Bozeman Magazine

Montana State University Wonderlust will host a free public online lecture about the Beartooth Highway from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 14. “Beartooth Highway: History, Biology and Geology of America’s Most Scenic Highway” will be presented by Sharon Eversman, a retired professor of biology in the Department of Ecology in the College of Letters and Science at MSU.

Eversman will provide an overview of the highway, which is designated as a National Scenic Byway All-American Road, and argue that the highway traverses one of the best examples of alpine environment in the country.

The 68-mile byway winds through southwest Montana and northwest Wyoming and leads into Yellowstone National Park at its northeast entrance. The highway features numerous switchbacks and rises in elevation from 5,600 feet in Red Lodge to over 10,000 feet at the top of Beartooth Pass. During the last Ice Age, glaciers sculpted features, including U-shaped valleys, cirques and glacial lakes. The wind and flat topography on the plateau have resulted in trees and plants that exhibit unique timberline features and beautiful alpine meadows.

Eversman earned advanced degrees in biology and plant ecology and taught biology and botany at MSU for 40 years, including a summer field course on the Beartooth Plateau. She has lived in Bozeman for over 50 years and spends time studying and collecting plants and lichens in national parks, state parks, national forests and in eastern Montana. Eversman is a docent at the Museum of the Rockies and a violinist with the Bozeman Symphony.

To register for the presentation, visit www.montana.edu/wonderlust/. Participants will receive an email on May 13 with the Webex link and instructions to join the course. For more information, please contact Bobbi Geise at 406-994-6550 or bobbi.geise@montana.edu.

Wonderlust is a program of Academic Technology and Outreach at MSU. ATO works across the university to support and advance its land-grant mission through unique and innovative opportunities for outreach and engagement.