Students from Polson and Ronan High Schools on the Flathead Reservation visited the University of Montana on January 29, 2024, for a day of smoke and fire science with SMART FIRES. During a morning field trip to spectrUM Discovery Area, UM’s hands-on science center, the students explored the concept of the fire triangle and experienced a matchstick “forest” simulation, activities from the USFS’s FireWorks curriculum.
While at spectrUM, they also experienced the NOAA-funded ResilienceMT exhibition (PIs. Dr. Robin Saha and Dr. Beth Covitt) that engages visitors with climate resilience issues, including smoke and wildfire, in our state.
After experiencing a taste of campus life with lunch at UM’s Food Zoo, the students explored atmospheric chemistry with visits to the labs of Dr. Bob Yokelson and Dr. Lu Hu, as well as his graduate students Emily Cope, Damien Ketcherside, Wade Permar, and Lu Tan. Through demos and discussions in both labs, the group learned about the equipment and techniques that the researchers use to understand the composition and atmospheric effects of smoke.
