Michael Wojnowicz: New MSU Machine Learning Hire

What is your specialty? I work in the space between statistics and machine learning.Statistical models are nice because they’re interpretable, probabilistic, and reliable to train. But they can struggle with large, complex datasets. On the other hand, machine learning models are great for large, complex datasets, but many of them are black boxes which are hard to interpret, and the training process can be unreliable and resource intensive. My research is about developing new methods which blend the best of these worlds. 

ReadBlog Interview with Dr. Michael Wojnowicz: New MSU Machine Learning Hire
Montana teachers watch a presentation by SMART FIRES researchers and outreach professionals

SMART FIRES shares research with teachers at STEM Summer Institute

Each year, the Science Math Resource Center at MSU co-hosts the STEM Summer Institute, an annual conference for over 170 K-12 educators from around the state. This summer, SMRC led a workshop that introduced educators to the SMART FIRES project and included presentations by Dr. Kevin Repasky from the Smart Optical Sensor thrust and Will Jardee from the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning thrust.   

ReadBlog SMART FIRES shares research with teachers at STEM Summer Institute
Gathering at Lubrecht Experimental Forest

SMART FIRES team investigates citizen science opportunities during Lubrecht Experimental Forest visit

On a beautiful fall day in September, a team of Montana NSF EPSCoR researchers, students and outreach professionals from several Montana colleges and universities gathered at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest near Greenough, Mont. to view prescribed fire experimental plots while also considering how citizens and communities can contribute to statewide research.

ReadBlog SMART FIRES team investigates citizen science opportunities during Lubrecht Experimental Forest visit
NSF EPSCoR

NSF E-RISE Awards 2024

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded $35 million through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Incubators for STEM Excellence Research Infrastructure Improvement (E-RISE RII) to boost research competitiveness, build partnerships across academic institutions and non-academic sectors and create workforce development opportunities.

ReadBlog NSF E-RISE Awards 2024
A graduate student works in the Spectrum Lab at Montana State University on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, in Bozeman, Mont. (Colter Peterson/MSU Photo)

$41M award to Montana Tech Hub

A regional technology hub focused on photonics and smart sensors, of which Montana State University is a founding member, will receive a $41 million federal grant to help create tech jobs across Montana.

ReadBlog $41M award to Montana Tech Hub
NSF ESPCoR

2024 EPSCoR Annual PI Meeting Presentations

Access to presentations from the 2024 NSF EPSCoR Annual PI meeting. These presentations provide helpful information on ESPCoR funding opportunities.You can access meeting presentations web page here.

ReadBlog 2024 EPSCoR Annual PI Meeting Presentations
Richard Schoenberg and Reilly Tunby working on the story map together.

SMART FIRES Smoke Vulnerability GIS Mapping Project

Kristen Intemann, Professor of Philosophy and Director for the Center for Science, Technology, Ethics, and Society (C-STES) at Montana State University (MSU), is working with graduate students in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences (LRES) at MSU to construct maps to analyze which communities and Tribal Nations are particularly impacted by both wildfire smoke and smoke from prescribed burns in Montana and across the U.S. This project is a product of the Social Psychology, Economics, and Ethics (SPEE) thrust of the SMART FIRES project.

ReadBlog SMART FIRES Smoke Vulnerability GIS Mapping Project
A graduate student works in the Spectrum Lab at Montana State University on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, in Bozeman, Mont. (Colter Peterson/MSU Photo)

$41M award to Montana Tech Hub

A regional technology hub focused on photonics and smart sensors, of which Montana State University is a founding member, will receive a $41 million federal grant to help create tech jobs across Montana.

ReadBlog $41M award to Montana Tech Hub

Montana STEM Summit 2023 findings and next steps will be presented online Dec. 12

Key findings from the 2023 Montana STEM Summit will be shared in an online presentation on Tuesday, Dec.

ReadBlog Montana STEM Summit 2023 findings and next steps will be presented online Dec. 12

Project Highlight: "The Future Isn't Written"

Dr. Arica Crootof of UM Western assists in a project surrounding effective communication about contamination and remediation efforts of the Warm Springs Ponds at the headwaters of the Clark Fork River.

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New article from CREWS JRW Natural Resource Social Science team focuses on challenges rural communities face with public water systems

A recent publication from the Natural Resource Social Science team highlights the challenges facing rural communities in the arena of public water systems—namely, the locally-managed infrastructure that delivers domestic water to homes in settled areas like small towns and cities.

ReadBlog New article from CREWS JRW Natural Resource Social Science team focuses on challenges rural communities face with public water systems
Graduate student Tasha Stryker stands next to a development version of the online Crash Course game

Online college simulation game introduces players to STEM concepts and pathways

The online learning game, Crash Course, is a virtual college simulation that introduces players to various STEM concepts and pathways.

ReadBlog Online college simulation game introduces players to STEM concepts and pathways

Upcoming Events

30th Annual OpTeC Conference

The Montana State University's Optical Technology Center (OpTeC) will host the 30th annual OpTeC Conference on October 10, 2024.

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28th NSF EPSCoR National Conference

28th NSF EPSCoR National Conference

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2024 Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium

The 5th annual Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium will be held on October 17-18, 2024 at the University of Montana.

More 2024 Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium

30th Annual OpTeC Conference

The Montana State University's Optical Technology Center (OpTeC) will host the 30th annual OpTeC Conference on October 10, 2024.

More 30th Annual OpTeC Conference

28th NSF EPSCoR National Conference

28th NSF EPSCoR National Conference

More 28th NSF EPSCoR National Conference

2024 Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium

The 5th annual Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium will be held on October 17-18, 2024 at the University of Montana.

More 2024 Rocky Mountain Wildfire Smoke Symposium

What We Do

More about us
We develop and manage NSF ESPCoR Research Improvement Investment (RII) Awards to Montana to promote the development of science and technology capacity across the Montana University System. With RII support we have:
125
Faculty hired in strategic areas
300+
Graduate students supported on projects
1K+
Undergraduate students supported on projects
100+
Native American Students supported on projects