In this episode, we’re in the flow with Dr. Ke Wu, a professor in UM’s department of mathematical sciences. Ke reads “Ascending the Heron Tower” by Wang Zhihuan, which propels our conversation about her early years in China, her winding path to math education, her journey to Montana, and her work to optimize access to math for learners from diverse backgrounds.

Ep. 38: A Conversation with Dr. Ke Wu on Ascending the Heron Tower and Humanizing Mathematics

This episode celebrates the success of two recent graduates of UM’s program in Public Health, Julie Cahoon, who completed her Masters last December, and D’Shane Barnett, who completed his doctorate in Spring 22. Listeners will hear about their academic and research journeys, which demonstrate the value of resilience in pursuing their graduate degrees. They share details on how their team deployed Indigenous Research Methods to draw on existing cultural strengths in Native communities to create public health interventions on addiction.

Ep. 67: D’Shane Barnett, Julie Cahoon: Models of Cultural Strength in Native Research Collaborations

In this episode, Confluence interviews Michelle Terwilliger, Ph.D. candidate in Forestry and Conservation Sciences at UM. Terwilliger is winner of the P.E.O. award which honors female graduate students making a distinctive contribution to education. In our conversation, Terwilliger discusses her work with Montana EPSCoR where she manages a statewide research program. Terwilliger also describes her love for research, the complexity of infinitely variable human beings, and the community of researchers at UM. This episode is the second in a 3-part series exploring the power of collaborative work in natural resource conservation and highlighting the role of three dynamic, independent female scholars at UM.

Ep. 69: Michelle Terwillger (Ph.D.) Forestry and Conservation Sciences

In Episode 70, Confluence talks with Dr. Elizabeth Metcalf, the Joel Meier Distinguished Professor of Wildland Management and Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs at UM. Dr. Metcalf shares about her past research in recreation conflict, her current work in developing recreation plans with rural Montana communities, and how UM has changed over the past decade.

This episode is the third in a 3-part series exploring the power of collaborative work in natural resource conservation and highlighting the role of three dynamic, independent female scholars at UM.

Ep. 70: A Conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Metcalf on Recreation Conflict and Planning

In this episode, hear from Jenny Sheets, M.F.A. in creative nonfiction writing, about deciding to pursue the degree, finding herself at "writing camp" and how the university has supported her side project as a startup founder.

Ep. 2: Jenny Sheets on Storytelling, Nonfiction, and Launching Her Storysquares App

In this episode, hear from Cynthia Coleman, M.S. in the Department of Society and Conservation and a fellow in the BRIDGES program. Born and raised in San Bernandino, California, Coleman is also an enrolled member of the native village of Unalakleet, Alaska. Coleman came to the University of Montana to study how agricultural hemp contributes to tribal sovereignty. She will enter the Forest and Conservation Sciences Ph.D. program in the spring of 2020 at the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, where she will be a Sloan Scholarship recipient.

Ep. 3: Cynthia Coleman on a Science Ground in an Indigenous Culture of the Land

In this episode, hear from Aimee Paxton, M.A. in acting at UM's School of Theatre & Dance, on her decision to come to UM, taking on her biggest stage role, and learning from a 'mad scientist'.

Ep. 4: Aimee Paxton on Acting, Theater, and Being Alma Winemiller

In this episode, hear from Eric Palm, a Ph. D. student in the wildlife biology program at the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. His research focuses on woodland caribou in northwestern North America—roughly from Alberta to Alaska. In his dissertation, Palm’s goal is to understand how both human and fire disturbance will affect caribou populations and their habitat selection. Palm also works on NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) and was named a Wildlife Conservation Society-Canada Weston Fellow in 2017. He will defend his thesis in December of 2020.

Ep. 14: Eric Palm on Caribou, Climate Change, and Putting Backpacks on Birds

We celebrate our excellent faculty and our talented graduate students whose hard work, creativity, and intellectual firepower drive the research and teaching mission of The University of Montana.