I am enthusiastically committed to training and mentoring the graduate students who will go on to careers in scholarly and applied dimensions of resource geography. Montana State University has a small, but growing resource geography program with strong interests in rural communities, water resources and energy. Students have graduate-level course options in Historical Geography, Political Ecology, Natural Resource Law, and Resource Geography. Many students affiliate with the graduate cohort in the Institute on Ecosystems.

Current graduate students are working on exciting projects considering the linkages between rural and resort economies and energy, infrastructure, and resort development.

Former graduate students (scroll down to see alumni) have finished projects on energy development in the Bakken and Wyoming, on community benefits agreements in industrial development, drought resilience in the Jefferson River basin, and community resilience in West Yellowstone. They have gone on to position in academia, think tanks, consulting, economic development and resource management in the region.

CURRENT STUDENTS
Kathleen (Katie) Epstein
Kathleen (Katie) Epstein

Email: kathleenepstein@montana.edu

Website: www.mountaingeographies.com

Degrees:

B.A. Anthropology, Davidson College

M.S. Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley, 2015

Ph.D. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 2020

Research interests: rural and environmental geography, political ecology, social-ecological systems

Dissertation: High Net Worth Ownership Regimes in Critical Conservation Areas: Implications for Resource Governance

Currently a post-doctoral fellow at RCRG, Katie has been awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability University.

KELLI ROEMER
KELLI ROEMER

Email: kelli.roemer@montana.edu

Research Interests: energy planning, resource geography, rural community development,
natural resource planning

Degrees:

B.S. Resource Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula

M.S. Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow

About: My research focuses on rural community development, energy planning, and natural resource management. I first moved to Montana in 2008 to pursue a BS in Forestry and Resource Conservation at the University of Montana. After graduating from UM, I served two AmeriCorps terms in Helena, Montana and Lakeview, Oregon and received my MS in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho in the summer of 2017. These experiences have profoundly shaped my academic and professional goals of supporting rural communities in planning for uncertain economic and environmental futures. In the fall of 2017, I joined the Resources and Communities Research Group and will be working with Dr. Haggerty to investigate the human dimensions of rural land use change and the land use-energy policy nexus. When not at school, I enjoy fly fishing with my partner Ry and trail running with our chocolate lab Bones.

GRETE GANSAUER
GRETE GANSAUER

E-mail: gretegansauer@montana.edu

Website: resourcerural.com

Research interests: water infrastructure, rural economic geography, political ecology, natural resource/rural policy

Degrees:

B.S. Forestry, Colorado State University

About: I am fascinated by rural economies and the policies that shape them. I developed an interest in rural places after college when I spent five years working in local government and NGO sectors of small timber communities. I found myself asking, "what would make this town thrive?" That question turned out to be more complex than I imagined, and led me to graduate school to explore it in depth. I am now a PhD student with Dr. Haggerty researching governance, water infrastructure, and rural development, and I'm still looking for answers. In my free time I enjoy riding our tandem bike with my husband (yes, some people actually enjoy it!) and training my horse in dressage.

ELISE OTTO
ELISE OTTO

Email: eliseotto@msu.montana.edu

Research Interests: Still evolving research interests include rural and tourism geography, political ecology, natural resource management, community resilience, governance and access

Degrees:

B.A. Geology, Whitman College

About: Originally from Spokane Washington, I first came to be curious about rural development far from home, working for an agriculture and fisheries project in Timor Leste. In the last ten years of working in the rural west as a river guide, hunting camp cook, ranger and ski instructor I've seen the same issues that plague coastal communities in Timor threaten communities in the western US. I'm excited to explore those issues through a new lens with RCRG. In my free time I enjoy spending time outside and in community with friends.

Alumni

Featured
KATHRYN (KATIE) BILLS WALSH
KATHRYN (KATIE) BILLS WALSH

E-mail: katie.j.bills@gmail.com

Dissertation: Coalbed Methane Reclamation Activities in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming: Social and Policy Dimensions of Environmental Legacy Management

Degrees:

B.A. Geography, Keene State College, Keene, New Hampshire

M.A. Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

Ph.D. Earth Sciences (Geography), Montana State University, 2020

Katie is a currently a post-doctoral researcher with the USDA ARS’s Rangeland Resources & Systems Research Group.

KRISTIN (KRIS) K. SMITH
KRISTIN (KRIS) K. SMITH

Email: kksmith@gmail.com

Dissertation: The Inner Workings & Long-term Impacts of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development in the Bakken Shale Formation

Degrees:

B.A. Film and Media Culture Studies, Middlebury College

M.S. Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont

Ph.D. Earth Sciences (Geography), Montana State University

Kris is a program manager at Headwaters Economics. As a program manager, Kris leads community engagement related to flood mitigation and contributes to research on public finance and fiscal policy.

JACKSON ROSE
JACKSON ROSE

Email: jacksonrose35@gmail.com

Thesis: NAVIGATING THE LOCAL COSTS AND BENEFITS OF MODERN MINERAL MINES: THE ROLE OF NON-REGULATORY AGREEMENTS

Degrees:

B.A. Earth Sciences (GIS & Planning) Montana State University, 2017

M.S. Earth Sciences (Geography) Montana State University, 2020

Jackson currently works as a consultant focused on social impact assessment, community planning and GIS.

ALEX LEONE
ALEX LEONE

Email: alex@clarkfork.org

Thesis: Impacts of low summer streamflows on water resources in the Jefferson Valley : historical responses and future challenges

Degrees:

BS Forestry, University of Montana

MS Earth Sciences (Geography), Montana State University 2016

Alex is a stream restoration scientist and policy analyst based out of Anaconda, Montana who works for the Clark Fork Coalition.

CARL HAMMING (on right)
CARL HAMMING (on right)

Email: carlhamming@gmail.com

Thesis: Yellowstone National Park & the winter use debate: community resilience and tourism impacts in the gateway community of West Yellowstone, MT

Degrees:

BS Geology, Princeton University

MS Earth Sciences (Geography), Montana State University 2016

Carl is a community planning and economic development professional who currently holds the position of Planning Director for Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana. He is pictured here with Montana conservation legend, Joe Gutkowski.

JEN DUNN
JEN DUNN

Email: jendunn.mt@gmail.com

About: Jen is a PhD student in history working on a dissertation entitled: “Superfunded: Recreating Nature in a Postindustrial West.” She is an ongoing RCRG associate involved with the MT-CREWS project, studying public water systems and community resilience in rural Montana.