“Living In Boiling Battery Acid" Bozeman 3/24

2004-03-24 19:00:00
Ophir School library MSU Bozeman

BSI offers programs on Yellowstone microbes

A lecture and related field course on microbes in Yellowstone Park are the latest in a series of community education programs offered through the Big Sky Institute of Montana State University-Bozeman.

Tim McDermott, a microbiologist from MSU’s Thermal Biology Institute, will give a free public lecture on “Living in Boiling Battery Acid" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 24, in the Ophir School library. McDermott will describe in his Mountains and Minds lecture how Yellowstone microbes thrive in extreme environments and explain why studying such creatures has value for society.

Susan Kelly from the Thermal Biology Institute will lead a field trip on Saturday, March 27, to explore the thermal landscape at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Participants will tour the thermal terraces on foot and snowshoes if conditions permit. Class members should dress appropriately, expect moderate physical exertion and provide their own snowshoes. The Big Sky Institute will provide transportation to Mammoth Hot Springs and box lunches. Participants should meet at 8 a.m. in the MSU parking lot on Grant Street and Seventh Avenue to the east of the tennis courts. They will return at 4 pm. Pre-registration is required and a $15 fee will be charged.

The lecture and field trip can be taken independently, but participants are encouraged to attend both. The field trip is a Science Adventures in Geology and Ecology course offered in conjunction with the Mountains and Minds lecture.

For more information or to register for the field trip, visit the Big Sky Institute’s web site at http://www.bsi.montana.edu or call (406) 994-2374.

Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or [email protected]