Strengths at the University of Montana

UM is a mid-size institution. As a result, students will find faculty to be accessible and communication open among students and principal investigators. The microbial ecology faculty and their students bring a wide range of expertise to bear on a variety of fundamental problems in microbial ecology. These problems range from global change and elemantal cycling to the analysis of community structure and genetic constraints on adaptation. As a whole the group is well-funded and there are multiple projects which involve formal collaboration among group members. We are a friendly and productive group.

The microbial ecology curriculum comes with the option to customize courses for cross-training students in a variety of disciplines and topics.

The University of Montana specifically manages for research, training and demonstration the 28,000 acre Lubrecht Experimental Forest, the 3,400 acre Bandy Experimental Ranch, the Flathead Lake Biological Station, and the Fort Missoula Field Research Center (under construction). In addition there are numerous other local field sites.

On-campus are the Murdock Environmental Biogeochemistry Laboratory and laboratories for molecular biology, electron microscopy, soils, insects and disease, spatial analysis and remote sensing, and forest ecology.

Montana - the location

Montana and the surrounding northern Rocky Mountain region offer a tremendous outdoor laboratory. This area contains both some of the most stunningly beautiful and pristine - and heavily-impacted environments in the continental U.S.; all within easy reach for experimentation and observation.

Missoula is an attractive community in which to live and work:

" Missoula was selected as best community in the West by Sunset Magazine (1999)
" UM rated among the top 10 nationally for combining academic quality and outdoor recreation by Outside Magazine