BOZEMAN— The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Montana State University, in partnership with the Belgrade Community Library, will host a talk entitled “How Highways and Wildlife Intersect: History of Wildlife Crossing in Montana” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13, at the library. This event is free and open to the public. The presentation will be preceded by a social with refreshments at 5:30 p.m.
Frank Lance Craighead, a field ecologist, population geneticist and GIS technician with over 20 years of experience in conservation planning, will talk about the harmful impacts of highways on wildlife. He will also describe available solutions and the history of safe wildlife crossings in Montana. Finally, Craighead will discuss past and present projects to provide safe wildlife crossings in Montana and other Western states.
Craighead grew up helping his father, Frank, and uncle, John, with their pioneering study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park in the early 1960s. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin and completed his Ph.D. in biological sciences at MSU, where he studied grizzly bear genetics in the Alaskan Arctic. He is currently a research affiliate in the Department of Ecology in MSU’s College of Letters and Science. He is a member of the IUCN World Committee on Protected Areas, the Society for Conservation Biology and the Society for Conservation GIS. He has been the executive director of the Craighead Institute since 1994, where he coordinates research, outreach and communications, and fundraising and development.
Seating is limited at Belgrade Community Library events, and advance registration is encouraged; however, walk-ins are always welcome. For more information or to register, visit montana.edu/olli.
The Belgrade Community Library Foundation and First Interstate Bank sponsor these collaborative, free community programs.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at MSU is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach. ATO works across the university to support and advance its land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement.
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