WTI Road Ecologists Engage with MSU Students
Last month, WTI road ecologists Marcel Huijser and Mat Bell participated in Montana State University’s (MSU) inaugural Undergraduate Research Fair, where they introduced students to WTI and research opportunities within the road ecology group. They hope that it will inspire students to bring their energy and creativity to collaborative WTI projects. “At WTI, undergraduate researchers […]
Rob Ament Retires After 18 Years with WTI
We are both sad and honored to announce that Rob Ament has retired after 18 years with WTI. Rob is one of the early pioneers of our Road Ecology program and, as Program Manager, has grown it into the world-renowned focus area it is today. Having spent his childhood exploring the Mississippi River, Rob developed his love of ecology […]
New Study Identifies Potential Animal Highway Crossing Locations Across Western U.S.
Increasingly busy highways and fragmented habitats have boosted the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) in the U.S. each year. Dangerous to both animals and humans, these collisions kill more than one million large mammals and hundreds of humans per year and cause tens of thousands of injuries. To begin addressing these collisions, the nonprofit Center […]
MSU Graduate Investigates Presence of Monarch Butterflies and Other Pollinators in Roadside Habitats
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), the striking and iconic orange and black insects of postcards and motivational posters, have been in population decline since the 1980s and Thomas Meinzen, a master’s student in Montana State University’s Ecology Department, turned to a largely overlooked environment to save them. His thesis, Bees and Butterflies in Roadside Habitats: Identifying […]
New IUNC Report from Rob Ament and Tony Clevenger
Rob Ament, the Road Ecology Program Manager at WTI, Dr. Tony Clevenger, a WTI Senior Research Scientist, and their colleague Dr. Rodney van der Ree of Australia, are the lead editors of a new technical report published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission of Protected Areas. Titled “Addressing […]
Exploration of Opportunities to Address the Impacts of Roads
Y2Y CONTRIBUTES TO GRIZZLY BEAR RESEARCH ALONG US HWY 93, FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION, MONTANA
Y2Y recently contributed funds to continue the monitoring of wildlife underpasses along US Hwy 93 on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. The monitoring is especially focused on grizzly bears, and it is conducted by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University (WTI-MSU). It is important […]
US-89 Wildlife and Transportation Conflict Assessment
International Transportation Pooled Fund Study Published: Findings Will Help Reduce Wildlife Collisions, Increase Habitat Connectivity, and Implement Cost Effective Solutions
Resources from a first-of-its-kind road ecology study are now available on the web through the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University (MSU). The Wildlife Vehicle Collision (WVC) Reduction and Habitat Connectivity project, a Transportation Pooled Fund Study, was developed through an international partnership of fourteen state departments of transportation (DOTs), Canadian transportation agencies, and […]