William R. (Bud) and Jane Buckhouse Moore Graduate Research Endowment

The Fund will support: Research projects by graduate or post-graduate level students who are focusing their studies on the Northern Rocky Mountain – Crown of the Continent bioregion. Areas of study include programs focused on Resource Conservation, Systems Ecology and Society and Conservation. Although the funds will be administered through the College of Forestry and Conservation, research support for selected student projects is open to application not only by students in the College of Forestry and Conservation, but also to students in the Division of Biological Sciences (excluding study of human biology and medical technology). Awards will be based on a merit research award application process. However, if two or more research projects have equal merit, then the award should be made to the student applicant who has the most financial need based on the Financial Aid need analysis. Applicants should have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (B" average) with a good academic record but, above all, should have a clear view of how their project connects to one or more of the fields listed below. Applicants should be motivated by a deep respect for the land that sustains us. Studies should include:

• Enhancing our knowledge of native species and their connections and dependencies (in particular, endangered, threatened or potentially threatened species, or, inversely, invasives and their control).

• Understanding, protecting, restoring and/or expanding wilderness (examples from Bud Moore’s work, including the proposed Great Burn Wilderness area, the proposed Swan Front addition to the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, Monture Creek, etc. These examples can be found in the William R. Moore Collection at the Mansfield Library Archives.)

• Assessing the values of wilderness, wildness and naturalness

• Forest ecology, soils and watershed

• Connectivity and scale (from landscapes to micro-habitats) – all things are inter-related

• Wildness and spirituality – protect and sustain the spirit of place

• Place-based preservation – working toward concrete results with the local community

• Holistic sustainability of our natural lands (not just individual resources but the place as a whole)

• Systems Ecology – maintaining ecological integrity (sustaining and protecting natural processes)

• “Eco-cruising” and Eco-system Management (in particular with a focus on small private forest owners)

• Environmental ethics

• Carbon storage and climate change

• Interdisciplinary studies for a sustainable future (for example: education and environmental conservation, the economics of natural values, energy conservation and natural resources, outreach and communication on ecology and the environment…)

• History of forestry and natural resources policies.