Infrastructure via Science and Technology Enhanced Partnerships (INSTEP III)

The 2011–2018 MT EPSCoR project examined how climate change affects ecosystems by linking research across microbiology, ecology, and climatology, ultimately helping establish the Montana Institute on Ecosystems. Originally funded for 2011–2016 and later extended through a no‑cost extension to August 31, 2018, the project sought to understand the physical and biological processes that shape ecosystem structure and function—and how those processes respond to a changing climate. Its science agenda centered on three major focus areas: investigating how microbial metabolism influences carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils and waters; analyzing how landscape patterns and ecological legacies shape ecosystem processes under shifting climate conditions; and integrating microbial and ecosystem models to assess vulnerability across the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Together, these efforts combined field studies, experimental manipulations, and advanced modeling to explore ecosystem dynamics from microbes to entire biomes. Midway through the project, MT EPSCoR added an integration component focused on social‑ecological systems, expanding the research portfolio to better understand how human and natural systems interact in the face of rapid environmental change.