photo Kelly Gorham

A renowned Montana State University professor who is one of the world’s leading experts in paleontology and who has inspired many to follow him in the field, is retiring.

Jack Horner, Montana University System Regents Professor of Paleontology and Curator of Paleontology at Museum of the Rockies, announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2016.

Horner has brought distinction to MSU and the Museum of the Rockies, and he will be deeply missed, said Shelley McKamey, executive director of the Museum of the Rockies.

“During his 33-year tenure as curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, Jack and his team of staff and graduate students have amassed the largest collection of dinosaur fossils from the United States,” she said. “He opened the science of paleontology to the general public and sparked the imagination of countless aspiring paleontologists.”

McKamey said a public event celebrating Horner’s career is being planned for early summer, with the date to be announced.

Horner is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost paleontologists and was a leader in the now-common theory that dinosaurs were warm-blooded social creatures more like birds than cold-blooded animals like lizards. He is also well-known for serving as a scientific consultant to the popular “Jurassic Park” movies directed by Steven Spielberg, and his TED Talk, “Building a Dinosaur from a Chicken,” has been viewed more than 2 million times. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” award.

In the 1970s, Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, which led to the understanding of dinosaur parenting. He discovered and named the duck-billed herbivore dinosaur Maiasaura, which means “good mother lizard.”

In 2013, Horner was awarded the Romer-Simpson Medal, the highest honor given by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, for his lifetime of achievement in vertebrate paleontology. Horner was nominated for the award by longtime collaborator and University of California, Berkley professor Kevin Padian, who wrote, “It is difficult to imagine someone who, rising from such considerable obstacles, has achieved so much, given back so much to the profession, stimulated so much new investigation and supported so many younger colleagues and students.”

Earlier this year, Horner was recognized as one of the world’s top 24 scientists by Newton Graphic Science Magazine along with top researchers in science and medicine, including Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Fert.

A national search for Horner’s replacement will be launched in late summer or early fall of 2016, after strategic planning for the museum’s paleontology department that will include opportunity for input from all stakeholders in the museum, university and community, McKamey said.

“It will not be easy to replace Jack,” she said. “The Museum of the Rockies will take the time to do it thoughtfully and deliberately. “

Stock up Thanksgiving grocery shopping at The Bozeman Winter Farmers’ Market continues this Saturday, November 21st!

The Bozeman Winter Farmers' Market continues in its eighth season on Saturday, November 21st, 2015. Do your grocery shopping at the Bozeman Winter Farmers’ Market! Shoppers can find hot breakfast, coffee, eggs, cheese, artisan meats, fermented products, honey, soaps & salves, wool, and in the Emerson Cultural Center WEAVER ROOM from 9 a.m. to noon. The market dates for 2015-2016 are: November 21, December 19, January 9, 16 & 30, February 6 & 20, March 5 & 19, and April 2 & 16. You’ll be surprised on how much Montana has to offer during the fall, winter, and spring season!

At this weekend’s market, shoppers can stock up on groceries for a perfectly local Thanksgiving meal as well as shop at the Emerson Center’s annual Holiday Bazaar.

The BWFM is sponsored by Downtown, Bozeman, Community Food Co-op, Gallatin Valley Botanical, Montana Parent, Rocky Mountain Gardening, Bozeman Magazine, and Broken Ground. Join us for another season of fine local foods!  Who’s your farmer?

For more information, visit www.bozemanwintermarket.com or contact Stephanie Archer, Market Manager, at wintermarketbozeman@gmail.com.

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sits “Small Business Saturday”, a day dedicated to helping small businesses and their communities.  This November 28th is Small Business Saturday, a day to celebrate and support the local small businesses that boost the economy and invigorate neighborhoods across the country.  Downtown Bozeman and our over 200 small businesses are proud to take part in Small Business Saturday, and we’re encouraging everyone to “Shop Small” in Downtown Bozeman and everywhere on November 28th.

In honor of Small Business Saturday, there will be FREE PARKING in the Downtown Parking Garage for the entire day of November 28th!

Why Shop Small?
For every $100 spent at local businesses, $68 returns to the community.
Small businesses employ half of all private sector employees.
Small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms.
For every year over the last decade, 60-80% of new jobs were generated by small business.
The money you spend locally actually pays off for you.  When you shop small, more of your money is reinvested into local schools, jobs, taxes, wages, and other communal needs.
Just last year, 370+ advocacy organizations, 160+ corporations, and elected officials in all 50 states and Washington D.C. declared their support for Small Business Saturday.
To date, more than 3.3 million Facebook users “liked” the Small Business Saturday

*Note: “Why Shop Small?” information taken from: www.smallbusinesssaturday.com

Visit www.downtownbozeman.org or www.shopsmall.com to learn about other ways to get involved and support your favorite small businesses. Thank you for supporting Small Business Saturday 2015 and Bozeman Small Businesses November 28th and throughout the year!

For the first time in its history, Montana State University will hold a ceremony to light its iconic Montana Hall in the heart of campus at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2. The lighting ceremony is open to the public, and students, faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors and friends are invited to attend. 

Known as “Lights On Montana Hall,” the event will take place at the Alumni Plaza and Bobcat Spirit statue just north of Montana Hall. It will feature carols and MSU’s Madrigal Singers, a welcome and brief remarks from MSU President Waded Cruzado, draft horses, drum line and a countdown by MSU cheerleaders before thousands of festive lights illuminate Montana Hall. Refreshments will be provided.

The new, annual tradition is designed to build a sense of community among students, faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors and friends, according to Cruzado.

“An important part of the university experience for our students is tradition,” Cruzado said. “During this dark time of the year, when students are preparing for finals, we wanted to inaugurate a new tradition for them, and for all of Montana State University’s faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors and friends. Lights On Montana Hall will be a historic, celebratory event – one to look forward to year after year.”

Parking for the event will be available on campus for free after 5 p.m. in the East Linfield, West Linfield, Greenhouse, Deer Street, South 12^th Street and Antelope parking lots. A map of the MSU parking lots may be found at http://www.montana.edu/parking/documents/ParkingMap.pdf.

Built in 1896, Montana Hall is one of the campus’ central landmarks. Formerly called Old Main, it is the second oldest structure on campus. 

For more information about Lights On Montana Hall, contact Maggie Hammett at (406) 994-2343 or maggie.hammett@montana.edu.

A previously undiscovered dinosaur species, first uncovered and documented by an adjunct professor at Montana State University, showcases an evolutionary transition from an earlier duckbilled species to that group’s descendants, according to a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

The paper was written by that professor, Elizabeth Freedman Fowler, and her mentor, MSU paleontologist Jack Horner, Montana University System Regents Professor and curator of paleontology at MSU’s Museum of the Rockies. Their findings highlight how the new species of duckbilled dinosaur neatly fills a gap that had existed between an ancestral form with no crest and a descendant with a larger crest, providing key insight into the evolution of elaborate display structures in these gigantic extinct herbivores.

“It is really gratifying to see Dr. Freedman Fowler’s work, which is essentially her dissertation, published in PLOS ONE,” Horner said. “It is confirmation that she is an excellent paleontologist, helping further cement MSU’s reputation for offering graduate students a chance to be part of something extraordinary.”

In their paper, Freedman Fowler and Horner named the dinosaur Probrachylophosaurus bergei and suggest it is a previously missing link between a preceding species, Acristavus, which lived about 81 million years ago, and later form Brachylophosaurus, which lived about 77.5 million years ago.

“The crest of Probrachylophosaurus is small and triangular, and would have only poked up a little bit on the top of the head, above the eyes,” said Freedman Fowler, who received her doctorate in paleontology from MSU’s Earth Sciences Department in 2015. She also serves as curator of paleontology at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum in Malta.

The other bones in its skull are very similar to those of Acristavus and Brachylophosaurus, Freedman Fowler said. However, Acristavus does not have a crest; the top of its skull is flat, while Brachylophosaurus has a large flat paddle-shaped crest that completely covers the back of the top of its skull.

“Probrachylophosaurus is therefore exciting because its age – 79 million years ago – is in between Acristavus and Brachylophosaurus, so we would predict that its skull and crest would be intermediate between these species. And it is,” Freedman Fowler said. “It is a perfect example of evolution within a single lineage of dinosaurs over millions of years.”

During the summer of 2007, Freedman Fowler was leading a crew from the Museum of the Rockies in excavating a bed of earth near the town of Rudyard in north central Montana. The site contained fossils of duckbilled dinosaurs. A visiting school group discovered bones poking out of an old quarry originally worked by a group from the University of California Berkeley in 1981.

Horner recognized that some of the new bones were parts of a skull, which is the most crucial part of the skeleton for identifying the species. Hopeful that more of the skull might be found, he asked Freedman Fowler to switch her crew over to the old Berkeley quarry to see what else might emerge.

“The first bones we uncovered were the pelvis and parts of the legs; which were so large it led to the site being given the nickname ‘Superduck,’” Freedman Fowler said.

After returning to the lab to clean and identify everything the crew had collected, Freedman Fowler and Horner discovered they had most of the skull and postcranium of a new kind of dinosaur.

A nearby site also revealed a fragmentary juvenile of the transitional Probrachylophosaurus, which suggests that successive generations of the Brachylophosaurus lineage grew larger crests by changing the timing or pace of crest development during growth into adulthood. This change in the timing or rate of development is called heterochrony, a process which is being increasingly recognized as a major driving force in evolution.

“Heterochrony is key to understanding how evolution actually occurs in these dinosaurs, but to study heterochrony we need large collections of dinosaurs with multiple growth stages, and a really precise time framework for the rock formations that we collect them from,” said Freedman Fowler.

It is research that has become increasingly possible with recent technical advances in the radiometric dating of rocks coupled with increased intensity of fossil collecting in North America, she added.

“The Late Cretaceous of western North America is the only place in the world where we can do these kinds of intense paleobiological studies on dinosaurs,” Freedman Fowler said. “Nowhere else combines the precise dating of rocks coupled with an exceptional fossil record that has been so extensively collected.”

Horner agreed, adding that he’d begun digging fossils in this particular location at the beginning of his career.

“It is really exciting to see that we are still making significant discoveries there,” Horner said. “And it’s great to see our graduate students taking the lead in pushing for even more.”

The description of Probrachylophosaurus bergei detailed in PLOS ONE is just the first in a series of papers Freedman Fowler and Horner expect to publish based on specimens resulting from the fieldwork in the Judith River Formation.

Organizers of a conference at Montana State University are seeking female professionals who can present and serve as role models for junior high-aged girls interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. The annual conference, called Expanding Your Horizons, takes place Saturday, April 9, on the MSU campus. More than 200 girls from throughout Montana will participate in engaging STEM activities ranging from robotics to fossils to astronomy.

Volunteers who would like to share their expertise and enthusiasm on a STEM topic will develop a 40-minute workshop and hands-on activity. Training is offered for new presenters. The event is designed to expose young women to exciting STEM careers and encourage them to pursue STEM courses in high school and college.

Businesses and organizations that are interested in financial or in-kind sponsorships are also encouraged to participate.

EYH is a national program that, since 1992, is hosted locally by MSU Extended University’s outreach program.

The deadline for applying to be a presenter is Friday, Jan. 15. For more information, contact Nicole Soll with MSU Extended University at (406) 994-6633 or Nicole.soll1@montana.edu or visit http://eu.montana.edu/eyh/.

Paint your storefront, hang Bobcat flags or signs and/or showcase Bobcat merchandise in the windows.

Businesses that are decorated will have the chance to win prizes, including tickets to Bobcat basketball games, MSU gear, Bobcat cookies, stickers and much more. Windows must be painted and decorated by Wednesday, November 18, to be eligible for prizes. Volunteers on behalf of MSU will visit local businesses on November 20 to pass out prizes to those who show exceptional Bobcat spirit.

And join in on other Cat/Griz activities:November 7–21
The 16th annual Can the Griz Food Drive Help us Can the Griz, AGAIN!
Donate your non-perishable food items at collection locations around the area. Monetary donations may be made by texting CAN to 444999. Visit www.canthegriz.com for more information.

November 21 Bobcat Football vs. Montana, 12:05p.m.

Intermountain Opera Bozeman is now accepting entries for its 4th annual poster contest. The contest is presented in conjunction with IOB’s upcoming production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The winning artist will receive a $500 grand prize and his or her art may be used to promote the May 2016 production of Don Giovanni. The contest is open to the general public, and all ages and levels of expertise are encouraged to enter.

 
Don Giovanni stands apart as Mozart’s boldest masterpiece, with ample creative inspiration to draw from. The story, based on the Don Juan legend, follows Spanish nobleman Don Giovanni as he travels through Europe seducing women and leaving behind him a trail of broken hearts, broken promises, and broken lives ending in a shocking, unforgettable finale. All artistic mediums are acceptable, provided they meet the requirements listed in the entry application.

 
Mailed entries must be received no later than Monday, January 22, 2016. Hand-delivered entries will be accepted from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from now until Monday, January 22, 2016 (Please call 406-587-2889 to make sure the office is open).
 
The Intermountain Opera Board of Directors and a panel of local judges will select the winning poster. The winning artist will be notified by February 1, 2016 and announced on our website and Facebook page after notification.
 
Additional information and entry application can be found on our website, www.IntermountainOpera.org or call the opera office at 406-587-2889.

The locally owned Hilton Garden Inn Bozeman will be building a “Life Size Gingerbread House” again this year to generate food donations for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank!

The Gingerbread House should be completed and ready for donations starting Monday, November 30th or at the latest Tuesday, December 1st through the Christmas/New Year Holiday.
 
This is the third year Hilton Garden Inn Bozeman has built a life-size gingerbread house for the Holiday Season, the house itself is all made from scratch by Executive Chef, Todd Christensen and our Chief Engineer, Cal Hultman!

This project has been a great way to bring HGI employees and their families together as well as some of our hotel guests to decorate the Gingerbread house, and when it is finished, it will  hold canned goods to be donated to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank!

 

After the families and children come in to decorate, the Executive Chef and Chief Engineer have a few days to get the pieces put together, fill the windowsills with candy, put some “smoke” in the chimney, set up the white picket fence…all necessary details when building a home!

The final product will be displayed in the Hilton Garden Inn Bozeman lobby for the entire month of December and into early January. Please bring a can of food and enjoy Life Size Gingerbread House this December!

An experimental U.S. military rocket failed shortly after launch from Hawaii Tuesday night destroying all 13 small research satellites aboard, including one developed in part at Montana State University.
 
The U. S Navy did not say what went wrong with the launch Tuesday evening, but the website Spaceflight Now reported that videos of the flight showed the 67-foot Super Strypi rocket that carried the satellites veered out of control and broke apart about a minute after liftoff from the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Aboard was a small satellite designed and developed by a handful of space professionals and students in MSU’s Space Science and Engineering Laboratory. Called PrintSat, the innovative satellite utilized 3-D printing technology to determine if the technology can be used in larger spacecraft to lower manufacturing costs.

David Klumpar, director of MSU’s Space Science and Engineering Laboratory, said MSU students and staff who worked on the satellite were disappointed at the launch failure, but were determined to rebuild within the year.
 
“This is just a part of the space business and our students learn (unfortunately, some times the hard way, like last night) that no matter how well we do our job on the satellite, there are other systems that are beyond our control that also have to perform flawlessly,” Klumpar said.
 
“We will not be deterred by this loss. I already am working plans to rebuild the satellite and fly it again; perhaps in a little less than a year.”
 
PrintSat was about the size of a one quart juice box and weighed less than one kilogram. Klumpar said while previous satellites have been milled of standardized metal that is cut down and formed, the PrintSat team, including students and staff that work in MSU’s SSEL started with powdered polymers and a 3-D printer and built-up the PrintSat in a process called additive manufacturing.

Klumpar said NASA has flown spacecraft with a few “bits and pieces of 3-D printed materials, but PrintSat was the first to use 3-D printed polymer technology to build the major structural element of the satellite and its mechanisms.
 
The Super Strypi launcher that failed Tuesday was developed by Sandia National Laboratories with assistance from the University of Hawaii as a low-cost, quick-reaction rocket for satellite launches. It was the first orbital attempt from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The facility has been used for sub-orbital flights, but Tuesday’s launch was the first time that it has been used to launch a satellite into orbit.

In addition to PrintSat, the mission included eight small CubeSats developed by Ames Research Center in California that all carried an MSU-built science instrument that was to test whether networks of small satellites could do jobs frequently now done by larger spacecraft.

Klumpar said the PrintSat is the ninth satellite for which MSU has played a major role. In all, about 500 students have gone through MSU’s SSEL in its 15 years of building satellites. Currently, there are about 20 students enrolled in the MSU program.