Climate talk next week at FVCC

The Montana Institute on Ecosystems, in partnership with Climate Smart Glacier Country and Flathead Valley Community College, will host a Montana Climate Science Day in Kalispell on Monday, Oct. 16 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature presentations from authors of the recently released 2017 Montana Climate Assessment, a two-year effort by university faculty and students, state and federal agency researchers, non-profit organizations, resource managers, and citizens from across the state that describes past and future climate trends that affect the water, agriculture, and forestry sectors of Montana.

Members of the local community working in the water, agriculture, and forestry sectors will also be giving presentations during the event. These include Tom Bansak, Assistant Director of the University of Montana’s Flathead Biological Lake Station, Mike Koopal of the Whitefish Lake Institute, Brooke Bohannon of Wicked Good Farm, Ron de Yong, former Director of the Montana Department of Agriculture, Greg Poncin, Kalispell Unit Forest Manager for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Ed Lieser, Fire Behavior Analyst. Additionally, event attendees will have the opportunity to provide input and feedback for future climate assessments after the presentations.

The event is free and open to the public and will take place at Flathead Valley Community College in the Arts and Technology Building Large Community Room. Light refreshments will be served during the event.

Following the afternoon event, Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow will give a talk at 7 p.m. that uses the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment as a launching point to discuss climate change and Glacier National Park at the same venue.