past faculty RESEARCH
Each year, the Montana Water Center awards funding to Montana University System faculty through the Faculty Seed Grant Program. See below for more information on past Faculty Seed Grant projects.
2021-2022 FACULTY SEED GRANTS
dr. Brian Chaffin: The Next Generation of Water Policy to Support Farms and Fish in Montana
The combination of uncertain water supplies due to a changing climate, and an increased demand for different uses of water than have typically been prioritized under a system of prior appropriation water rights, is at odds with state water policies currently in place to navigate conflicts between water uses and water users in Montana. In the next several decades, Montana’s water policies, and the agencies that administer them, will be forced to adapt to changing biophysical and social dynamics. Conflicts over water are likely to increase in the next decade and beyond, and likely in places that have not yet experienced water shortage or conflict. There is a pressing need to develop policies and corresponding economic tools that can be applied at the state level, but that are also flexible enough to encourage application at the local, watershed, or stream-reach scale to solve specific challenges between water abstraction and use, and stream health and integrity. Through this research, student and faculty researchers leverage previous water policy work pursued at the University of Montana on the spatial distribution of agricultural and instream flow water rights in Montana to investigate innovative policy solutions that the state and local entities could adopt to navigate the future scarcities and inevitable conflicts between water extracted for irrigation and water left instream for aquatic habitat, water quality, and stream integrity.
Dr. Brian Chaffin is an associate professor of Water Policy and Governance in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. Dr. Chaffin’s work focuses on complex questions of water policy and governance with the broad aim of disentangling elements of the human-water relationship to better understand potential pathways for managing water sustainably in the future.
Drs. Sarah Church and Adam Sigler: Diffusion of information from volunteer water monitoring and the effect on public trust in science
Volunteer monitoring has been widely recognized as a tool for engaging the public in science and enhancing stewardship outcomes across resource types and scientific disciplines. In particular, volunteer monitoring of water resources has been embraced by state regulatory agencies, local non-profit groups, and university Extension professionals as a means to achieve the goal of Fishable and Swimmable rivers and streams laid out in the U.S. CWA of 1972. Volunteer monitoring programs have been active in Montana for at least 20 years, and the number of programs has been growing steadily over the last 10 years. While these programs are focused on direct water quality and quantity related questions, they invariably also have public engagement goals infused throughout their programming. This research project will investigate how characteristics of volunteer monitoring programs influence diffusion of knowledge and trust in scientific data. The project will involve case studies of volunteer water monitoring programs across Montana using a variety of social science methods in order to gain a complete understanding of the context, goals, and outcomes of each program.
Dr. Sarah P. Church is an Assistant Professor in Planning, in the Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University. She researches human dimensions of water resources across urban and working landscapes, particularly the role of social learning in increasing environmental knowledge and influencing behavior change. Dr. Adam Sigler is an assistant professor in the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science at Montana State University, as well as the Water Quality Specialist for MSU Extension. Dr. Sigler’s work and research range from water and nitrogen dynamics in dryland agriculture to building water quality monitoring capacity and creating educational programming for private well and septic owners.
drs. Danielle Ulrich and brian smithers: The effect of whitebark pine forests on snowpack and streamflow
Forests influence regional hydrology by influencing snow accumulation and melt, the partitioning of precipitation into runoff and transpiration, and therefore the timing, quality, and quantity of available water for downstream ecosystems. High-elevation tree species such as whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) may have a disproportionate effect on the water cycle and water storage because they grow at the highest forest elevations where snowfall is greatest. However, warming temperatures have led to reduced snowpack levels, increased drought and wildfire frequency, increased outbreaks of forest insects and pathogens, and elevated forest mortality. Whitebark pine’s effect on hydrological processes, particularly snowpack and streamflow, remains poorly understood, limiting our ability to predict the impacts of future climate-related disturbance on watershed hydrology and ecosystems. This study therefore investigates how whitebark pine forests affect snowpack accumulation and loss and streamflow timing, quality, and quantity. We hypothesize that whitebark pine forests protect snowpack, increase snow retention, and slow snowmelt and runoff, thereby prolonging streamflow later into the growing season. Delayed snowmelt is likely to affect stream water quality through the maintenance of lower water temperatures, higher levels of dissolved oxygen (DO), and lower specific (ionic) conductance longer into the growing season.
Dr. Danielle Ulrich and Dr. Brian Smithers are assistant professors in the Department of Ecology at Montana State University. Dr. Ulrich’s research and teaching interests include plant physiological ecology, plant responses to environmental stress, and climate change. Dr. Smithers’ research and teaching interests include forest and plant ecophysiology and sub-alpine forest and alpine community ecology.