Scholars
Michael Ceballos was accepted into the Sloan Scholars program for fall 2006 as a doctoral student in the integrated microbiology and biochemistry program in the Division of Biological Sciences. Michael is from a reserve called Saint Catherine of the Tepehuanes in California. His mother's side of the family is Creek, Eastern Cherokee and Choctaw. Michael received a teaching assistantship from the IGERT program for academic year 2006-2007.
Kelly Crispen was admitted to the master’s program in organismal biology and ecology fall semester 2007. Kelly is an enrolled member of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua.
Kelly received her bachelor’s degree in aquatic wildlife biology from The University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Resource Conservation. While at the University she worked with the Missoula branch of Fish, Wildlife and Parks as an intern for fisheries biologists. During her internship there she worked on restoring a portion of the North Fork of the Blackfoot River by replanting native surveys and fish identification. Since her graduation she has worked as a salmonid ecology field researcher in northwestern British Columbia on the Salmonid Rivers Observatory Network Project on the Skeena and Kiplope rivers. Kelly is currently working with her advisor Professor Jack Stanford at the Flathead Biological Research Station on Flathead Lake.
Flo Gardipee was admitted to the doctoral program in wildlife biology fall semester 2007 following completion of her master’s degree in that program. Flo is a tribally enrolled member of the Eastern Band Cherokee. Flo is interested in developing a career in the area of wildlife infectious diseases. A professional career as a biologist involved with conservation of threatened or endangered wildlife populations is her ultimate goal. Flo has received numerous grants for her research on bison in Yellowstone Park.
Katie Hoffman was admitted to the doctoral program in neuroscience fall semester 2007. Katie is a member of the Blackfeet tribe. Katie received a bachelor’s of science degree in microbiology with a second major in psychology from The University of Montana in 2006. Katie grew up in a small town in eastern Montana and was valedictorian of her high school. Katie is interested in the pathology associated with cellular pathways. Her focus is the cellular models of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and stroke. Upon completion of her doctoral work at The University of Montana, she would like to continue working as a post-doc on G protein-coupled receptors. Eventually, she would like to fund her own lab at a secondary educational institution where she would be able to return to teaching while continuing her research on neurodegenerative diseases.
Ruth Short Bull was admitted to the master’s degree in organismal biology and ecology fall semester 2007. She is an enrolled member of the Hidatsa tribe. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota-Grand Forks in 1999. As a student research assistant with a biology faculty, she conducted projects that helped her to see the connectedness of the environment and ecosystems on the reservation and how research could address the issues reservations face. Knowing how few women are in the field of science and even fewer American Indian women, she wants to leave a legacy not only for her family, but also through her future work, leave a legacy for her people.
Wendy Running Crane was admitted to the master’s of interdisciplinary program at The University of Montana majoring in statistics with a minor in sociology and Indian law. Wendy is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet/Haida/Tlingit tribes. She graduated from The University of Montana in fall 2007 with a major in sociology. She chose these fields because she believe she will be able to apply them to research that will benefit all of society, but especially Blackfeet Indian society. She has great expectations that what she learns will be useful to her when she returns home to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She believes that empirical research will bring Native people the knowledge needed to answer some of the challenges facing them.
John Gilham was admitted to the College of Forestry and Resource Conservation in the spring of 2008. He is enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in Wyoming, and a descendant of the Blackfeet Tribe. He received a bachelors of science degree in resource conservation from The University of Montana in August 2003. Prior to entering his graduate program, he was chair of the Department of Forestry at Blackfeet Community College. In that position he was responsible for both the development of a forestry curriculum and for teaching forestry courses. His past work experience as a wildland firefighter, fuels specialist and forester have been very valuable in helping him to meet his responsibilities as an educator. Upon completion of his graduate degree, he hopes to either continue teaching forestry or work for a land management agency.
Kodi Augare was admitted to the College of Forestry and Resource Conservation in the spring of 2008. She is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. She received a bachelor of science degree in forestry from Salish Kootenai College. Kodi was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Forestry Department as a co-op student stationed in Browning, Montana. She has been working on a plan of action for a Whitebark Pine Restoration Project which is greatly needed on the Blackfeet Reservation. She has identified areas of concern to be addressed in this project such as cultural, social and ecological relationships interacting together by the restoration of the Whitebark Pine. She believes this project is her cultural duty as a Blackfeet Tribal member.
Vernon Grant was admitted to the health and human performance program for fall 2008. He is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. He received a bachelor’s of science degree in health and human performance from The University of Montana in spring 2008. Exercise and nutrition have always been an interest of his. He chose health and human performance because he wanted to gain a better understanding of the human body, how to train it, and how to fuel it. His educational goal is to earn a master’s degree in exercise science. His newest passion in this field is disease prevention. As a graduate student, he hopes to study diabetes and methods for combating this disease, particularly among Native American and other minority populations.
Michael O’Brien was admitted to the wildlife biology program for fall 2008. Michael is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He grew up on his grandfather’s ranch north of Poplar on the Fort Peck Reservation. He received a bachelor’s of science degree in wildlife biology from The University of Montana in spring 2008. He wants to pursue a career that will allow him to continue to be involved in research, but would allow him the opportunity to try to establish outreach programs to educate the community, especially young students, about conservation issues.
Jeffrey Ross was admitted to the doctoral program in forestry for fall 2008. Jeffrey is a member of the Ojibway tribe. He received a bachelor of science in resource conservation from The University of Montana in spring 2007 and a master’s degree in forest science from Yale University in May 2008. Jeffrey’s research interest is in terrestrial ecosystem ecology and ecosystem process modeling. It is his goal upon completion of his doctorate to pursue a tenure-track faculty position within a biological science or forestry program at a university that has a significant Native American student body. It is his objective to empower Native American students by providing a culturally sensitive yet rigorous education within the natural sciences in anticipation of producing competent, resourceful scientists and tribal land managers.
Meredith Berthelson is a tribally enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana. She was formerly the chair of the Department of Mathematics at Blackfeet Community College. She entered the interdisciplinary master’s degree at The University of Montana in Fall 2008. Meredith’s emphasis is mathematics and she is interested in developing mathematics curriculum for Native students.
Harold Kihega is SPIP/Comanche. He is enrolled in the doctoral program in integrative microbiology and biochemistry. He served for five years at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (Albuquerque, NM) where he developed the Biological Sciences curriculum for all biology courses. His interests are in better understanding the actions of microbes and the influence of those interactions on microbial community structure – particularly, in pathogenic systems. Harold hopes to serve as a culturally-relevant near-peer mentor to Native undergraduates in his career.
Robin Stewart is a member of the Crow Indian Tribe in Montana. He was admitted to the master’s program in forestry spring semester 2009. He received a bachelor of science degree in resource conservation in the spring of 2008. His career goals are to combine his educational background and his skills to become a key individual working for various tribal nations. He has worked for the Crow Tribe and for the Flathead Indian National as a forester trainee. His long-term goal is to return back to the Crow Reservation with the foundation of working for other tribes.
Michael Kohl is affiliated with the Fort Peck Sioux and Assiniboine tribes in Montana. He will enter the master’s program in Wildlife Biology in the fall of 2009. While working as a technician on the North Hills elk project out of Missoula, Montana, he was encouraged by University of Montana faculty to take part in his own research. He presented his results at the Wildlife Society’s 15th Annual Conference in Miami, Florida. This experience helped him decide that he wanted to obtain a graduate degree in wildlife biology and pursue a career in research.
Michael Price is a tribal college faculty member from Leech Lake Tribal College. He is a member of the Anishinabe tribe. Michael was admitted into the College of Forestry and Resource Conservation as a doctoral student in the fall of 2008. He is currently working in the lab of Nobel Prize Winner Professor Steve Running. Michael is studying remote sensing and his current research is on wild rice. He is enjoying his doctoral program as well as enjoying raising his son Chase in Missoula, Montana.