A pair of new exhibits featuring the work of two prominent Canadian artists will open at Montana State University’s Museum of the Rockies this month: “Into the Arctic” featuring the work of Cory Trépanier and “Polar Obsession” by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic photographer, filmmaker and marine biologist.

Opening on Sept. 22 and running through January 2019, these exhibits will present spectacular scenes of fragile environments and the unique balance of life within those habitats. Guests will experience the breathtaking landscape and wildlife of the northernmost regions of our world as seen through the creative lenses of two renowned artists.

The Museum of the Rockies will present two opportunities to celebrate the exhibits.

First, a members-only preview of both exhibits will be held on Sept. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Trépanier leading gallery talks about Arctic exploration. As a bonus, the newest planetarium show, “Experience the Aurora,” will premiere at three time slots during the event.

Then, on Sept. 22 at 1:30 p.m., the museum will present a screening of “Into the Arctic II,” followed by a Q&A with Trépanier in the Procrastinator Theater in MSU’s Strand Union Building. Tickets to the film are free and open to all, with advance registration.

In “Polar Obsession,” Nicklen captures Arctic and Antarctic life, using the striking images taken under and across the ice.

Growing up in a small Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic, Nicklen learned to survive the frozen terrain and built a powerful connection with the creatures who share that extreme place. His images help dispel myths by shining a spotlight on the polar ecosystem, offering insight into animal behavior and the changing climate that threatens the vulnerable biosphere.

Nicklen is an underwater photography specialist and one of the world’s most acclaimed nature photographers. In this series, he brings to viewers an underwater realm that few would know without his lens. Guests will be immersed in the wonders of the north through 57 images from Nicklen’s National Geographic book “Polar Obsession,” which glimpses the lives of wild creatures such as seals, whales, walruses, narwhals, polar bears, penguins and petrels.

Nicklen has received numerous international awards for his photography, including from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International and the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Additionally, he is a well-known speaker, author, lecturer and National Geographic Fellow who regards himself as an ambassador for polar life. In his book introduction, he explains, “The Polar Regions are disappearing quickly, and I want my photo essay to stand as a reminder of what is at stake. It is my mission to bring the rare, remote and threatened by caring people who can enjoy and help protect these lands and creatures.”

Trépanier’s “Into the Arctic” showcases more than 50 original oil paintings and three feature-length films documenting extreme exploration into the farthest reaches of the Canadian Arctic by the oil painter and filmmaker.

Hoisting a pack weighing more than 100 pounds, Trépanier trekked across the rarely seen territory, carrying camping, painting and filmmaking supplies. On four expeditions spanning a decade, he faced predators and extreme conditions to bring to the world a time capsule on canvas and film. Often traveling with Inuit who shared their knowledge, he accessed locations so remote and untouched that most will only see them through his brush.

His film “Into the Arctic II” was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and documents Trépanier’s expeditions into a dozen wilderness locations. He is considered one of Canada’s top 100 living explorers and is a fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

“I hope my work might spark awareness and conversation about Canada’s Arctic and instill greater appreciation and concern for the future of its ever-changing landscape,” Trépanier has said.

For more information about the exhibits, go to https://www.museumoftherockies.org/exhibitions/coming-soon/polar-obsession.

Two Montana State University researchers were part of an international team that discovered a new class within an important family of enzymes that could speed up the process of converting plant waste into useful products.

The enzymes, together called cytochrome P450, can efficiently break down five compounds found in woody plants, said Melodie Machovina, a doctoral student in Jennifer DuBois' laboratory in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in MSU’s College of Letters and Science.

"That was really cool and surprising," Machovina said.

Since hundreds — or even thousands — of other enzymes can break down only one or two compounds, cytochrome P450 offers a new tool for a critical step in converting lignin into fuel, plastic, nylon and other useful materials, she added. Lignin is a vast source of renewable carbon. It is found in the cell walls of plants, causing them to become rigid, woody and more resistant to rot.

Machovina and DuBois, along with 12 partners in the United Kingdom, Brazil and elsewhere in the United States, described the new P450 system in a paper published this summer in the scientific journal Nature Communications. They said it was a promising approach to bioconversion and a significant breakthrough in a long struggle to find a way to break down the compounds in lignin so they can be converted into new materials and chemicals. The two main compounds in lignin — coniferyl and sinapyl — are often part of a key bottleneck in the conversion process.

"We now have one of the most well-known, versatile, engineerable and evolvable classes of enzymes ready to go as a foothold for biotechnology to move forward and make the enzyme better," co-author and principal investigator Gregg Beckham said in a Phys.org article about the discovery.

DuBois, an associate professor at MSU who is also a principal investigator on the project, compared lignin-eating bacteria to an animal eating corn on the cob. Like an animal trying to swallow the cob when it can only digest corn, some bacteria have problems breaking down the compounds that make up lignin.

Other bacteria and fungi, however, have enzymes that allow them to eat lignin, DuBois said. Trying to understand the mechanisms behind that valuable ability, the enzyme researchers conducted a variety of structural, biochemical and computational studies.

Machovina's role was examining and characterizing proteins that Sam Mallinson — a U.K. graduate student and co-lead author of the paper — created. Machovina wanted to see how fast and efficient they were at breaking down lignin, and how promising they were for large-scale production.

Speed and cost-effectiveness are important when converting lignin to useful products on an industrial scale, Machovina said.

"Time is money," she noted.

Machovina became involved in the enzyme project after receiving a fellowship from the U.S. Department of Energy, specifically its Office of Science Graduate Student Research. The fellowship allowed her to spend nine months last year at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, in Golden, Colorado, where she met Beckham from the NREL's National Bioenergy Center and John McGeehan from the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. They told her about the enzyme project, and she decided to join their research team. Mallinson is McGeehan's graduate student.

"It sounded like it would have applications and turned out to be really productive," Machovina said of the project.

Machovina said that after reading Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes books as a young girl, she wanted to be a detective and solve mysteries. When she took science classes, she realized she could solve mysteries on a molecular scale. She was especially drawn to biochemistry and enzymes, a field she will continue to pursue after she graduates this year and takes a postdoctoral position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"I thought enzymes were so cool," Machovina said. "All kingdoms of life have them ... They are like little machines in our bodies. They keep us going. I was really fascinated with that."

Red Tractor Pizza, working with community partners, is proud to announce Bozeman’s first crowd-sourced public mural. Not only will the project be financed by crowdfunding, but community members are invited to participate in the actual painting as well. The campaign’s primary partner is Gallatin Valley Farm to School, a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating healthy kids, vibrant farms, and strong communities.  The Local Crowd Bozeman, a localized crowdfunding platform, will host the fundraising campaign. The campaign was launched with a generous contribution from the Bank of Bozeman.

“Educating children at an early age about the importance of local, sustainable, more nutritious food in my opinion is the most important battle to fight. That’s why I chose food as my fight and that’s what this mural will help me do: fight my food battle by raising awareness! Not to mention all the kids it will reach facing Bozeman High School,” said Adam Paccione, owner of Red Tractor Pizza.

The campaign has a goal of $5,200 and will run for three weeks, kicking off on Monday, September 17 and concluding on Monday, October 8. That budget accounts for materials like paint and paintbrushes, as well as labor and specialized tools like a scissor lift. Any money raised above the original goal will be donated to Gallatin Valley Farm to School. After the campaign comes to an end, there will be a community party to celebrate the new mural, with pizza, drinks, and live music. Contributors will also have the opportunity to paint certain parts of the mural and add their handprints and signatures.

The mural is an investment in Bozeman, the health of its youth, and the organizations fighting to keep our children healthy. Bozeman has provided so much for so many people, and there are too many wonderful stories to list here. To make sure that the next generation is able to live a happy, healthy life, we need to make sure that the very food children eat, food grown right here in Bozeman, has its time in the spotlight. The success of this campaign depends upon the community to paint the mural and declare confidently that the entire Bozeman community stands behind local food and our children.

The mural was designed by local artist Catalin Corrigan, who evoked a fun and playful art style to convey the importance of local, sustainable food. The mural design is meant to appeal to anyone, from the dedicated farmer to the casual tourist. Its prominent place facing Main Street will reach the maximum number of people, reinforcing the message that sustainable produce is key to Bozeman’s continued prosperity.

“I wanted to create a mural design that was fun and exciting for families, that celebrates the importance of locally sourced and sustainable foods,” said Catalin Corrigan.

“At every point in this process, we’ve looked for ways to include the community,” said Adam Paccione.

The Red Tractor Mural represents the first crowd-funded, community painted mural in Bozeman. This is a brand new approach to beautifying the city and could prove successful in future efforts to add to Bozeman’s public artistic wealth.

Gallatin Valley Farm to School cultivates healthy kids, vibrant farms and strong communities by connecting schools and local producers here in the Gallatin Valley. Through these connections, the program will realize many goals, including: supporting healthy, fresh, scratch made, local meals in school cafeterias; improving student nutrition and providing meaningful health, nutrition and agriculture education.

Parent, nutritional professional and long term Bozeman resident, Sam Blomquist, Executive Director for Gallatin Valley Farm to School, is deeply committed to the mission of the organization she leads. “It’s preventative health, food system reform and community economic development – all in one tidy package.” she says. “And, the meaningfulness and generosity Red Tractor Pizza has put into this mural campaign is a testament to the collective benefit of all of us working together.  We’re thrilled to part of this project.”

Community partners include: Red Tractor Pizza, Gallatin Valley Farm to School, The Local Crowd Bozeman

To contribute to the Farm to School Mural campaign, and to see some of the other great projects funded by The Local Crowd Bozeman, click HERE or go to https://thelocalcrowd.com/communities/bozeman/.

The City of Bozeman Neighborhoods Program, in collaboration with MSU’s Good Neighbor Committee, is sponsoring Good Neighbor Day in Bozeman on September 28, 2018.   

Good Neighbor Day is an annual nationwide celebration that encourages people to connect with their community. It is held in September each year, and is recognized in different ways all around the country.

MSU Sororities and Fraternities will be hosting various gatherings for the neighbors living near their own houses.  MSU Residence Halls will recognize the day by encouraging their residents to share a meal with someone new in the dining hall, or connect with someone they haven’t yet met in their dorm.  Neighborhood Associations will promote participation among their neighbors.

 
Events and gatherings can take many different forms. Neighbors can share a cup of coffee, organize a picnic in a community park, or fire up the grill on the front lawn with new and long-time neighbors. The goal is to gather and connect.

Neighborhoods Coordinator Tanya Andreasen says, “Neighbors are important because good relationships with others can and do change communities – and those relationships can support you in your own home life.”  Social connection also reduces loneliness, isolation and other problems people experience when they don’t have a support network.  Studies from the Pew Research Center show that most Americans say they know at least some of their neighbors, but only about three-in-ten say they know all or most of them (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/05/22/how-urban-suburban-and-rural-residents-interact-with-their-neighbors/).

For more information about registering an event, uploading selfies and photos of an event, and to download materials like invitations and flyers, please go to www.bozeman.net/GoodNeighborDay.

Montana ranchers are encouraged to donate a steer for the benefit of the learning and development of next generation agricultural producers. Montana State University’s College of Agriculture is seeking donations of steers for its Steer-A-Year program. The program accepts donated steers, monetary support and feed.

The donated steers allow students in the program to engage in hands-on learning of the beef industry. Students participate in applied learning experiences and courses such as beef cattle management, professional development in beef production systems, livestock management, meat science and livestock evaluation.

Through Steer-A-Year, students care daily for steers that Montana ranchers have donated to the university. The steers live at MSU’s Bozeman Agricultural Research and Teaching, or BART, Farm, and students are responsible for everything from feeding the animals to health checks and vaccinations. Students also provide steer production data – such as average daily weight gain, carcass information when the meat is harvested and even genetic testing to the ranchers who donated them.

Hannah DelCurto Wyffels, instructor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences and Steer-A-Year program manager, said the program has grown from eight to 30 steers in the last few years. The increase in donated steers has increased the number of students who are able to participate in Steer-A-Year, she said.

“The steer contributions are the basis of what we do and what we have the potential to do,” Wyffels said. “Our partnership with Montana livestock producers is one that we’re very proud of, because our stakeholders understand that teaching the next generation of agriculture leaders begins with important first-hand experience for our students.”

Steer-A-Year students sell the steers directly to MSU’s Culinary Services. Last year, students sold 30 steers to the program, and the College of Agriculture and the Montana Made Program in Culinary Services hosted a Montana Steer-A-Year beef dinner for the public in the Miller Dining Commons. The Steer-A-Year cattle are processed at Pioneer Meats in Big Timber and are used for anything from large rotisserie roasts to stews in campus dining halls and university events. One of the finest cuts, New York strip steak, is grilled at the First Meal event, when up to 4,000 new students gather for an outdoor picnic at MSU’s Romney Oval.

Awards are presented to the best initial feeder steer, the steer with the top rate of gain and best carcass. Profits from sales of the steers fund student activities in the College of Agriculture.  Last year, thanks to funds from Steer-A-Year proceeds, Wyffels said MSU’s Livestock Judging Team competed at the National Western Stock Show in Denver; the Houston Livestock Show in Houston; and the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic in Kearney, Nebraska.

Donated steers make a direct impact on students, particularly those participating in the livestock judging team, Wyffels said.

“The funds allow judging team members to compete nationally and learn the importance of professionally representing Montana and MSU,” she said. “The entire program represents agriculture from every corner: animal science education, business, economics and, finally, getting the product to the consumer.”

Approximately 20 students from various backgrounds and majors in agriculture studies are enrolled this year in the Steer-A-Year course, Wyffels said. She noted that the practical learning experiences with the steers are valuable for all of those students.

Steers will be accepted between Oct. 31 and Nov. 18. For more information about the Steer-A-Year program or how to donate a steer, contact Wyffels at 406-994-3752 or Hannah.delcurto@montana.edu. 

Montana State University agroecology student Hadley Barnard has learned to ask customers purchasing produce from the university’s mobile farm stand what vegetables they’d like to see at the next week’s stand.

“I might assume that everybody loves kale, and then nobody wants kale,” she said. “At first I tried to predict what people would want, and then I learned that I need to simply ask them.”

The lesson is one of many that Barnard said she and fellow student Serena Whitcome have learned from operating the farm stand at Legion Villa, a 61-unit affordable housing community for seniors in Bozeman. Beginning in July and continuing into October, Barnard and Whitcome have operated the mobile farm stand once per week, selling vegetables at a discounted rate to residents of the community.

The mobile farm stand seeks to strengthen community food security in southwest Montana by increasing access to fresh, nutritious produce for households with limited resources. It is a partnership between MSU’s Towne's Harvest Garden and the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. All produce sold has been grown by MSU students at Towne's Harvest Garden, which is located on the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station’s Horticulture Farm just west of campus. In addition to accepting cash, credit and debit cards and checks, the farm stand also accepts WIC vouchers and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program vouchers, according to Mac Burgess, Towne’s Harvest Garden director and practicum instructor and an assistant professor of plant science and plant pathology in the MSU College of Agriculture.

Barnard and Whitcome run the stand as part of their Towne’s Harvest Garden practicum, a requirement for students in the sustainable food and bioenergy systems program at MSU. As part of their responsibilities, Barnard and Whitcome spend several hours at Towne’s Harvest Garden before heading to Legion Villa, selecting and boxing up vegetables to take. They manage an inventory system to keep track of what is taken and what comes back to the farm unsold, and they also track the form of payment customers use to purchase the produce. If the vegetables are paid for with WIC vouchers or Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers, the students submit the appropriate paperwork to be reimbursed for those vouchers.

As a student who is interested in creating more sustainable food systems, Barnard said the experience of operating the mobile farm stand has been invaluable.

“When you want to work to make decisions that affect food access for different communities, it’s important to not sit back and make decisions from afar,” she said. “It’s really valuable to actually talk to people in communities that your work is impacting and hear what they think would be valuable.”

Barnard noted that the farm stand also simultaneously provides an important service in the community.

“Part of having a sustainable community is making sure that all of the members of a community have access to fresh, locally produced food,” she said. “So that is something this project really makes possible.”

MSU’s mobile farm stand dates back to 2011, when collaborators at MSU and Gallatin Valley Food Bank received a grant to help fund it, according to Marcy Gaston, who was then a graduate student at MSU. Gaston said that the first year, the stand operated at Legion Villa. In subsequent years, it moved to different communities, including Three Forks, Gallatin Gateway and Belgrade. In Bozeman, in addition to operating at Legion Villa, over the years it has also operated at Darlington Manor and at MSU Family and Graduate Housing.

Ultimately, there was a pull to operate the farm stand in Bozeman because that’s where it was having the most impact, Gaston said. 

“Our goal was to target more lower-income residents, and we found the closer we got to Bozeman, the more people we were able to reach,” she said.

The mobile farm stand is one part of Towne’s Harvest Garden, the university’s three-acre diversified vegetable and educational research farm. Towne’s Harvest Garden was founded in 2006 by a group of students. Today, it serves as an experiential classroom for a variety of academic programs on campus, including sustainable food and bioenergy systems, horticulture, hospitality management and culinary arts, and the Montana Dietetic Internship, among others. In addition to the mobile farm stand, Towne’s Harvest Garden operates a weekly farm stand on the MSU campus and offers shares of its vegetables through a community-supported agriculture program. It also supplies produce for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. Towne’s Harvest Garden and the sustainable food and bioenergy systems program are both cooperatively run by two MSU colleges: The College of Education, Health and Human Development and the College of Agriculture.

More information about Towne’s Harvest Garden is available online at townesharvest.montana.edu/. To learn more about the university’s sustainable food and bioenergy systems program, visit sfbs.montana.edu/.

This fall, Montana State University students have a chance to shape how thousands of people experience the new building that will house MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and Honors College.
 
The engineering college is soliciting student proposals for art to be displayed on three large wall panels in Norm Asbjornson Hall, which is expected to open in early 2019. Proposals are due by Dec. 14, 2018.
 
"Norm Asbjornson Hall is going to be a focus of interdisciplinary activity on our campus,” said Rob Maher, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and coordinator of the student art competition. “The classrooms, laboratories and public spaces in the building will reflect MSU’s spirit of innovation and collaboration.”

 
The wall panels, each roughly 10 feet tall by 20 feet wide, are prominently located near the building’s walkways and elevators. According to Maher, the best proposals will visually communicate a thoughtful use of all three panels. Artists can also incorporate sound, interactive sensors and other technological features if desired.

 
"We invite students to express their creativity through compelling and meaningful art proposals,” Maher said. “There is no required theme for the proposed artwork, but the selection panel will be looking for works that evoke MSU’s spirit of innovation for the future as well as continuity of our land-grant heritage.”

 
The student or team of students submitting the winning proposal will receive a special honorarium consisting of a $7,000 MSU scholarship split among the team members, as well as funding for materials and installation. Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of faculty, staff, students and community members.

 
Applicants must be MSU students, but the contest is not limited to art majors. All students may participate.
 
Artwork project proposals should fully utilize all three areas to the extent possible for the chosen means of artistic expression. Works may be mounted to the walls as panels, framed objects, sculptural relief up to 1 foot deep, or by other means that accommodate safe and economical installation.
 
Proposals will be accepted Nov. 1 through Dec. 14. The winning proposal will be announced on Jan. 25, 2019, and installation of the completed art will take place in May.
 
For more information and to submit a proposal, visit www.coe.montana.edu/art.

After standing vacant for nearly a decade, the final lot leveled by the 2009 natural gas explosion is bringing new community benefits to downtown Bozeman. The new Osborne Building at 233 E. Main St. will be an innovative reflection of Bozeman’s modern economy, with restaurant space, rental office space for nonprofits that serve low-income communities, and flexible office space for startups and small businesses. The concept for the new 33,000-square-foot building was developed by local businessmen Bryan Klein, Casey Durham, Chad Bottcher and Jamie Bottcher, who wanted to find a solution for the lot that would not only address a longstanding vacancy but also help meet community needs. The building is designed by Locati Architects and construction is scheduled to begin this month.

The new building is taking shape after several attempts by investors to develop the space since 2009. Even with property in Gallatin County being developed at a rapid rate in recent years, this lot proved difficult.
 
“We got to roll up our sleeves and address some unique challenges,” said Klein. “It can be tricky to build on a historic site, and there are existing buildings on both sides, so you have to make your project fit in that tight square. In addressing these challenges, it was also important to us to design a solution that provides community benefits and good jobs.”

 
“We’ve tried to be mindful of making the building fit with the rest of downtown and, most importantly, repair the disconnect you feel when you see the vacant lot on Main Street. It feels like we’re helping the community get past the devastation from the explosion 10 years ago,” said Durham.
 
To address financing challenges, Klein and Durham approached the nonprofit financing company MoFi to discuss solutions.
 
“This project definitely would not be happening without the help of New Markets Tax Credits, and MoFi and First Security Bank were instrumental in that,” said Klein.
 
The New Markets Tax Credit Program is an innovative federal program that helps incentivize and finance economic development projects in low-income census tracts around the country. MoFi works with investors to turn the credits into cash, and then uses that cash to fund catalytic development projects in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

“The new Osborne Building will complete Bozeman’s Main Street, help create jobs and address the shortage of commercial lease space downtown,” said Dave Glaser, MoFi President. “Since 2009, we’ve used New Markets Tax Credit financing to catalyze over $525 million in investments across Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. It’s been 10 years in the making, but this building is the right solution for Bozeman’s changing economy. It’s been worth the wait.”

The NMTC financing from MoFi came with some exciting community benefits. First and foremost, the project will create over 150 stable, quality jobs that are accessible to low-income people. The third floor will be leased to nonprofit organizations that have a primary mission of serving low-income communities and will be leased at 50% of the market rate. The fourth floor’s flexible office space, with an emphasis on creative collaboration and business incubation, will provide room for Bozeman’s growing entrepreneurial and startup economy.

 
U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines have been supportive of the NMTC Program’s ability to leverage federal dollars to support projects that are identified and completed at the local level. Both senators are excited to see the program’s latest investment in Montana.
 
“New Markets Tax Credits provide Montanans with the opportunity to redevelop buildings to best fit the needs of the community,” Tester said. “This investment will create jobs in downtown Bozeman and increase opportunities for local businesses. I will continue to strongly support New Markets Tax Credits so that Montanans can continue to use these job-creating tools to push our communities forward.”

 
“The New Markets Tax Credit is important to creating Montana jobs,” Daines said. “The Osborne Building will be a wonderful addition to downtown Bozeman, and I’m glad to see this project go forward.”
 
Additional examples of businesses funded with New Markets financing include the new Missoula Food Bank, the Great Falls Rescue Mission’s Cameron Family Center, the Copper King Hotel in Butte, the tribal government building on the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, and the Universal Athletic Service headquarters and the Town and Country Grocery on 11th Avenue in Bozeman.
 
MoFi (formerly Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation)
MoFi is a double bottom line, non-bank lender that provides loans to individuals, businesses and communities outside the financial mainstream. MoFi believes that access to responsible, flexible capital is a fundamental right, and that when “nearly bankable” people and projects are given access to capital they thrive. MoFi operates across the Northern Rockies with offices in Missoula, Bozeman and Boise, and in the last decade has provided nearly $500 million in financing to hundreds of borrowers. Learn more at www.mofi.org.