Montana State University scientists have found a new lineage of microbes living in Yellowstone National Park’s thermal features that sheds light on the origin of life, the evolution of archaeal life and the importance of iron in early life.

Professor William Inskeep and his team of researchers published their findings May 14 in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology.

"The discovery of archaeal lineages is critical to our understanding of the universal tree of life and evolutionary history of the Earth," the group wrote. "Geochemically diverse thermal environments in Yellowstone National Park provide unprecedented opportunities for studying archaea in habitats that may represent analogues of early Earth."

Archaea is one of the three domains of life, the others being bacteria and eukaryotes. Like bacteria, archaea are single-cell organisms. The eukaryote domain contains more cellularly complex organisms, such as humans, other animals, plants and fungi.

The scientists called the new archaeal lineage Marsarchaeota after Mars, the red planet, because these organisms thrive in habitats containing iron oxides. Within Marsarchaeota, they discovered two main subgroups that live throughout Yellowstone and thrive in hot, acidic water where iron oxide is the main mineral. One subgroup lives in water above 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and the other lives in water above 140 to 176 degrees. The water is about as acidic as grapefruit juice. Their microbial mats are red because of the iron oxide.

"It's interesting that the habitat of these organisms contains (iron) minerals similar to those found on the surface of Mars," Inskeep said.

He added that microbes produce iron oxide, but the Marsarchaeota do not. They might be involved in reducing iron into a simpler form, "which is important from an early Earth standpoint. Iron cycling has been implicated as being extremely important in early Earth conditions."

The Marsarchaeota live fairly deep in microbial mats, but they still require low levels of oxygen, Inskeep said. The subgroups are so abundant that, together, they can account for as much as half of the organisms living within a single microbial mat.

The scientists studied microbial mats throughout Yellowstone. Microorganisms in these “microbial beaver dams” produce iron oxide that creates terraces, which, in turn, block streams. As water (only a couple of millimeters deep) runs over the terraces, oxygen is captured from the atmosphere and supplied to the Marsarchaeota.

"Physics comes together with chemistry and microbiology," Inskeep said. "It's like a sweet spot of conditions that this group of organisms likes."

In addition to learning more about life on early Earth and the potential for life on Mars, Inskeep said the research can help scientists understand more about high-temperature biology.

"Knowing about this new group of archaea provides additional pieces of the puzzle for understanding high-temperature biology," he said. "That could be important in industry and molecular biology."

The work that resulted in the Nature Microbiology paper was the culmination of research that took place over the past decade, said Inskeep, who has studied the geochemistry and microbiology of Yellowstone's high-temperature environments for the last 20 years. Inskeep is a professor of geomicrobiology in MSU's Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture and co-founder of MSU's Thermal Biology Institute.

The lead authors of the Nature Microbiology paper earned their doctorates at MSU and were part of NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program while at MSU. Zackary Jay is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and the Center for Biofilm Engineering at MSU. Jacob Beam is now a postdoctoral researcher at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences at East Boothbay, Maine.

“In the end, after many years of work, it’s exciting, and a relief, to have our team’s work recognized and published, particularly in a high impact journal,” Jay said.

Other co-authors were Mensur Dlakic from MSU's Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Letters and Science and College of Agriculture; Douglas Rusch from the Center for Bioinformatics at Indiana University; and Mark Kozubal from the Thermal Biology Institute, MSU's Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, and Sustainable Bioproducts in Bozeman.

The Yellowstone research was a collaboration involving the Thermal Biology Institute, the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) and the Yellowstone Center for Resources (National Park Service). Funding came from IGERT, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and MAES. The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, sponsored the genetic sequencing.

The Sandbox Project is one of many the Bozeman Kiwanis Club provides to give back to the community through various outreach programs.  Other projects include: Eliminate, which through Kiwanis International has made great strides to eliminate maternal neonatal tetanus. Local support is also provided for Eagle Mount Camp Braveheart, Hope and the Holidays, Kids in Crisis Backpacks, Fix-Up Festival, playground equipment for schools, park pavilions throughout the city, Thrive, and many others.  For more information about the Bozeman Kiwanis Club please go BozemanKiwanis.com or “Bozeman Kiwanis” on Facebook.

On July 4th, 2018 Reach Inc. will host their 11th Annual Race for Independence.  Reach is a local non-profit that provides residential, vocational, and transportation supports to adults with developmental disabilities.  This joyful celebration benefits the people Reach serves, and will include a 10K, 5K, 1K, and an assortment of exciting raffle prizes.  

The course is mostly on flat trails in the beautiful Cherry River Fishing Access and the East Gallatin Recreation Area.  These paths offer sweeping views of the breathtaking Gallatin Valley landscape.  Because the trail narrows in some sections, runners are encouraged to stay mindful of their surroundings, and allow faster participants to pass.  Walkers are welcome to join the fun.  No dogs, please.

The 10K begins at 8:00AM, the 5K at 8:15AM, and the 1K at 8:25AM.  Bib timing will be used.  In order to prevent vehicle traffic on the course, attendees are requested to arrive before 8:00AM.  The race begins and ends at the Reach Work Center, which is located at 322 Gallatin Park Drive, Bozeman, MT 59715.  Parking will be available at surrounding businesses.  

Registration is $25 for the 10K/5K, and $15 for the 1K. Optional, snazzy, short-sleeved, technical tee shirts will be sold for $10.  You can register online at www.reachinc.org, or in person at the Reach Work Center Monday through Friday, 8:00AM-5:00PM.  Reach Inc. is thrilled that the Race for Independence will be part of the first Big Sky Wind Drinkers Grand Prix Series.

A team of over 60 volunteers come together to make this event possible.  If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Community Relations Specialist, Jamie Balke, at jbalke@reachinc.org or (406) 587-1271 to learn more about volunteer opportunities.  You are also welcome to contact Community Relations and Development Director, Dee Metrick, with any questions at dee@reachinc.org or 406-587-1271.

Henry Sorenson still recalls vividly the energy he felt on campus when Montana State University unexpectedly won a Division 1-AA national football championship in 1984.

The architecture professor, who specializes in architectural drawing, was among the fans that followed the ‘Cats in their unlikely journey from the bottom of the Big Sky to the national title nearly 34 years ago. So, he commemorated the enthusiasm in the Bobcat community in the best way he knew how. He designed a T-shirt featuring a cartoon image of the MSU mascot wearing the number one.

That shirt, popular when it was first designed, has been reissued as part of MSU’s 125th anniversary celebration and is now available from the MSU Bookstore, according to Julie Kipfer, MSU’s director of marketing.

“What better way to celebrate the 125th anniversary than to highlight one of our professor’s iconic designs,” Kipfer said. “Re-launching this retro T-shirt is a great way to introduce today’s students to MSU’s heritage and engage with alumni who fondly remember that time.”

The reissue is particularly meaningful for Sorenson, who is known nationally for his hand-drawn architectural renderings as well as for his architectural photography. His rural landscape photograph taken near Fort Benton recently won first place in the American Institute of Architects Photography Competition, and he won a juror award for a watercolor painting in the Architecture in Perspective competition of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators.

A T-shirt designed by Montana State University architecture professor Henry Sorenson following the 1984 national championship has been reissued for MSU's 125th anniversary.  MSU Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

But as a hobby, Sorenson has designed T-shirts since he was an undergraduate at the University of Florida, a university with a great football tradition. So it was quite a contrast when Sorenson arrived at MSU in 1983 to implement the School of Architecture’s architectural graphics program and the Bobcat football team won just one game in the season. Sorenson said the Bobcats’ Cinderella season the following year “was unbelievable.” He can still remember sitting in the stands on an 18-degree-below-zero day when the Bobcats beat a visiting team from Arkansas State to advance to the national championship game.

“It was an amazing thing to win a national championship,” Sorenson said. “I thought I’d draw a championship shirt for fun.”

With the 125th anniversary this year, he suggested to the committee planning the yearlong celebration that the championship shirt might be a way to recall the university’s last football championship, and the committee agreed.

Sorenson’s shirt, which costs $17.95, can also be ordered online at http://www.msubookstore.org/MerchDetail.aspx?MerchID=1492677&num=0&start=1&end=20&type=1&CategoryName=T-Shirts%20and%20Tanks&CatID=27865&Name=T-Shirts%20and%20Tanks#.Wt-5INPwZTa

In the meantime, Sorenson is still teaching MSU architecture students the importance of hand drawing, which is a lost art in many programs but an important part of MSU’s curriculum.

“You can’t replace drawing,” Sorenson said. “You think differently when you are drawing than when you are sitting in front of a computer.”

To learn more about Sorenson’s Bobcat shirt, go to http://www.msubookstore.org/ and click on the Retro Cat T-shirt.

 The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Anaconda watercraft inspection station intercepted a boat carrying zebra mussels Friday. The cabin cruiser was being transported from Ohio to Puget Sound in Washington.

The inspection station reported that many mussels were found in the boat’s gimbal area, the trim tabs and several crevices. 

The boat was wrapped in shrink wrap, and inspectors hot-washed the exterior of the boat to the best of their ability. The inspectors were not able to flush the motors, bilge pump or any other part of the boat.

The transporter of the boat was not the owner of the boat, and he did not have keys to the boat.Officials in Idaho and Washington were notified. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife will follow up with the vessel to wash and possibly quarantine it.

FWP reminds all those transporting motorized or nonmotorized boats into Montana to have their watercraft inspected before launching. Boat owners are required to stop at all open watercraft inspection stations. To find a watercraft inspection station visit www.cleandraindrymt.com.

Ted Waddell was born and raised in Laurel, Montana, a small railroad community west of Billings. His new book, Memories of Childhood, tells of an idyllic rural childhood with caring parents, close friends, farm animals, and numerous boyhood adventures.

Before cell phones and video games, growing up in the west required exploration fueled by imagination. Nature played a major role as a fertile playground and a stern teacher.  The humble stories relate lessons learned in the joys and heartaches of growing up in a rural environment. Waddell recalls a simpler life, although not necessarily an easier one, as young boy he worked many colorful jobs for low wages.

The fourteen playful illustrations in the book are splendidly populated with chickens and cows, boys and dogs, threshing machines and tractors. Readers will find a common thread in these Montana memories of hunting and fishing, farm choirs and fall harvest.

Parents, and particularly grandparents, will enjoy reading these stories to young people. Memories of Childhood is a book of memories worth sharing. Collectors of Ted Waddell’s paintings, prints and other books will enjoy this addition if this thoughtful boyhood memoir.

Waddell has three other children’s books based on his beloved Bernese Mountain Dogs, Tucker Tees Off (2016), Tucker’s Seasonal Words of Wisdom (2015), and Tucker Gets Tuckered (2006).

Theodore Waddell: My Montana—Paintings and Sculpture, 1959–2016, by Rick Newby was published in 2017. Richly illustrated with the artist’s work, as well as images from his personal archive, My Montana, traces Waddell’s early influences and the development of a career that lead to becoming one the West’s most recognized and celebrated contemporary artist. My Montana is published by Drumlummon Institute of Helena, MT, and is distributed by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Waddell divides his time between a studio in Sheridan, Montana, and a home in Hailey, Idaho, he shares with wife, writer and photographer Lynn Champion. In 2015, Theodore Waddell was honored with the Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts.

Montana State University has received a pair of grants from the state of Montana to expand two current evidence-based suicide prevention programs.

The grants come after the 2017 Legislature passed, and Gov. Steve Bullock signed, House Bill 118 to provide $1 million for suicide prevention in Montana. A total of $750,000 was allocated for schools and community organizations to implement evidence-based suicide prevention programs. The remaining funds support continued implementation of the Montana Native Suicide Reduction Strategic Plan.

From those funds, MSU’s Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery received two grants: a $221,000 grant to offer an online cognitive behavior therapy depression program statewide and a $157,000 grant to implement the Youth Aware of Mental Health program within the Great Falls School District.

“We at MSU are pleased to contribute to the state of Montana’s important suicide prevention efforts,” said Dr. Matt Byerly, director of the MSU Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery. “Both of these projects have the potential to significantly impact people throughout our state in a positive way.”

The computerized cognitive behavior therapy depression program, known as Thrive-Montana, primarily uses video to deliver confidential, evidence-based care to anyone with internet access, said Mark Schure, an assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Health and Human Development, who is leading the Thrive-Montana project.

Schure said that Thrive-Montana is tailored to the needs of the person using it. The program’s responses are based on participants’ answers to a series of questions aimed at determining how much they are being impacted by depression and which aspects of the program would benefit them most. The program is further personalized in response to evaluations as participants continue using the program.

Cognitive behavior therapy – a form of psychotherapy that aims to boost happiness by focusing on emotions, behaviors and thoughts – has been shown to effectively reduce depressive symptoms, which increase thoughts of suicide and the risk of suicidal behaviors, Schure said.

The Thrive-Montana trial was launched as a pilot project in 2017. The yearlong effort included 464 people from more than 100 communities throughout the state. Schure, along with MSU Extension agents and Bill Bryan of One Montana, promoted the study and recruited adult Montanans to participate in the current trial.

Thrive-Montana is an adapted version of the original program. Based on feedback from focus groups and interviews, the program partnered with MSU’s film department  to produce 10 new videos that better matched rural Montanans’ experiences and rural settings. The overall effort was guided by John Greist, a national expert in computerized mental health treatments and an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery.

Because the Thrive-Montana program is delivered via the internet, it can reach individuals in nearly all areas of the state, including rural communities where it may be difficult to access mental health services, Schure said. Another benefit is that costs of computerized treatment are considerably less than traditional face-to-face care, he said.

MSU’s other grant, guided by Byerly and assistant professor Janet Lindow of the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery, is for Youth Aware of Mental Health. YAM is a program for adolescents designed to teach mental health awareness and risk factors associated with suicide, as well as skills for dealing with adverse life events. The five-hour program, spread over three to five weeks, uses trained facilitators, interactive talks and role-playing. It also shares mental health resources with youth.

Byerly said one important component of YAM is that it is directly delivered to youth, rather than to “gatekeepers” — those people who frequently interact with youth, such as teachers, school staff and community leaders.

In 2016, MSU launched a pilot study testing YAM’s feasibility in Montana. Byerly and the YAM developers trained 12 facilitators who delivered the program’s intervention to 1,387 students in eight diverse Montana schools during the 2016-2017 school year, including schools on American Indian reservations. In addition to positive outcomes on factors related to suicide, the pilot study showed the feasibility of implementing YAM in urban, rural and tribal schools.

MSU Extension Director Cody Stone and project leader Sandy Bailey, professor and Extension specialist, partnered with the Center for Mental Health Research and Recovery recently to pilot a study of YAM delivered by Extension faculty. That effort, which is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Montana Mental Health Trust, allows YAM to be delivered by Extension faculty in about 15 Montana counties.

“This is a big deal, because if it is an effective approach to deliver YAM, it would be a cost-effective method of facilitator delivery,” Byerly said.

The center requested funding to expand the program to Great Falls because it is an area of the state that previously was not included in YAM projects, Byerly said. He’s confident that the grant is a sound investment.

“YAM is emerging as one of the most promising approaches for potentially reducing suicide in the U.S.,” Byerly said.

AMEN Free Clinic in Boze man, MontanaGoals and Strategic Plan
October 19th & 21st
Gallatin County Fairgrounds

Purpose:  The AMEN clinic will be a 2-day community centered event that will offer FREE dental, general medical, vision, preventative and educational services. We are planning to serve up to 500-600 patients in 2 days. There are no pre-qualifications required. This is a first come first serve clinic. Our desire is to help those in need of these services in Bozeman and the surrounding communities. We will serve all those who come to this clinic to the best of our ability expecting nothing in return and connect them to further services already established in the community.

GOALS:  
We will partner with local city officials to promote the AMEN Free Clinic to meet community needs and to connect patients to current services offered locally.
To develop a partnership with the local Dental Association, Dental Hygiene Association, Dental Assistant Association, Optometry Association, and Medical Association to promote and provide volunteers for the clinic.
To partner with local and state universities/colleges that can provide students/residents to participate in vision, dental and medical departments along with their instructors.
Create partnerships with local organizations that can provide on-site resources and follow up resources for the patients.
To recruit 300+ dental/ vision/medical and other volunteers per day to provide services free of charge.
To create additional partnerships to provide extra services like cholesterol screenings, limited prescription services, transportation to the clinic and additional dental services such as root canals and crowns.

Planned Services Offered:

Other Services Offered:
Chiropractic, Massage and Physical Therapy, Lifestyle Counseling, Pastor Counseling, Hair Cuts, Healthy living/nutrition education.

Free Clinic Information
We are bringing a 2-day AMEN Free Clinic to Bozeman to serve the residents of this area by offering FREE Medical, Dental and Vision services. AMEN is a non-profit group out of California that brings the infrastructure for the mobile clinic to cities all over the world.  We will hire AMEN to bring all the equipment needed to run this clinic including approximately 40+ dental and exam chairs, several mobile x-ray machines, autorefractor, retinal camera’s and other ancillary equipment needed to serve approximately 500 people per day.  AMEN brings 6 to 8 staff to assist with organization and training of both lay and medical/dental volunteers. Initially, patients undergo a brief wellness exam, blood glucose testing and are then directed to the area of greatest need. Root canals are generally referred to outside clinics or dentists. We invite other local organizations to participate in the clinic and have their services available for patients beyond the clinic dates. Basic haircuts, along with health talks and information will be shared as people move through the line.

Approximate minimum volunteer count per day:

Interested? Please go to  www.amenbozeman.org for volunteer and program info.

The Montana State University Library has been named the 2018 Library of the Year from the Montana Library Association. The award was presented at the Montana Library Association’s awards banquet held Friday, April 13, at the Best Western Plus GranTree Inn in Bozeman.

The library was recognized for a host of accomplishments, including its leadership on the TRAILS consortium, the annual Tribal College Librarians Institute that MSU has run for nearly 30 years and the library’s work with the Ivan Doig archive.

“The incredible work of our staff and faculty has been recognized by their peers across the state,” said Kenning Arlitsch, dean of the MSU Library. “We are grateful for this honor.”

The MSU Library is part of the Treasure State Academic Information and Library Services, or TRAILS, a consortium of higher education academic libraries in Montana that is designed to provide better services to users statewide while avoiding costs that libraries would pay in contracts negotiated individually. TRAILS leverages its member libraries’ buying power so that high-quality resources can be accessed by more students, faculty and staff across the state. TRAILS currently has 24 member institutions in Montana. Collectively, it owns more than 4 million library items and serves more than 49,500 students, faculty and researchers. Seventeen of those members also migrated to a shared library management system in 2016, putting in place an infrastructure that will support expanded future cooperative efforts.

The MSU Library’s leadership on TRAILS was singled out for commendation by MSU’s accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, during its 2017 campus visit as part of MSU’s accreditation process.

Arlitsch noted that the TRAILS consortium – which launched in 2016 – holds “tremendous potential” as a shared service that will benefit students and faculty who learn and conduct research in the state of Montana.

“Consortia allow libraries to develop shared expertise and capacity to serve users on a larger and more sophisticated scale,” Arlitsch said.”

The MSU Library founded the Tribal College Librarians Institute in 1990. The institute is designed to provide continuing education, professional development and networking opportunities for tribal college librarians and librarians who serve tribal college students. It is recognized as the one of the best development programs in North America for librarians serving native people. The 2017 institute brought together more than 60 presenters and tribal college participants from 13 states and two Canadian provinces.

“The rewards (of the Tribal College Librarians Institute) are reaped by the students and faculty of Montana’s tribal colleges,” said Jan Zauha, outreach and humanities librarian with the MSU Library, in a nomination letter she wrote to the Montana Library Association Awards Committee.

Finally, the MSU Library was chosen in 2015 to house the archive of the acclaimed writer Ivan Doig following a joint proposal the MSU Library and the MSU College of Letters and Science submitted. After the archive was acquired, library staff and faculty organized and digitized the 183 boxes of material, making them available to the public in less than one year.

Then, as part of its efforts to promote the archive and share it with people throughout the state, the library created an exhibit about the archive at the Big Sky Country State Fair. The library also participated in the “Doig Days of Summer” celebration in Dupuyer, and – in collaboration with the College of Letters and Science and MSU’s Center for Western Lands and Peoples – it launched a three-day symposium on the MSU campus and in White Sulphur Springs. Titled “Doig Country: Imagining Montana and the West,” the symposium brought together hundreds of scholars, readers, teachers, students and community members. Zauha noted that one community member who attended the symposium called it a “rare chance to interact with MSU, and such a generous gift to Montanans.”

The MSU Library previously won the Library of the Year award in 2003.

More information about the TRAILS consortium is available at trailsmt.org/. For more about the Tribal College Librarians Institute, visit lib.montana.edu/tcli/. The Ivan Doig archive at MSU is available online at ivandoig.montana.edu/.