Quick Looks

Heavy Precipitation Speeds Carbon Exchange in Tropics

New research by UM and its partner institutions gives insight into how forests globally will respond to climate change.

Cory Cleveland, a UM professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology, says that previous research in the wet tropics — where much of global forest productivity occurs — indicates that the increased rainfall that may occur with climate change would cause declines in plant growth.

However, their new work suggests climate-change-driven increases in rainfall in warm, wet forests are likely to cause increased plant growth. Plant-growth declines are still expected in cooler forests with increased precipitation.

The research was published April 17 in Ecology Letters as an article titled “Temperature and rainfall interact to control carbon cycling in tropical forests.”

“Our work is based on real measurements of trees, not from computer models, and therefore may offer the most realistic picture of how much forests grow now, and how they may respond to changing temperature and climate,” Cleveland says. “The biggest takeaway is that understanding variations in both rainfall and temperature is important for predicting how climate, as well as climate change, affect tree growth.”

He says the research has important implications for climate change. It shows changes in rainfall and temperature in the future likely will affect both plant growth, which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and organic matter decomposition, which pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

He says the research reinforces the importance of conserving tropical rainforests, where more than one-third of global plant production occurs.

Indigenous Lifestyles Explored in New Book

A UM anthropology professor’s research is helping to fill holes in the history of indigenous peoples living in the Pacific Northwest during the Fur Trade period. Through excavations of a semi-subterranean dwelling in southern interior British Columbia, Anna Prentiss reveals ancestors of today’s St’át’imc people actively were engaged in maintaining traditional lifestyles while making the best of new opportunities for trade and intergroup interaction. Her research is outlined in the newly released book “The Last House at Bridge River.”

“This is the first complete excavation and study of an aboriginal household from the early- to mid-19th century in the interior Plateau region,” Prentiss says. “The deeper floors span circa 1,000 to 1,500 years ago and are providing unprecedented insight into the unfolding of household and village history.”

The single home, known as Housepit 54, includes the longest fully documented occupation sequence in the Pacific Northwest region — one of the longest single house sequences found anywhere — 17 superimposed floors. Prentiss’ book details the home’s final occupation during the late Canadian Fur Trade period.

The Bridge River archaeological site is an ancient village containing remains of 80 housepits. By partnering with the Xwísten, the Bridge River Indian Band, and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Prentiss initiated the Housepit 54 project’s first excavation in 2012, with additional digs in 2013, 2014 and 2016. The work revealed 8,000 animal bones — dominated by salmon and deer remains — and 12,000 stone artifacts from the Fur Trade period deposits alone, including more than 230 hide scrapers and over 130 arrow points.

UM Researcher Earns Prestigious CAREER Grant

UM Assistant Professor Andrew Whiteley recently received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty.

The Faculty Early Career Development award, also known as a CAREER grant, is awarded annually to faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of both education and research.

Whiteley, an assistant professor of fisheries and conservation genomics, will receive more than $800,000 over five years to work on a project titled “The Influence of Gene Flow on Inbreeding and Local Adaptation: Replicated Experiments in Isolated Wild Populations.” Whiteley and his graduate students will experimentally translocate small numbers of trout among isolated natural populations as a window into understanding the effects of this gene exchange.

Each year, between 350 and 400 assistant professors nationally earn CAREER grants.

UM Creates New Humanities Institute

With Montana Board of Regents approval, UM has launched a Humanities Institute to generate greater opportunities for humanities study. The new institute is led by faculty members and structured to benefit student and faculty research.

“The creation of the Humanities Institute signals (UM’s) historic commitment to scholarship in the humanities,” says Nathaniel Levtow, who serves as the institute’s first director. “The Humanities Institute will be an important site and source of support for individual and collaborative research projects in the humanities at the University.”

Drawing on UM’s rich tradition of teaching and scholarship in the humanities, and funded primarily by grants, private donations and the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, the institute aims to foster provocative thinking, innovative research and sustained public discussion of the human experience in all its complexity.

This mission encompasses traditional liberal arts disciplines including history, languages, literature, philosophy and religious studies, as well as humanistic work that crosses disciplinary boundaries or develops new approaches to related fields.

“Until now, UM has lacked a common space and visible forum for the development and presentation of cross-disciplinary humanities research on campus,” Levtow says. “The Humanities Institute will promote faculty scholarship and offer the entire University community and the greater public a way to connect with ideas and initiatives generated every day in UM’s many humanities departments and related programs in the arts and sciences.”

Scientists Earn Grant to Investigate Heat Trapped in Greenland’s Snow Cover

A new $1.54 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund UM geoscientists as they study the deep layer of compacted snow covering most of Greenland’s ice sheet.

Lead investigator Joel Harper and co-investigator Toby Meierbachtol, both from UM’s Department of Geosciences, received $760,000 for the research at UM and $400,000 for chartering aircraft. A collaborator at the University of Wyoming also received $380,000 for the project.

The research will investigate the development of the snow layer covering Greenland as it melts during the summer months. Meltwater percolates into the underlying snow and refreezes to form deep layers of ice. The melting absorbs heat from the atmosphere, and the refreezing releases the heat into the ice sheet.

The icy snow builds up over years to form a layer of compacted dense snow called firn, which can reach up to 90 meters thick. The firn is a key component of the ice sheet; as its porous structure absorbs meltwater, it changes ice sheet elevation through compaction and influences heat exchanges between the ice sheet and the climate system.

Little is known about the firn layer’s structure, temperature or thickness. The project will quantify the structural and thermal frameworks of Greenland’s firn layer by drilling boreholes through it to conduct measurements and experiments deep within the layer. The researchers also have designed a new type of drill for the project.

New Work Helps Counsel Sexual Assault Survivors

A UM communication studies faculty member is drawing national attention for her approach to incorporating research in interpersonal communication with the delivery of mental health services to sexual assault survivors.

The research of communication studies Associate Professor Christina Yoshimura focuses on how personal relationships intersect with larger systems, such as health care or the workplace. Yoshimura also volunteers as a clinical mental health counselor at UM’s Curry Health Center Counseling Services in order to bring research out of academia and into the daily lives of students at UM.

In 2013, UM received a federal grant to better address sexual assault on campus. Yoshimura joined a team at Counseling Services tasked with ensuring that sufficient services were available and appropriate for survivors of sexual assault. Yoshimura specifically worked to incorporate communication studies principles and theories into her therapeutic work with survivors of sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence.

“We found that engaging verbal and nonverbal practices of strategic accommodation and divergence from clients were useful elements in building a trauma-informed approach to client care,” she says. •

The research of communication studies Associate Professor Christina Yoshimura focuses on how personal relationships intersect with larger systems, such as health care or the workplace. Yoshimura also volunteers as a clinical mental health counselor at UM’s Curry Health Center Counseling Services in order to bring research out of academia and into the daily lives of students at UM.

In 2013, UM received a federal grant to better address sexual assault on campus. Yoshimura joined a team at Counseling Services tasked with ensuring that sufficient services were available and appropriate for survivors of sexual assault. Yoshimura specifically worked to incorporate communication studies principles and theories into her therapeutic work with survivors of sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence.

“We found that engaging verbal and nonverbal practices of strategic accommodation and divergence from clients were useful elements in building a trauma-informed approach to client care,” she says. •