Science Features Archive

2009

Fishy Business
Scientist at NOROCK and their partners are conducting research which shows hybridization of native Westslope cutthroat trout with non-native rainbow trout. Full Story

Radar is for the Birds
Scientist at NOROCK and their partners are conducting research that allows them to distinguish between precipitation and birds in NEXRAD weather radar data leading to the development of a landscape model of bird migration. Full Story Listen to the Podcast Radar is for the Birds

Repeat Photo Project Featured in Museum Exhibit
The Repeat Photography project has become an important tool for documenting and analyzing the retreat of glaciers and the images have garnered much interest from the media, academia, and most recently from the art community. Full Story

Results of Landmark Grizzly Bear Study Now Available
A team of more that 200 researchers, consisting of 12 federal, state, and tribal agencies, landowners, universities, and other entities, can see the fruits of their labor featured on the cover of the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management. Full Story

2008

Eye in the Sky
Landsat technology has expanded by the arrival of EarthNow!, an online outreach tool developed to show near-real time satellite imagery from data received from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites as they pass over the United States. Full Story

Wildlife and Wind Energy
Wind energy is emerging as a sustainable, domestically available energy source. However, development of wind farms do impact wildlife habitat, bird mortality, and migratory bird routes. Scientists and their partners at NOROCK are studying these impacts and working towards developing predictive tools for land managers that assist in decision making and are protective of wildlife habitat and migration. Full Story

Wildlife as Indicators of Climate Change
Still aren’t certain if climate change is a long term event or temporary trend? Why not look at those that will be most affected by the impacts of climate-change on our Rocky Mountain ecosystems? Scientists at NOROCK are doing just that by beginning two studies that will examine how climate change may be impacting the habitats of native fish and big game species. Full Story

Remote photography is used to learn more about grizzly bears in northwest Montana
Video and photographs are part of a study conducted by USGS Research Biologist Kate Kendall to determine the size and distribution of bear populations in northwestern Montana. Full Story

USGS Global Change Seminar: Ecological Thresholds Relating to Climate Change
USGS Research Ecologist, Dan Fagre, presents on Ecological Thresholds Relating to Climate Change. Podcast was recorded on January 17, 2008 at the USGS National Center in Reston, VA. Podcast

Retreating Glaciers
Glacier National Park’s namesake glaciers have receded rapidly since the Park’s establishment in 1910, primarily due to long-term changes in regional and global climate. These changes have been documented with a series of photographs repeated over the last century. At this rate, the park’s glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030. Full Story