About Us > Staff Directory > Faculty Collaborators > Annual Reports > Support Us > In the News > Employment

The Board of Regents of The University of Montana approved the establishment of the Avian Science Center in the spring of 2004. Our mission is to promote ecological awareness and informed decision making through the collection, synthesis, and dissemination of science-based information on western birds. We work in collaboration with numerous partners both within the University and around the region. 

In support of our mission, we aim to:

* Promote and conduct high caliber, basic and applied avian research;

* Help facilitate and conduct a Coordinated Bird Monitoring Program in Montana;

* Provide and enhance educational opportunities related to bird research and monitoring;

* Disseminate research and monitoring results more rapidly and effectively than is possible through traditional outlets; and

* Promote informed land management and land stewardship practices that conserve birds and other natural resources, leading us toward a sustainable future.

 

If you would like a copy of our 2005 publication "Taking Flight", which summarizes all of our programs to date, please email Amy Cilimburg.

 

ASC Partners

Collaboration is an important part of the work we do at the Avian Science Center. We work closely with and are supported by a number of agencies, private entities, and researchers at UM and at other institutions to successfully conduct research, monitoring, synthesis work and education. At present, funding and in-kind support for our coordinated statewide monitoring effort comes from the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Potlatch Corporation , Plum Creek Timber Company, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, PPL-Montana, MT Department of Environmental Quality, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Additionally, other research is funded by the USDA Joint Fire Sciences Program in collaboration with the Lolo National Forest and Glacier National Park.

With funding from the Bullitt Foundation, we also collaborate with the Montana Natural History Center for one of our education programs. And, as a newly established Center on campus, the UM Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is also supporting our efforts to “take flight.”

We facilitate and conduct research and monitoring efforts primarily in Montana and northern Idaho, but our synthesis efforts encompass work done throughout the Intermountain West.