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Naturalist
Spring/Summer 2020
MONTANA
TO PROMOTE AND CULTIVATE THE APPRECIATION, UNDERSTANDING AND STEWARDSHIP OF NATURE THROUGH EDUCATION
Bison and
Biodiversity:
History of
a Keystone
Species
Heartbeats & Hibernation | All About Antlions | Birding in Spain and Montana | Visions of Earth
Naturalist
MONTANA
Spring/Summer 2020
inside
Features
4
BISON AND BIODIVERSITY:
A CASE STUDY
Exploring the history of North
America’s keystone herbivore
BY GIL GALE
8
HEARTBEATS AND HIBERNATION 4 8
IN THE ROCKIES
Getting at the heart of surviving
winter in Montana Departments
BY HEATHER MCKEE
3
TIDINGS
10
NATURALIST NOTES
Antlions: A Conversation of
Observations 22
12
GET OUTSIDE GUIDE
10 Book review: The Lost Words;
nature writing activity; phenology
scavenger hunt; Kids’ Corner:
tree painting by Lila Farrell;
Pablo 4th-grade science projects
17
IMPRINTS
Farewell to Lisa Bickell;
upcoming exhibits; new summer
24
camp offerings; welcome to
Jennifer Robinson; Drop in with a
24
FAR AFIELD
Naturalist; As To The Mission; Birding in Spain
2019 auction thank yous
17 19
BY PEGGY CORDELL
26
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
MAGPIE MARKET
Cover – A Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) Alyssa Giffin
perches on a branch above Pauline Creek at
the National Bison Range on a gorgeous June 22 27
day. Bullock’s Orioles are summer residents REFLECTIONS
COMMUNITY FOCUS
in Montana. Photo by Merle Ann Loman, Visions of Earth
Working for Wilderness:
amontanaview.com.
The Great Burn Conservation
No material appearing in Montana Naturalist Alliance
may be reproduced in part or in whole without the
BY ALLISON DE JONG
written consent of the publisher. All contents
© 2020 The Montana Natural History Center.
2 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020
Connecting People with Nature
120 Hickory Street, Suite A
Missoula, MT 59801
tidings
406.327.0405
MontanaNaturalist.org Late last summer I hiked, with
my husband, son, and three friends,
into Kid Lake in the Great Burn
STAFF
Recommended Wilderness. The
Ser Anderson
Teaching Naturalist landscape was stunning: rocky ridges
Alyssa Cornell-Chavez stretching into the distance, blue sky
Front Desk Associate arcing above the glimmering jewel
Allison De Jong of the lake, and the scent of fir and
Communications Coordinator
warm earth and ripe huckleberries
PHOTO BY KARA HANSON
Thurston Elfstrom
Executive Director infusing the air. A two-hour drive
Laura Lee followed by an easy two-mile hike
Bookkeeper
brought us to a beautifully wild
Drew Lefebvre
Museum Programs Coordinator & Volunteer
place. My 16-month-old son and
Coordinator our friends’ four-year-old daughter Enjoying warm sun and cool water at Kid Lake in the
Pat Little loved it. They ate huckleberries off lovely wildlands of the Great Burn.
Front Desk Associate
the bushes and splashed in the lake all
Jenah Mead
Teaching Naturalist
afternoon and had to be dragged away, sun-kissed and dripping.
Christine Morris These wild places exist in spite of us.
Community Programs Coordinator These magnificent, unique landscapes are home to wolverines and pikas, alpine
Stephanie Laporte Potts larches and beargrass, glacier-carved valleys and sparkling streams, and so much more.
Youth Programs Manager
When I visit our wild places, I am constantly in awe of their diversity and allure, and
Jennifer Robinson
Program Director that of the wild creatures that inhabit them.
Mark Schleicher This issue honors such wildness and variety. From biologist Gil Gale’s exploration
Development Director of bison and their fascinating history—species diverging and converging and diverging
Glenna Tawney again amidst a backdrop of ice sheets and warming periods (page 4)—to a conversation
Marketing & Events Coordinator
Kelli Van Noppen
between three naturalists about the amazing adaptations of predatory antlion larvae (page
ID Nature Coordinator 10), from writer Heather McKee’s examination of heartbeats and their relationship to
Christine Wren hibernation (page 8) to naturalist Peggy Cordell’s familiar-yet-novel experience of birding
Teaching Naturalist
in Spain (page 24), we are reminded of how wonderfully intricate and complex our
Bailey Zook
Teaching Naturalist
world is. Our home. Our planet.
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (page 27): 50 years of
Summer Staff recognizing, on a planet-wide scale, the importance of stewarding this beautiful blue
Alyssa Giffin marble we call home.
Summer Camp Coordinator This spring, this summer, this year, let’s celebrate our planet and this exquisite
Breanna McCabe corner of it that we are so very lucky to call home. Let’s celebrate by exploring it, reveling
Educational Programs Intern
in it, seeking out its wild places and wild creatures and wild flowers.
Board of Directors And let’s celebrate by stewarding it—so that all this wild tangle of beauty and
Kelley Willett, President diversity is still here when my son is the age I am now. When his children have children,
Stephanie Lambert, Vice President
Peggy Christian, Secretary
and grandchildren—and beyond. So that, a hundred years in the future, they can splash
Katie Guffin, Treasurer around in Kid Lake in the Great Burn Wilderness, because it’s still there, and still wild.
Hank Fischer
Ian Foster
Here’s to this planet, to our wild places, to us. Here’s to actively loving it all.
Sarah Megyesi
Rick Oncken
Rick Potts
Dr. Allison Young
Montana Naturalist Art Director
Allison De Jong
Eileen Chontos EDITOR
adejong@MontanaNaturalist.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 3
“Intraspecific diversity is the raw material of evolution"
—DR. C. CORMACK GATES, IUCN AMERICAN BISON STATUS, 2010
BISON
BISON AND
AND BIODIVERSITY:
BIODIVERSITY:
A CA S E ST U DY
BY GIL GALE
When the fires of August 2000 roared across the Bitterroot Valley and up over
the Continental Divide, they left behind an intriguing relic exposed in the
ashes high in the Anaconda-Pintler mountain range.
The discovery by one of the fire mop-up crews of a bison skull at over
8,000 feet triggered some interesting questions about what a plains bison was
doing in a high-elevation forested zone so distant from any typical habitat. Did
this animal represent something more significant than a wandering oddity?
It turns out that drives the life and
bison history and death of the major
genetics are a bit more ice ages. Periodic
complex than many long-term shifts
of us Montanans of the earth’s plate
were probably aware. tectonics, its orbit
In our time, on the
North American
Historic around the sun, and
its tilt, coupled with
continent, there are Range of occasional massive
two subspecies of
bison, the plains bison
Bison volcanic eruptions, all
interact to produce
(Bison bison bison), a bewildering
which dominated the assemblage of
Great Plains biome, past and potential
and the northern long-term climate
latitude wood outcomes for the
MAP: COURTESY OF WES OLSON
bison (Bison bison Plains Bison Range planet.
athabascae), adapted to Chemical,
Wood Bison Range
the boreal forests and geological, and
meadow complexes Overlap paleontological
of western Canada evidence show that
and into Alaska the four previous
(see historic range map). The bison skull other species in the story that gives us a planet-wide ice ages weren’t brief. They
exposed by the 2000 fire was most likely a lesson about the evolutionary process and ranged in duration from 20 to 300 million
plains bison. However, a few thousand years the importance of biological diversity. years. Yet within each of these long ice
ago, it might have been a plains bison or a A Utah Department of Natural ages there were multiple warming breaks
wood bison or a hybrid of the two. Resources geological survey report (Major called interglacial periods (lasting many tens
The story of how bison arrived at their Ice Ages, 2010) reminds us that, believe it of millions of years) when ice sheets and
current subspecies genetic configuration or not, we are actually still in the fifth major glaciers retreated and the earth got much
coincides with the story of the advance and ice age of the planet’s history. You would hotter than it is now. Inevitably, cooling
retreat of the ice sheets and glaciers of the have to time travel back over two billion periods returned and glaciers and ice sheets
Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs, starting years (yes, that’s “billion”) to witness the surged back over lost ground. In North
two and a half million years ago and lasting beginning of the first major ice age. America, we are only about 10,000 years
right up to the present. And bison serve as Our planet hosts an inherent into one of the shorter warming interglacial
just one featured character among countless dynamism on the grandest of scales that periods, the Holocene Interglacial.
4 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020
The current climate change
Wood vs Plains Bison: Unique Adaptations trend gripping the earth is a
wild card that humans have
Hump structure: The sharper angled hump of the wood bison added to the deck. Even the
supports a more massive musculature that enables it to best computer modeling can’t
WOOD BISON sweep aside the deeper snows of the northern
accurately predict how this
boreal forest/meadow grassland
ecosystems to reach hand is going to play out. But
the grasses
and sedges the probability is high that it
beneath. will have a lasting effect on
the evolutionary process and
biological diversity consequences
on a global scale. Looking at
WOOD BISON: RUFUS46/COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
the trend of the previous four
planet-wide ice ages and the
Wool: long-term warming periods
No thermal between them, things were
Leg placement: window present.
Back of hump.
destined to get a lot hotter over
Heat dispersal is
not as important the next many thousands of
Size: Larger—mature bulls up to as heat retention.
2,600 pounds. Larger mass in colder years anyway, but the human-
northern latitudes reduces heat loss caused climate change effects
(Bergmann’s Rule). will accelerate that process
significantly.
The geologic record shows
Hump structure: Massive musculature but that this fifth ice age in which
PLAINS BISON adapted to varying snow conditions.
we live was most likely triggered
by the tectonic collision of the
North and South American
continents over two and a
half million years ago. The
Wool: Thermal window allows formation of the Isthmus of
PLAINS BISON: KATSRCOOL/COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
more efficient heat dispersal in
the hotter summer temperatures Panama sealed off the flow of
of the Great Plains and further water between the Pacific and
south.
Atlantic oceans, disrupting the
ocean currents that controlled
long-term climate patterns.
P
Leg placement:
Size: Smaller than wood bison. Directly below hump. aleontology studies
show that the first bison
species (Bison sivalensis)
started grazing on
the European continent about
Other comparisons between the two subspecies include: the same time that the two
• Plains bison in much of the Great Plains drier steppe • Research shows that wood bison display a higher American continents linked up.
But to simplify the evolutionary
grassland will seek out windswept areas where the level of alertness and skittishness in their boreal
snowpack is lighter and the forage more accessible. forest and meadow habitats than plains bison in story behind the bison we know
Plains bison are often observed on ridgetops and their open grassland habitats. today, we’ll leapfrog through
exposed south-facing slopes in the wintertime, • Despite these differences, the subspecies share time to about 130,000 years
apparently unfazed by windchill temperatures many similar features. For example, there is an before present (YBP) when
dropping to -84°F. interesting and critical physiological similarity the earliest North American
• While both bison subspecies qualify as the largest bubbling around in the digestive tracts of both ancestral bison, Bison priscus,
terrestrial mammal in North America, the wood bison subspecies that allows them to thrive when forage pioneered its way across the
(bull = up to 2,600 pounds) is substantially larger quality is low. Both bison types host a unique species Beringian land bridge from
on average than the plains bison (bull = up to 2,000 of ciliate rumen bacteria that are highly efficient at Siberia to Alaska. Hominids
pounds). The difference in size is related to their breaking down and freeing the nutrients locked up in were still thousands of miles and
habitats. The wood bison is thought to display more low-quality dried grasses. This feature gives bison the continents away from North
ancient characteristics similar to the earlier colonizer, ability to process enough forage throughout the year
America when B. priscus made
Bison priscus. to survive.
its journey.
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 5
At this point, B. priscus began shape- stage for the next round of bison evolution and meadow-grassland complexes of Alaska,
shifting its form in synchrony with the ebb in North America. the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alberta,
and flow of the frozen glacial tides. The From that time to the present, bison and into northwestern Saskatchewan.
T
species started colonizing North America have evolved uninterrupted by glacial
shortly before the onset of another cooling cooling cycles. B. priscus morphed into B. he speciation journey of bison
period (the Wisconsin Glacial). During the latifrons and B. antiquus. About 10,000 years is a living example of how
retreat/advance cycles that occurred within ago, B. antiquus split into two subspecies organisms adapt to changing
this glacial period, a corridor between molded by two different habitats. B. bison conditions and add to the richness
the two major ice sheets (Laurentide and antiquus adapted itself to the grassland of biodiversity on the landscape. Make
Cordilleran) on the continent would regions from western Canada to Mexico the mistake of habitually sweeping
open, close, and change position multiple and Florida. B. bison occidentalis developed away the building blocks of that genetic
times. These cycles created pulses of a preference and biology better suited to diversity and evolutionary adaptiveness
movement of bison and other species up the northern meadows/grasslands from the by repeatedly eliminating species and
and down the eastern slopes of the Rocky upper Great Plains into British Columbia you eventually end up with a biologically
Mountains from northwestern Canada and and Alaska but some also ventured homogenized, impoverished landscape,
Alaska into central North America. When southward and overlapped with B. b. a land absent of the harmonically rich
the ice walls closed in and pinched off antiquus. These two subspecies began to multiplicity of interacting species.
movement along the corridor, the isolated converge and hybridize by about 5,500 years The conceptual biodiversity graph
populations of bison kept progressing ago into a single species, Bison bison. (below) shows, on the far right side, how
along their separate evolutionary pathways. Over the next few thousand years, Bison the adaptive and evolutionary process was
Biologist Wes Olson says that trying bison, through the mechanics of genetic derailed by the arrival of Europeans. Bison
to make sense of the speciation process variations, differing ecosystem opportunities, serve as one dramatic example of that
for bison is like trying to put together and environmental pressures, diverged in yet problem.
a “complex and confusing puzzle when another subspecies split. This time the split Although each advance of a glacial
you don’t know if pieces are missing… produced the two subspecies alive today: B. period smothered and obliterated most
or even how many pieces there are.” bison bison (our plains bison), preferring the life forms underneath their 5,000- to
About 12,000 years ago, the Wisconsin vast grassland biome of the Great Plains and 10,000-foot-deep frozen masses, those
Glacial Period started fading and the beyond, all the way south to Mexico and kinds of uncontrollable natural extinctions
Holocene Interglacial warming period (the east to the Appalachian Mountains; and B. are a normal part of life on the planet. Life
one we are in now) pushed the ice sheets bison athabascae (our wood bison) which is forms always find a way to come back in
back above the Arctic Circle, setting the better adapted to the northern boreal forest some fashion. Biodiversity conservation
Conceptual Biodiversity Index for Bison Habitats of Canada & Northern United States Affected by Glacial Period Ice Sheets—All Species
Higher level of Near extinction of bison
biodiversity — Bison bison bison Bison bison along with rapid loss
reduced glacial ice (Plains) athabascae (Wood) of numerous native
animal and plant spcies
First bison species and habitats
Bison European
(Bison priscus) bison colonization
travels into appears begins Theoretical level of
North America native biodiversity
Humans first remains higher
cross into without European
Alaska settlement impacts
Glacial Ic
Lost native species
biodiversity due
e Shrinks
ks
Sangamon to cumulative
Shrin
e Expand
Interglacial Warming human impacts
GRAPH AUTHOR: GIL GALE/GRAPHICS: CHONTOS DESIGN
Speciation of
Glacial Ic
al Ice
Period
B. latifrons to B. antiquus
?
s
Glaci
Illinoian to B. b. antiquus/ Holocene
B.b occidentalis occurs Current trend of
Glacial Interglacial Warming native species
Period Period biodiversity losses
Lower level of Wisconsin
biodiversity — Glacial Period
increased glacial ice
YBP = Years Before Present 250,000 130,000 100,000 12,000 4,000 500 YBP 0 YBP FUTURE
Note that year intervals are YBP YBP YBP YBP YBP (or 1500 AD) (or 2020 AD)
not to scale. Note: Biodiversity index indicates relative numbers of native plant and animal species (richness) not abundance of each or distribution over the Northern habitats.
6 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020
becomes an issue in our time when human wildlife, plants, and landscapes; 2) aesthetic conservation herds now number about 7,000.
actions are causing species reductions and reasons such as recognition that nature In other words, 99.999 percent of the native
extinctions and threatening to permanently possesses an inherent beauty; 3) ecosystem genome plains bison (that once numbered
eliminate potential evolutionary and services which provide natural support over 30 million) and 99.96 percent of
adaptive options. systems for all species including humans; the native genome wood bison (that once
Historically, bison were an enormous 4) material reasons which provide tangible numbered about 170,000) were mass
animal species in enormous numbers economic benefits and products to humans; slaughtered in the 30-year surge of European
occupying an enormous amount of North 5) continuance of the evolutionary process colonization west of the Mississippi River
American real estate while performing an on genetic (individual/population) and between 1860 and 1890.
enormous ecosystem-altering keystone role ecological (ecosystem/biome) scales; and The recovery picture is even more
for thousands of years. In North America, 6) insurance for the future by keeping all complicated because, in efforts to create the
no other species over the last 130,000 years biological-based options open to serve the ultimate rangeland animal, ranchers have
can make that claim on a similar scale of five previous purposes. introduced cattle DNA into their private
ecological significance. Before the collapse The destruction and alteration of the bison herds. Now many of the 450,000
of their historic range, the two subspecies vast prairie and northern forest/meadow bison outside the conservation herds carry
roamed habitats covering millions of square habitats by humans in so many ways a small percentage of cattle DNA. Yet had
miles (see historic range map). (agriculture, forest harvest, roads, general the bison rescue and preservation effort of
Bison were the dominant both subspecies never occurred, then
keystone herbivore throughout most of the hope of recovering even a fraction
North America for thousands of years.
“Bison wallowed, of the complex ecological functions
Keystone species perform a critical rubbed, pounded and and evolutionary pathways of these
role in sustaining the overall structure grazed the prairies original biomes would have been lost
and processes of an ecosystem and for all time.
influencing which other types of plants into heterogenous After years of work by a coalition
and animals make up that ecosystem. ecological habitats. of conservation groups, Congress
Only a select number of species Their role was essential unanimously passed and President
qualify as keystone, but all species fill Obama signed the bipartisan
a niche and a biodiversity function. to the ecology of the National Bison Legacy Act in April
Millions of elk and pronghorns shared grasslands.” —KEITH AUNE 2016, which established the bison as
a common habitat but did not play America’s national mammal.
the same significant keystone role as This iconic charismatic species
bison. The keystone role makes a powerful construction, urban-exurban expansion, in a world of shrinking biological diversity
example of the importance of maintaining mining, and the introduction of non- was pulled back from the brink of
biodiversity in general. native invasive species) has impacted overall extinction by the perception and action of
“Bison wallowed, rubbed, pounded biodiversity more than the near-extinction a few individuals and small groups. They
and grazed the prairies into heterogenous of the keystone North American bison understood Aldo Leopold’s caution, made
ecological habitats,” writes conservation alone. However, the fall from prominence of over 70 years ago, that the only common-
scientist Keith Aune. “Their role was this largest of all keystone species in North sense way to “tinker” with the natural world
essential to the ecology of the grasslands.” America intensifies the cumulative impacts. responsibly, ethically, and sustainably is to
We can see one specific example, among As Wes Olson points out, “the nearly make sure you save all the parts. As we try
many, of that keystone function in the complete extirpation of North American to manage this planet from which so many
hundreds of millions of wallows that bison bison did irreparable harm to the stability parts, from the tiny to the keystone, are
excavated to cool off, mudcake themselves and populations of a multitude of plants rapidly disappearing, this is an increasingly
against insects, and perform their rutting and animals.” challenging task—and an increasingly
rituals. These wallows captured and held The current bison conservation efforts essential one.
precious water, creating habitat for grassland involve preserving genetically pure subspecies —After a long career with the U.S. Forest
birds, amphibians, insects, and smaller through “conservation herds” and regaining Service as a rangeland manager and ecologist,
mammals over entire landscapes. at least a portion of the bison’s rightful role as Gil Gale continues an active role in the effort
T
the dominant keystone heir to the grassland to conserve biological diversity.
he American Phytopathological biome. The conservation herds of wood and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WEBSITES:
Society lists six good reasons to plains bison today carry only a tiny fraction American Bison Society: ambisonsociety.org
concern ourselves with promoting of the DNA bank and variations available Wildlife Conservation Society: wcs.org
and conserving a healthy level for the raw material that allows the evolution Ancestral Bison Conservation Society:
of biodiversity on our planet. In no of a species to progress. The combined ancestralbisonconservation.org
particular order: 1) ethical/spiritual/cultural number of plains bison in genetically pure COSEWIC Report 2013 (Committee on the
reasons such as showing respect for and conservation herds now number about Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada:
acknowledging a responsibility to steward 20,000 individuals. The remnant wood bison Wood and Plains Bison)
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 7
Heartbeats and
Hibernation in the Rockies BY HEATHER MCKEE
WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop.
It can sound like distant thunder, the ocean, metal flexing, or a bass
drum. It’s the first sound mammals hear—a mother’s heartbeat pushing
through the placenta. From there, the heartbeat becomes a metronome for
life. Allegro. Excitement. Adagio. Relaxation.
PRETTYVECTORS, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM
We are familiar with our own variations in heartbeat, normally 60 to
100 beats per minute (bpm). But for other species in Montana, that range
can be far wilder, particularly during the extremes of the seasons and the
animal behavior associated with them.
8 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020
I n the icy winters of Montana, when food and warmth are
hemolymph, that swirls nutrients around
inside their bodies, propelled by multiple
TINKI.V, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM
scarce, some animals descend into torpor, reducing their tiny, rudimentary hearts. So, behind a
energy use through slowed metabolism and decreased wedge of bark, adult butterflies like the
body temperatures. There are a wide variety of states of delicate Milbert’s tortoiseshell can survive
torpor—some animals can descend involuntarily into a through winter with their hemolymph
daily torpor, like bats and hummingbirds. On a cold night,
S
flooded with glucose.
a hummingbird’s heart rate may drop from more than 1,000bpm to
only 50bpm. o, do any animals actually fit our
Other animals descend into lengthier torpors in the coldest standard definition of a true hibernator?
months, reducing their body temperatures to nearly the ambient The ground squirrels and bats
temperature, and slowing their metabolisms to less than ten or of Montana do—experiencing
even five percent of normal. These are the animals we call true the reduced metabolism and drastically lowered body
hibernators. In general and worldwide, the larger the animal, the temperature of torpor for extended periods of time. A
more capability there often is for hibernation. ground squirrel’s heart rate may drop from 400bpm to just five or
You might think bears are examples of true hibernators, but six during its hibernation, and its body temperature can dwindle to
even they have some surprises. Although we don’t share their ability nearly freezing. Its waking process can take hours.
to deeply rest, the bear’s heart is uncannily similar to ours. With no fresh green grass and few of their predators
WHOOSH. Bisecting the heart, the atrioventricular valves hibernating, simply being mostly dormant and hidden under the
snap shut behind a blast of blood to the ventricles. oop. The smaller snow can increase an animal’s life expectancy by five times that of
semilunar valves perched at the boundaries to the lungs and body non-hibernators in winter. Many tiny rodents are not as lucky as the
swirl shut. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. ground squirrel, and must remain active under the snow through
If you were to rest your head on a bear’s chest and listen for a winter, leaping through snow-insulated tunnels to their larders.
heartbeat while it was in hibernation (I wouldn’t; read on to find Many animals migrate, transform, or eke out a hard living in
out why) you might wonder if it was still alive. Garrett Tovey, barren Montana winters, and many of them don’t survive—their
Citizen Science Specialist for Yellowstone Forever and former wildlife bodies and hearts freezing into the snow and becoming food for
biologist for state and federal agencies, says Yellowstone National the survivors.
Park bear heart rates decrease from about 80-90bpm during active Despite the paucity of winter, surprisingly few animals actually
seasons to 8-19bpm during hibernation. Breathing slows to only a hibernate in Montana. The truth is that significant anatomical
breath per minute. adaptations have to happen for an animal to opt out of winter. From
Scientists in Yellowstone are sugar-loading in butterflies to metabolic recycling
beginning to believe bears may actually in black bears, the ability to be active in only the
be “super hibernators”—named so for their productive months of the Rocky Mountains is
ability to hibernate while keeping a fairly complicated, specialized, and valuable.
high body temperature. This means they Children’s picture books show animals
HAPPYPICTURES, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM
can mobilize nearly instantaneously from tucking blankets around themselves, looking
lethargy—likely an adaptation to be able forward to a long winter’s nap, but in real,
to protect winter-born young. wild life, hibernation is a stark and essential
“A bear’s heart rate can increase from less survival technique with little padding or room
than 10bpm to over 100bpm within seconds of for error. A bat that is woken up only once
being disturbed,” Tovey says. A rapid tempo during its hibernation can lose precious fat
change. “I've seen griz wake up and take over
B
reserves and starve over the remaining months.
a wolf kill midwinter. It's not a comatose
state, more of a lethargic state.” ut it’s spring now. The winter is nearly behind all of
Of course, you can also just simply freeze us. Bears and their new cubs are blinking at the cracks
in winter. Boreal chorus frogs creep under logs and freeze solid—or of bright light seeping into their dens, rays of light are
nearly so. No heartbeat. No breathing. Dead? Alive? Dead? Alive? slipping behind bark where butterflies are hidden, and
Exploring heartbeats and hibernation expands our concept of those slow warmth is thawing the detritus where chorus frogs
two apparent poles. are sequestered. Ground squirrels are furiously shivering
Tovey explains that the chorus frogs increase the sugars in to kickstart their hearts.
their blood by 200 percent to enter hibernation. These frogs reduce It is time to be active again.
the water in their cells and organs to prevent bursting when the WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop.
temperatures drop below freezing, then mobilize glycogen from their
livers to flood their blood with simple sugars. This glucose reduces —Heather McKee is a science communicator and educator working
the freezing point of the fluids inside their cells and organs, and the as the Content Creator at Ecology Project International in Missoula,
water is directed to pockets under the skin to freeze. Montana. She has an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the
Butterflies, too, use the sugar trick. Insects do not have blood, University of Montana and is a Certified Interpretive Guide through
per se. But their bodies are filled with a nutritious slush, called the National Association of Interpreters.
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 9
Naturalist Notes from Western Montana and Beyond
Antlions: A Conversation of Observations | August 2019
WITH ELLEN KNIGHT, KRISTI DUBOIS, AND GLENN MARANGELO
From Ellen Knight, lifelong naturalist:
I have long wanted to see an antlion, so when
I found several of their little pits along the
Rattlesnake Trail, I explored further. I found three
pits, each with a small beetle in it, trying to climb
out. First the sand would fall out from under their
scrambling legs. Then the antlion, buried at the
bottom of the pit, would somehow rapid-fire sand
DRAWINGS BY ELLEN KNIGHT
up onto the insect, causing it to lose its footing and
fall back down. Finally, when the insect was at the
bottom of the pit again, the antlion (from below the
sand) would grab the insect with its very ferocious
pincers and hold on tight. Sometimes its head would
emerge just enough to that it could thrash the insect
back and forth vigorously. Absolutely amazing.
I decided to help one of the beetles by lifting
it out of the pit. It seemed to be attached to
something…which turned out to be the antlion
clasping it tightly. The antlion is now in the freezer
so I can observe it more closely. The beetle is
running free.
Antlion larva Antlion pits
ANTLION PHOTO BY GLENN MARANGELO; PIT PHOTO BY ELLEN KNIGHT
ALL ABOUT ANTLIONS:
• Antlions are in the order
Neuroptera. Only those in the genus
Myrmeleon dig pits (the rest simply
lie in wait just beneath the surface,
waiting for prey). • To dig the pit, they burrow • Antlion pits can be up to two inches
• Antlions are named for the big, backwards in a circle, using their wide and two inches deep.
piercing jaws that the larvae have. heads to toss up sand to one side • Look for groups of pits at the base
The larvae are also sometimes called until the pit reaches the angle of of trees, under bridges or rock
“sand dragons” or “doodlebugs.” repose—the steepest angle at ledges, or even in dirt floors in old
which the sides remain stable and barns.
• The larvae prefer dry, fine, sandy won’t come tumbling down.
soil, where they can dig their
conical pits for trapping insects.
10 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020PHOTO OF ADULT BY KRISTI DUBOIS
PUPAL BALL PHOTO BY GLENN MARANGELO
From Kristi DuBois, wildlife biologist From Glenn Marangelo,
for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: co-founder of the Missoula Insectarium:
Antlions are so cool! We had a lot of them in eastern They are so incredible to watch in action. I raised about a
Montana at the base of sandstone cliffs. It is harder to find dozen of them one summer and they were fun to feed each
good sandy spots for them around Missoula. day. They are pretty amazing in every stage of life—here’s
The adults are every bit as cool as the larvae. They what’s left after they emerge from their “pupal ball.”
fly at night, so it is also hard to see them. Here is one we For more information, check out the Missoula Insectarium’s
found while mist-netting for bats at the Beartooth Wildlife Bug Bytes podcast episode on antlions: mtpr.org/post/
Management Area years ago. bug-bytes-antlions
ANTLION JAWS PHOTO BY CYNDY SIMS PARR, FLICKR.COM
•••
What have you observed outside lately? What wild creatures, flora, and
weather exist near your home? What makes your place unique?
Tell us about the natural history of your place—and it
could get published! Send your Naturalist Notes
Antlion larva waiting for prey (up to 350 words) and a photo or drawing,
if you wish, to Allison De Jong, Editor, at
adejong@MontanaNaturalist.org.
Antlion Life Cycle
• In the spring or summer, the larvae
pupate in a spherical cocoon made
LIFECYCLE IMAGE BY NICHOLAS CAFFARILLA
of sand and silk, sometimes buried
a couple of inches in the sand.
• The adults emerge from their pupal
case after about four weeks as
• Antlions lie in wait at the bottom • The antlion sucks its prey dry, delicate, beautiful, damselfly-like
of their pit, buried in the sand with then throws out the carcass and creatures with clear or spotted lacy
only their jaws peeking out. reconstructs the pit. wings.
• When small insects (often ants) • The larval stage, during which the • Adult antlions live for about a
begin tumbling down the slope into larvae will molt three times, lasts month, during which they feed on
the pit, the antlion will shower them for two to three years. As the larvae nectar and pollen, mate, and the
with sand—it looks like fireworks!— grow, they will dig larger pits and females lay eggs in dirt or sand,
to hasten the prey’s descent. capture larger prey. just beneath the surface.
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 11get outside guide
Nature Writing Activity
Writing about nature is one way to ensure that it—and the
words that describe it—remains rich and real in our lives.
Try timed (nature) writing! Anyone can do this—it’s a great
activity for kids as well as adults. If it’s a nice day, go
outdoors with your notebook for a little extra inspiration.
Set a timer for 10 minutes. (Or five. Or two. Or twenty.)
Here are some writing prompts to get you started:
• Visualize a place in nature that you love. Be there. See
the details. Now write about it. What colors are there,
sounds, smells?
• What is your earliest memory of nature?
• Write about an experience in nature that changed your
life (in big or small ways).
• If you were an element
of nature, what would you be?
• Take an element of the
natural world that you feel
strongly about and write
about it as though you
love it. Then write about
the same thing as though
you hate it. Then write
about it perfectly neutrally.
• Find or think of a natural
object (leaf, insect, rock,
bird), and write: “This reminds
Book Review: me of myself because….”
Then do it again with another object.
The Lost Words: A Spell Book And another.
by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
• Make a list of your nature obsessions.
Words describing natural phenomena are
• Make a list of questions you have
starting to slip from our collective vocabulary.
about the natural world.
Acorn, otter, kingfisher are sinking out of sight,
• Make a list of your favorite wild/
replaced by meme, vlog, cryptocurrency. In
natural places.
2015 around 50 natural history words were
removed from the Oxford children’s dictionary • Make a list of your favorite individual
to make room for words describing technology. trees.
What happens when we forget—or, worse, • Mud. Stars. Flesh.
when we never learn—what an adder is, or a • Wind. Mountain. Light.
bramble, or a dandelion? • Taste. Moonlight. Summer.
Nature writer Robert Macfarlane and
• Start with “I remember” and keep
children’s author and illustrator Jackie Morris
writing memories that take place
crafted this beautiful book to honor twenty of
in nature. You can dive into one
these “lost words”—to honor them, but also
memory or make a list. Or both.
to bring them back through lovely, evocative
If you write something
illustrations and lyrical acrostic poems. Robert
you’re interested in sharing,
and Jackie call this a spell book, its poetry and
please send it to adejong@
images summoning the lost words back into our
MontanaNaturalist.org, and
language, our landscape, our hearts. Reading
we may publish it in a
this book is a magical experience for children
future issue!
aged 3 to 103.
12 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020Phenology is the study of timing: when Mountain Bluebirds return in
the spring, or the first buttercup blooms, when larches put out their
Kids’ Corner
bright green needles, when ground squirrels wake from hibernation, Linda Manchester, Master Naturalist, and
when Osprey chicks hatch. This spring and summer, challenge yourself her granddaughter, Lila Farrell, love to
to a phenology scavenger hunt. Document your observations with a journal and paint on their camping trips.
journal or camera (or both!). Go a step further and submit your data to Last summer they found an interesting
iNaturalist or eBird! old-growth Douglas-fir while hiking in
the Pioneer Mountains east of Wisdom,
Here are a few ideas to get you started, but feel free to add more! Montana, and five-year-old Lila decided
• First blooming flower that you see (what is it?) to paint it. Enjoy!
First time you see blooming:
Buttercups
Yellowbells
Bitterroots
Lupine
Douglasia
Shooting stars
Serviceberry
Note when you saw your first:
Western Meadowlark
Mountain and Western Bluebirds
Western Tanager
Yellow Warbler
Osprey
Sandhill Crane
Northern Pintail
Mourning cloak butterfly
Spring azure butterfly
Bumblebee
Calling All Kids!
More firsts: Do you have any nature art, photography,
• When did the snow disappear from Lolo Peak? poetry, or stories you’d like to share? We
Mount Sentinel? showcase kids’ work in every issue in our
“Kids’ Corner”—and here’s your chance for
Your backyard? that work to be yours!
• When was the last snowfall of the season? Send submissions to Allison De Jong, Editor,
• When did the western larches leaf out? at 120 Hickory Street, Missoula, MT 59801 or
The alpine larches?
by email to adejong@MontanaNaturalist.org.
• When did you see your first baby bird this spring?
What was it?
DRAWINGS BY JENAH MEAD
• When did the Osprey hatch?
Canada geese? Happy observing!
Mallards? Submit your observations to
Chickadees? adejong@MontanaNaturalist.org
for a chance to win a one-year
Come up with your own! family membership to MNHC!
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 13get outside calendar
Programs for Kids Programs free with admission and/or membership.
MARCH MAY
23 Adult/Child Naturalist
5, 12, 19, 26 7, 14, 21, 28 Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
miniNaturalist Pre-K Program, miniNaturalist Pre-K Program, Fun with Flora. $85; $75
0:00-11:00 a.m. Wild
1 10:00-11:00 a.m. MNHC members per adult/
River Animals. Spring Surprises. child pair. Registration
required.
28 Saturday Kids’ Activity, 9 Saturday Kids’ Activity, Join Us for Our 2020 Lecture Series!
drop in between 2:00 and drop in between 2:00
4:00 p.m. Rockhounding. and 4:00 p.m. Insect Treading Lightly: Learning from Nature as
Investigations.
APRIL
Observers and Scientists
23 Saturday Kids’ Activity, From time immemorial, humans have found ways to explore,
ROBIN: JULIE FALK, FLICKR.COM; FATHER & SON: ALLISON DEJONG
d rop in between 2:00 learn from, and connect with the natural world. We do this
and 4:00 p.m. Insect AUGUST in a variety of ways, some of which leave more footprints
Investigations. than others. Our 2020 lecture series explores how we can
6 Adult/Child Naturalist study and observe the natural world while doing our best
Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. to minimize our impact. Join us as biologists, philosophers,
JUNE Hooray for Habitat! $85; conservationists, and more share their work and their views
$75 MNHC members per on how to learn from nature while treading lightly.
13 Adult/Child Naturalist adult/child pair. Registration Upcoming Speakers:
Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. required. April 22nd: Karen Sippy & Ken Stolz
Rollicking Rivers. $85; Living Museums: Learning in Missoula’s Urban Forests
$75 MNHC members per
2, 9, 16, 23, 30 adult/child pair. Registration SEPTEMBER September 23rd: Cedar Mathers-Winn
miniNaturalist Pre-K required. The Language of the Wild: Studies in Animal Communication
Program, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 3, 10, 17, 24 October 14th: Christopher Preston
Welcome, Birds! miniNaturalist Pre-K Program,
JULY 0:00-11:00 a.m.
1
Treading Lightly in the Anthropocene
Forest Friends. November 11th: Hosted by Marc Moss
11 Saturday Kids’ Activity, Live Community Storytelling: Notes from the Field
drop in between 2:00 and 11 Adult/Child Naturalist
4:00 p.m. Explore the Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. 12 Saturday Kids’ Activity, $5 members; $10 non-members;
Watershed. Birding Bonanza. $85; drop in between 2:00 and students FREE. Tickets for fall lectures available August 1st.
$75 MNHC members per 4:00 p.m. Slithery Snakes. Thank you to The Dram Shop for providing
adult/child pair. Registration
25 Saturday Kids’ Activity, beer and wine for these events!
required.
drop in between 2:00 and 26 Saturday Kids’ Activity, For more information and to purchase tickets,
4:00 p.m. Explore the drop in between 2:00 and visit: MontanaNaturalist.org/treading-lightly
Watershed. 4:00 p.m. Slithery Snakes.
Volunteer Opportunities SEPTEMBER 2
MNHC’s BEETLES (Better Environmental Education, Teaching, Volunteer Naturalist
Learning, & Expertise Sharing) professional learning sessions Orientation, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
are continuing through the spring! Introduction to volunteering
FREE. For anyone interested in environmental education – with the Visiting Naturalist
please join us for any or all. For more information or to RSVP, in the Schools Program. No
contact Stephanie Potts at spotts@MontanaNaturalist.org. prior experience necessary.
SEPTEMBER 16
MARCH 23 APRIL 15
Volunteer Naturalist
Nature and Practices Volunteer Naturalist Training, The Montana Natural History Center
Training, 4
:00-5:30 p.m.
of Science, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Learn how
to teach kids about the
Learn how to teach kids thanks the
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. about the flora and fauna
flora and fauna of western GOOD FOOD STORE
of western Montana during
APRIL 20 Montana during the May
the May VNS school field
for sponsoring our 2020 lecture series -
Questioning Strategies, VNS school field trips for 4th Treading Lightly: Learning from
trips for 4th and 5th
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 5th graders. No prior
experience necessary.
graders. No prior experience Nature as Observers and Scientists
necessary.
14 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020PHENOLOGY FOR APRIL-SEPTEMBER
APR IL:
Adult Programs
MISSOULA PHLOX: FOREST SERVICE NORTHERN REGION; LARCH: GLACIER NPS; CHORUS FROG: ANDREW HOFFMAN, FLICKR.COM; WILD STRAWBERRY: GLACIER NPS; PIKA: NPS CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE; WAXWING: EUGENE BECKES, FLICKR.COM; MONARCH: STEVEN KATOVICH, BUGWOOD.ORG
Ospreys return
APRIL JUNE
Look for 22 Drop in with a Naturalist:
shooting stars, Drawing Signs of Spring with
2, 9, 16, 23 6 Naturalist Field Day,
yellowbells, Jenah Mead, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Nature Photography
spring beauty, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Plants in the Park with
Four-Part Course,
Missoula phlox 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. $205; Free with admission/ Peter Lesica. $80;
$195 MNHC members. membership. $70 MNHC members.
MAY: Registration required. Registration required.
22 Treading Lightly Lecture
Western larches Series: Living Museums: 8-12 Summer Montana
7, 14, 21, 28
are growing bright Learning in Missoula’s Master Naturalist Course.
Stories in Stones:
green spring Urban Forests with Karen FULL. Visit MontanaNaturalist.
Rock ID and Geology Primer
needles Sippy & Ken Stolz, 7
:00 p.m. org for information on our
Four-Part Class, $10; $5 MNHC members;
12:00-1:30 p.m. $45; spring 2021 course.
Listen for Western students FREE.
$40 MNHC members.
Meadowlarks Registration required. AUGUST
24-26 Master Astronomer
Train-the-Trainer Workshop,
6:00 p.m. Friday-5:00 p.m.
JUN E : Sunday. $70. Registration
required.
Cutthroat trout
begin to spawn
29 Sip & Sketch: LIVE Hawk
Pronghorn fawns Gesture Drawing, 7:00 p.m. 8 Discovery Day,
are born $35; $30 MNHC members. 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Registration required. Monarchs in Montana:
Listen for Citizen Science! at the
chorus frogs 8 Drop in with a Naturalist:
Drawing Signs of Spring with
MAY Fort Missoula Native Plant
Garden. $10; $5 MNHC
Jenah Mead, members. Registration
J U LY: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 9 Discovery Day: Glacial
required.
Free with admission/ Lake Missoula Field Trip,
Wild berries membership. :00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. $20;
9
begin to ripen $15 MNHC and GLM 12 Paddlehead Baseball
members. Registration Community Night,
Look for the 9 Evening Lecture, required. 7:00 p.m. Come enjoy the
summer triangle in 7:00 p.m. Wildflower Art game and support MNHC!
the night sky: Vega, with the Native Plant MNHC receives 100% of
28 Summer Camp
Deneb, and Altair Society. $5 suggested
Scholarship Luncheon, ticket proceeds purchased
donation; free for CFNPS through a special link on
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
and MNHC members. our website. $12.
$100. For more info and
AUGUS T: to purchase tickets, visit
16 KettleHouse Community MontanaNaturalist.org. SEPTEMBER
Bull elk may begin UNite Fundraiser at the
to spar Bonner Taproom, 5:00- 29-31 First Annual Nature 23 Treading Lightly Lecture
8:00 p.m. Come drink a Journaling Conference Series: The Language of
Pikas are beer (or three) and support at the Montana Natural the Wild: Studies in Animal
cutting and drying MNHC! MNHC receives $1 History Center. F ULL. Visit Communication with Cedar
grasses to store from every pint purchased. MontanaNaturalist.org Mathers-Winn, 7:00 p.m.
for winter use for information on other $10; $5 MNHC members;
upcoming programs. students FREE.
S E P T E MB ER: MNHC Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Saturday, noon - 4 p.m.
Last Cedar Programs and events held at MNHC,
Admission Fees:
Waxwings fledge 120 Hickory Street, unless otherwise noted.
$4/adults (18+), $1/children (4-18),
and shift diet $8/family rate, Free/children under 4, Visit MontanaNaturalist.org to register for
from insects $3/seniors and veterans programs and become a member. For more
to berries FREE admission for MNHC members, information, call MNHC at 327.0405.
Milkweed goes ASTC Travel Passport Members, and
EBT card holders! Programs subject to change. Please check our website
to seed calendar for the most up-to-date information.
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 15get outside guide
Courtney Fisher’s 4th-grade class
at Pablo Elementary School has
been creating some lovely projects
in their science lessons. We love
working with Courtney and her
students for our Visiting Naturalist
in the Schools program. Enjoy this
sampling of student work!
rnivore
e r b iv ore/Ca
Omnivo
re/ H Draper
t b y M iranda
gh a
Above ri en Bac
w le ft by Jayle
Belo
on
f the Mo
Phases o er
Luke Horn
Above by ra per
iranda D
Left by M
CALLING ALL
TEACHERS:
interesting
Are your students creating fun and
to share
science/nature projects? We’d love
Con tact
their work in Montana Naturalist!
tura list. org for
Allison at adejong@MontanaNa
it stud ent work.
more information or to subm
16 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020NEWS FROM THE MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER
imprints
Farewell to Lisa Bickell
In December we said goodbye to Lisa Bickell, Education Director and
longest-serving MNHC staff (Lisa interned at MNHC during college in
1999 and came on full time in 2004—when MNHC was still located
out at Fort Missoula). We are deeply grateful for all that she has done
for MNHC in the past 15+ years! Lisa was
instrumental in growing the Visiting Naturalist
in the Schools Program; she shepherded
dozens of teachers through our Forest For
Every Classroom place-based educator
workshops; she brainstormed, crafted, and
supported new programs, exhibits, ideas, and
partnerships; and throughout her decade and
a half at MNHC was its most steady, shining
light. We miss her, and are grateful that her
new adventure—running her own business,
Field to Frame Interpretive Design—means
that she’s still involved at MNHC, as we
continue to upgrade our natural history exhibits as well as create new
ones. (Look for our Montana Fossils exhibit coming this summer!)
MNHC PHOTOS
Thank you, Lisa, for lending MNHC your considerable talents,
creativity, kindness, and enthusiasm for so many years.
We wish you the best!
Coming Soon:
New Exhibits!
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSOULA INSECTARIUM
Come visit MNHC soon: we’re adding three new
exhibits in the spring and summer!
Have you ever come across tracks and signs left
by other animals, like a deer? What about small
animals like insects? The Missoula Insectarium’s
upcoming exhibit will be tracking the “little things.”
You’ll discover clues left behind by a local insect
and explore other examples using your different
senses. Around a half dozen live exotic and native
arthropods will be on display to further spark your
curiosity and wonder. We can’t wait to share this Our biggest new exhibit focuses on Montana Fossils. Montana
exhibit with you later this spring. Until then, pause to has a rich fossil record, representing nearly every major
examine the miniature worlds that are all around you! time period in Earth’s history. Come learn how the
We’ll also be switching out our current Naturalist Field diversity of life has adapted to Earth’s changing
Station exhibit for Naturalist as Photographer, featuring geology and climate, leading to the forms we
historic nature photography from the Wedemeyer see today, and how studying the past may
FOSSIL: DEPOSITPHOTO.COM
Collection as well as modern nature photography from provide insight into the evolutionary future. This
local artists. Like our previous installments in the Naturalist exhibit is the result of a collaboration with the
Field Station, this exhibit will be hands-on, experiential, and University of Montana Paleontology Department, who is
appealing to people of all ages. Come check it out! loaning us many specimens to complement our own collection.
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 17NEWS FROM THE MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER
New Summer Camp Offerings!
Every summer, MNHC connects hundreds of kids to nature through our Outdoor
Discovery Day Camp programs. Our camps feature daily field trips, skilled
instructors, unique opportunities to connect with scientists and naturalists, and
lots of time for exploration and play in the outdoors.
This year, we’re proud to respond to community demand by offering even more
summer options for younger and older campers alike—from new half-day programs
for elementary-aged campers to special in-depth experiences for middle schoolers.
We’re also offering new adult-child guided Naturalist Camp Days to help kids and
their parents, grandparents, or other caregivers explore Montana’s nature together.
You can learn more and register for camps on our website:
MNHC PHOTOS
MontanaNaturalist.org/summer-camps/.
We hope to see you this summer!
SPOTLIGHT: We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer Robinson as our new Program Director!
Jennifer grew up in the Sacramento Valley of California and spent her
summers hiking, camping, and exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her love
for the outdoors led her to work with youth in outdoor settings, and Jennifer
spent many years volunteering and working as a naturalist at outdoor science
schools, summer camps, and as an Interpretive Ranger at national parks in
Alaska and California. She earned a B.S. in Environmental Education and
Interpretation from Humboldt State University and continued on to earn multiple
teaching licenses to blend her passion for education in and out of classroom.
After college Jennifer spent six years working as an educator and Program
COURTESY OF JENNIFER ROBINSON
Director for Sierra Nevada Journeys in Reno. Jennifer is now taking her passion
of blending formal and informal education into nonprofit leadership and is
obtaining her Masters of Educational Leadership at the University of Montana in
Missoula. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys cooking meals with friends, going on
hikes or walks with her dog Indy, and getting to know the community.
Welcome, Jennifer!
Drop in with a Naturalist
Join us for our exciting new program! From November-
April, on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month,
community members of all ages can stop by MNHC and
spend a couple of hours drawing, sketching, and painting
specimens from our collection, with techniques and
guidance from MNHC naturalist and artist Jenah Mead.
The program is free with admission or membership, and
we provide drawing materials (though we do encourage
participants to bring their own inking and painting
supplies). This popular program is a wonderful way to
develop and hone your artistic skills with the guidance of
a talented artist, and a great opportunity to study natural
history specimens as well. Come draw with us!
We may offer a slightly different version of this program
outdoors this summer as well—stay tuned!
18 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020volunteer spotlight
The Joy in Environmental Education
At the Montana Natural History Center, we get people excited.
Specifically, we get them excited about nature and how amazing
our environment is. (I mean, it sounds pretty nerdy, but learning is
actually really fun.)
I think back to late last year when Ben Goldfarb, author of
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter,
gave a lecture at the Center. My wife, who I can say went into the
evening skeptical about such a topic, ended up having a wonderful
time learning about how amazing beavers are and why they are so Alyssa Giffin BY ALLISON DE JONG
A
great at riparian restoration and reclamation. (Not to mention the lyssa Giffin grew up in Stevensville, Montana,
incredible true story of beavers literally parachuting into the wilds of and, as a native Montanan, has always loved
northern Canada.) spending time outdoors, exploring this
With more than twenty regular educational programs for people beautiful place. When she came to the University of
of all ages, we have developed a lot of different approaches to guide Montana for college, that translated into majoring
people to meaningful discoveries about the world around them. in Environmental Studies, and, last summer, led to
Sometimes, we do this by piquing people’s curiosity about a topic. her working with MNHC’s summer camps as an
Like beavers. Or like Glacial Lake Missoula, and why it is a fascinating AmeriCorps VISTA. She spent the summer with our
example of the effects of climate change on the environment. preschool camps, developing an evaluation program
There are so many ways to discover and connect with nature, and, of course, having a great time getting the kids
and have fun doing so. You don’t have to be a hard-core birder to outside and having fun in nature.
enjoy the sight of a Northern Harrier cruising low across a newly-cut “Young kids are great,” she says. “They’re excited
field, hunting voles. And you don’t have to be a total rockhound to be about a lot of things, really curious. They’d, say, watch
taken by the beauty of an opal that fluoresces purple and pink under a bug, then walk around like a bug for a little while. It’s
ultraviolet light. fascinating.”
Fun is built into learning about and connecting to nature. So, Last October, Alyssa led field trips for fourth-
I invite you to have some fun. Join us for Naturalist Trivia, Sip & grade students in our Visiting Naturalist in the Schools
Sketch classes, our Brown Bag Lunch series, and a whole lot of other program, and throughout the past school year she
amazing programs for adults. And you can also bring the kids to has been volunteering with our growing homeschool
Saturday Family Activities and miniNaturalists (for the Pre-K set) or program, where she loves getting to hang out with the
enroll them in School’s Out and Summer Day camps. kids. “Alyssa builds quick and meaningful relationships
We hope to see you at an MNHC program soon. Here’s to us all with students and adults alike,” says Bailey Zook,
exploring and connecting with the natural world this spring and summer, MNHC’s homeschool program coordinator. “She is
one of those rare and lovely individuals who can bring
comfort and a sense of belonging to a whole room of
people at once.”
Thurston Elfstrom, Participants get in touch with their
This summer, we’re excited to have Alyssa working
Executive Director artistic side during one of MNHC’s
popular Sip & Sketch programs. with our camps again, this time as our Summer Camp
Coordinator. She’ll be focusing some of her attention
on evaluations for all the camps, as well using her
enthusiasm and experience toward helping all our
camps—both regular and new offerings—run smoothly.
We so appreciate Alyssa lending her time and talents
to our programs. And Alyssa appreciates helping out at
MNHC, from testing out her naturalist teaching skills to
modeling curiosity and the delight of learning something
new. “Since getting involved with MNHC, I’ve started
noticing little things a lot more,” she says. “I love seeing
how the kids stop and appreciate the natural world. I’ve
gone home and looked up something I don’t know after
MNHC PHOTO
a field trip—the kids inspire me.”
And she inspires us.
Thank you, Alyssa!
SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 19You can also read
