Student Spotlight
Science and scholarship are essential to many undergraduate and graduate student journeys at UM. Here are a few of the many standouts.
By Abigail Lauten-Scrivner
Shanna Leventhal
Often transmitted to people through tick bites, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus outbreaks can have fatality rates up to 70%. Although the virus is widely distributed across Asia, Africa and Europe, it is not well understood, and no vaccines or therapeutics are widely available. Ph.D. candidate Shanna Leventhal hopes to help change that.
Leventhal, a graduate student in the Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology program, came to UM by way of the National Institutes of Health’s Graduate Partnerships Program after working in Hamilton at the NIH Laboratory of Virology’s Disease Modeling and Transmission section. The lab is developing a vaccine that effectively primes the immune system to protect against CCHFV exposure and is in the process of moving toward clinical trials.
Yet it remains unclear how exactly CCHFV causes disease.
“We’re a little bit blind, because we don’t know what the most important part of the virus is,” Leventhal says.
Her research at UM aims to understand how CCHFV causes disease by using a mouse-adapted version of the virus and studying how it interacts with the mouse immune system to cause disease and death.
Leventhal’s work could help improve CCHFV vaccine studies and development of therapeutics. She says it’s gratifying to see her work develop in tandem with and build upon the NIH’s research.
“I hope we can have a deeper understanding of how CCHFV causes disease,” Leventhal says. “One of the most exciting parts of science is never knowing where you’ll go.”
Emily Mulvaney
Emily Mulvaney spends about a third of her time as a student in the microbiology lab — a schedule typical of a science scholar, but less so for a studio arts MFA candidate.
Science and art are interwoven for Mulvaney, who sees clear parallels between each: Both modes of thinking are deeply curious and creative. Mulvaney continually found herself torn between each field until she merged them into an artistic practice that uses science as a cornerstone.
Mulvaney’s unique intersection of interests led her to UM due to its status as a research-focused R1 university, where she could gain both an arts and science education. She teamed up with biology Professor Michael Minnick to harvest bacteria from her own body, grow the specimens and identify the colonies. Mulvaney then creates giant, human-sized abstract sculptures of the microscopic specimens.
“The sculptures end up being these odes to the bacteria that I share my body with,” Mulvaney says. “One time Mike said working with me was like being in the Twilight Zone,” she adds with a laugh.
Mulvaney hopes viewers of her work come to think of their bodies differently, gaining new perspectives of themselves as a biological ecosystem.
After graduating in the spring, Mulvaney plans to complete UM’s Museum Studies certificate.
Noah Paulson
Psychology senior Noah Paulson is fascinated by the brain and how it works. “How three pounds of mush changes everything in the world is just incredible,” he says.
Paulson, who also has a Human and Family Development minor, unleashes his curiosity as a research assistant with the UM Living Lab, located at the Missoula Public Library. He recently concluded assisting with a study that examined how 5- to 8-year-old children learn from and share with people versus technology. Paulson says seeing a study through from start to finish as an undergraduate was an invaluable, exciting learning experience.
Per the recommendation of a professor, Paulson also works part time as a youth counselor at a therapeutic group home for teenage girls.
“The kids are dealing with all sorts of stuff in their life, they’ve got past trauma and a whole host of things they’re struggling with, “ Paulson says. “It’s been great to be part of a team that is providing treatment. This is work that is important, interesting and fulfilling — and is something that I can actually do.”
Getting hands-on experience in his field as an undergraduate told Paulson that a career in social work is the right path for him. He plans to pursue a master’s in social work after graduation.
Maddy Jackson
If not for its small size, distinguishing between the 3D-printed replica of Wolf 302M’s skull and the actual animal it imitates would be nearly impossible.
The near-perfect printed artifact is part of a passion project spearheaded by wildlife biology graduate student Maddy Jackson, who is casting new light on the treasures hidden within a special wolf skull collection in Yellowstone National Park.
Each skull is rotated on a Bluetooth turntable and meticulously captured through the lens of photogrammetry. Jackson sends the images to Glenn Kneebone, program manager for the UM Mansfield Library, 3D Lab, Studios & Innovative Spaces. Kneebone then transforms the digital copies into physical replicas.
The archived wolf skulls hold the genetic blueprints, disease diaries and behavioral novellas of a scientifically and culturally significant wolf population. Jackson envisions a future where researchers, students and wolf enthusiasts can explore the digital repository without having to knock on the doors of Yellowstone’s Heritage and Research Center. The 3D digital copies are a portal accessible to researchers and enthusiasts around the globe.
“I can’t possibly look into all of them, so making skulls available makes it possible for other people to ask their own questions about the collection,” Jackson says.
Daazhraii Alexander
When Daazhraii Alexander arrived at UM, some things struck her as peculiar. Growing up eight miles above the Arctic Circle in Fort Yukon, Alaska, — a town of fewer than 600 people — there wasn’t, for example, a city-wide obsession with Crumbl Cookies. Neither were there frequent land acknowledgements intended to recognize the Indigenous peoples who originally occupied the land.
Hailing from a community that’s majority Indigenous and a Dranjik Gwich’in Alaska Native herself, Alexander says the acknowledgements felt like lip service and made her angry.
“For my own curiosity, I wanted to get other Indigenous perspectives on it,” she says.
An introduction to journalism course facilitated just that. Alexander interviewed Indigenous community members about their varying opinions on land acknowledgements. She presented the research at a regional honors conference, helping to spark dialogue and create a forum for diverse viewpoints.
A creative writing junior and media arts minor, Alexander also weaves her Indigenous identity into her storytelling. Alexander is writing a short film screenplay for her capstone project in collaboration with UM student Julia Branen. The story explores environmental and dystopian themes centered around an Indigenous woman coming to terms with a world that’s been invaded by aliens who believe humans have no right to the earth. Alexander hopes to eventually turn the short film into a pilot episode of a television show.
Jaiden Stansberry
The first time Jaiden Stansberry lived outside a national park was the day she moved to campus.
“I use the term ‘park brat,’” Stansberry quips of growing up in Homestead National Historical Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Yosemite National Park. “I knew I always wanted to work for the Park Service.”
Studying forestry at UM, alongside a Fire Science and Management minor and Franke Global Leadership Initiative certificate, made perfect sense to achieve that dream. So did seizing the hands-on leadership opportunities available to undergraduates, including writing and executing a burn plan.
Stansberry approached her professor about the idea, and so ensued hours of field modeling, parameter-setting and contingency planning for a 100-acre grassland burn. Upwards of 30 people were at its execution in the Clearwater Junction region.
“It was the best fire behavior I’ve seen,” Stansberry says. “It was really fun to see my work implemented and see people have fun.”
In addition to working summers as a wildland firefighter, Stansberry is involved in UM’s Fire Club, Forestry Club and Woodsman Team. Those experiences, along with helping revive UM’s Foresters’ Ball in 2023 after a pandemic hiatus, made her a natural fit as “chief push” of the Foresters’ Ball committee her senior year. As she graduates in spring, Stansberry says she’s proud to oversee the ball and mentor younger students to keep the vibrant tradition alive.
Drew Engellant
As a fourth-generation Griz, human biology senior Drew Engellant’s UM roots run deep. But he’ll leave his own unique legacy of research and creative scholarship upon graduating.
Engellant took a class freshman year with Regents Professor of Biology Douglas Emlen that spurred an opportunity to work in Emlen’s lab studying the mating behaviors of rhinoceros beetles and providing research input early in Engellant’s college career. The experience gave him the confidence to be ambitious and work on larger projects as a student.
Later, Engellant became involved with the Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism, a research center directed by UM Professor Brent Ruby. Starting at 5 a.m. most mornings, Engellant studies human performance and physiology under extreme environmental stressors. The research focuses on heat acclimation to help Air Force members adjust to conditions before they’re deployed.
“Being involved in research gives me real world application,” Engellant says of the opportunities he’s had at UM. “I think it’s given me a more holistic education.”
Between classes and the lab, Engellant also finds time to work as a certified nursing assistant in a hospital’s orthopedic and neurology department, often putting in 12-hour shifts.
After graduating with his bachelor’s, Engellant plans to achieve a master’s in business analytics at UM and pursue a career in health care analytics or a related field.
Tanner Liermann
Tanner Liermann’s path to UM zigged and zagged, but once he arrived and took stock of his surroundings, he realized he’d landed in one of the country’s top ranked wildlife biology programs.
That wasn’t always the plan. After graduating as high school valedictorian, “I was completely lost with what to do with that,” Liermann says.
He found purpose serving four years as a Marine Corps generator mechanic, including a deployment in the Pacific. Liermann developed leadership, discipline and a clearer focus for what he wanted to do with his life. Pursuing a degree he knew would bring both passion and enjoyment, Liermann took the leap of becoming a first generation wildlife biology student, tacking on a nonprofit administration minor and a geographic information system certificate.
UM took Liermann beyond Missoula’s borders to the Flathead Lake Biological Station, where he spent the summer studying ecology in Montana’s greatest classroom: the outdoors. Liermann helped research and write a paper about disturbance effects on the forest. His studies were funded due to his student veteran status.
Liermann also interned with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers for their armed forces initiative, working toward his nonprofit conservation career goals, and is president of UM’s student veteran organization. Through it all, he hopes to connect veterans like himself with the resources available to help achieve their ambitions.
Isaiah Tuolienuo
UM attracts students from around the world. Isaiah Tuolienuo left his home in Ghana, pausing a career as a regional environmental specialist in Western-Central Africa for the U.S. Embassy to pursue UM’s Natural Resources Conflict Resolution certificate and a forest and conservation sciences Ph.D.
Tuolienuo enrolled in UM after witnessing disagreement in Ghana over a plan to extract bauxite from the Atewa Range Forest Reserve. Conservation groups and local communities fear it could harm the resource-rich forest, which is a carbon sink, source of water for millions, home to rare and threatened species, tourism hub and source of spiritual and cultural connection.
Tuolienuo’s doctoral work examines how to reconcile the region’s economic and environmental priorities through an equity and justice framework, exploring justice-sensitive approaches that promote cooperation and advance social and environmental outcomes.
“I think there is room to build consensus around this contentious issue,” Tuolienuo says. “I believe natural resource conservation efforts seek to promote healthy, empowered communities. And these goals are not necessarily incongruent with development efforts.”
The NRCR certificate helps bring Tuolienuo’s research out of the theoretical. He recently joined a consortium of universities and conservation practitioners working to advance collaborative environmental solutions through an Africa-centered community of practice.
“We’re going to have to deal with balancing biodiversity conservation and economic priorities, and you need people to guide that conversation,” Tuolienuo says. “And the ripple effect of not doing this is conflict.”
Stephanie Barron
Stephanie Barron’s youthful obsession with cats created a fundamental appreciation for carnivores — especially mountain lions. Last fall, it led to MIT awarding the recent Environmental Studies graduate with a prestigious $10,000 Solve grant.
Barron will create an online curriculum for Montana’s Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, combining science with traditional Native ecological knowledge to teach coexistence with large carnivores roaming the Flathead Indian Reservation and western Montana. Titled Coalesce Curriculum on Carnivore Coexistence, it will blend videos of Salish elders sharing their language, stories, songs and culture.
Barron has Chiricahua Apache, Xicana and German ancestry, and is excited by the growing scientific appreciation for Native traditional ecological knowledge.
While at UM, Barron worked for People and Carnivores and interviewed conflict carnivore specialists throughout northwest Montana. The need for better outreach tools kept arising.
Later, Barron completed an internship with the Natural Resource Defense Counsel, analyzing carnivore conflict curricula across the U.S. She realized Montana needed a training tool.
Carnivores are important keystone species that help ecosystems function and positively re-engineer the landscape, Barron says. For example, scientists visit mountain lion kill sites after a year and find greater insect and native plant diversity.
“That’s why we need to learn to get along with them,” she says. “There really is a major need in the carnivore-conflict community for coexistence curriculum and for more education and awareness.” •
