This series brings timely and interesting wilderness topics to the public to raise awareness and inspire community discussion. These events takes place on the Third Wednesday in February, March and April 2023 in the large community room in FVCC’s Arts & Technology Building. Free of charge, all are welcome.
Presented by: Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Wild Montana Flathead-Kootenai Chapter, Northwest Montana Lookout Association, and the Natural Resources Conservation Management Program at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC).
2025 Wilderness Speaker Series:
All events will take place in the Large Community Room (Room 139) in the Arts & Technology Building at Flathead Valley Community College from 7:00 - 8:15 pm.
Wednesday, February 19th
Speaker: Antonia Malchik, Author
Topic: “Public Lands and the Space to Walk Free”
Walking, particularly walking in nature, has been shown by decades of research to improve all aspects of human health, from cardiovascular function and bone strength to depression and risk of Alzheimer's disease. Human and non-human flourishing cannot be separated from our access to nature, and the health of land and water. Explore how wilderness and intact ecosystems like the Bob Marshall – and the public's access to both – play a vital role in our individual physical and mental well-being, but also in ensuring fundamental human liberties.
Antonia Malchik has written essays and articles for The Atlantic, Orion, High Country News, the Los Angeles Times, and a variety of other publications. Her first book, A Walking Life, is about the past and future of walking’s role in our shared humanity. She currently writes On the Commons, a newsletter about ownership, private property, and the loss of the commons, and is a scholar of the history and ongoing consequences of private land ownership. A descendant of eastern Montana homesteading ranchers and wilderness advocates, and an enthusiastic volunteer for BMWF trail crews, she lives in northwest Montana.
Wednesday, March 19th
Speaker: Teagan Tomlin, Executive Assistant in the Office of the Superintendent
Topic: “If Rocks Could Talk: The Geological History of Glacier National Park”
The mountains of Glacier National Park tell an incredible story of the geological events that created the park’s majestic scenery. Teagan will share an overview of the forces and processes that built and shaped the landscape of Glacier National Park.
Teagan Tomlin first came to Montana in 2008 for an internship at Glacier National Park through the Geological Society of America’s Geocorps program. At that time, she was finishing her master’s degree in geology at Brigham Young University, where her research focused on teaching stratigraphy and sedimentology concepts, geological data interpretation, and problem-solving and student-centered instructional design. In 2009, she was hired as a park ranger at Glacier National Park and worked seasonally from 2009 through 2016 working in interpretation and education. In the fall of 2016, she was hired to her first permanent position in the National Park Service as a visitor services assistant. In 2019, she was hired in her current role as the executive assistant in the Office of the Superintendent.
Wednesday, April 16th
Speaker: Lisa Bate, Supervisory Wildlife Biologist at Glacier National Park
Topic: “Taking Flight: Golden Eagles in Glacier National Park”
Golden eagles are one of the largest aerial predators in Northwest Montana – or as Lisa says, “the grizzly bears of the sky.” Unfortunately, recent data indicates a decline in their numbers and they’ve been listed as a Species of Concern. Join us to learn more about Glacier National Park’s raptor / golden eagle observations and nest monitoring to better understand these avian predators, including the role that lookouts play in aiding park staff in observations and searching for nests.
Lisa Bate is a Supervisory Wildlife Biologist at Glacier National Park. She specializes in birds and bats, overseeing multiple research, inventory, and monitoring programs including harlequin ducks, songbirds, raptor nesting and migration, black swifts, Clark’s nutcrackers, and bats. Lisa Bate also oversees wildlife and compliance monitoring for projects like the reconstruction of the Going-to-the-Sun and Many Glacier Roads, focused on preventing detrimental effects to grizzly bears. Prior to her employment at GNP, Lisa worked as a private research wildlife biologist focusing mainly on birds, cavity-nesting species, and their habitat.
Archive — Watch past presentations here!
2024 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
2023 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
2022 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
“Four-Fifths a Grizzly”
Speaker: Doug Chadwick
Through DNA, scientific studies and his own personal stories, Chadwick challenges anyone to consider whether they are separate from or part of nature.
“In Search of the Mount Cleveland Five”
Speaker: Terry Kennedy, author
Terry shares stories of his climbing endeavors with colorful Montana climbers and their close calls, antics and tears – with the grief and inspiration of the Mount Cleveland tragedy always present.
“A Deep Time Tour Through Montana's Wilderness Areas”
Speaker: Kallie Moore
Join the University of Montana’s Fossil Librarian to journey through the ancient past of some of Montana's Wilderness areas and find out what kind of life was roaming around the Bob Marshall Wilderness around 500 million of years ago
2021 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
“A New Way Into the Wild: Inclusion as a Criterion for the Future of Conservation”
Speaker: Dr. J. Drew Lanham, PhD
Dr. Lanham explores the issues of diversity, inclusion and justice in conservation work in this in-depth discussion with BMWF’s Bill Hodge.
“Working the Wilderness - Early Leaders for Wild Lands”
Speaker: John McCarthy, author
John shares excerpts from his book, Working the Wilderness, about the people who built the foundation for the wilderness program that exists today.
“Owls of Montana”
Speaker: Denver Holt of the Owl Research Institute in Charlo, MT
One of the world’s leading experts on owls, this interactive presentation will leave you with memorable and practical tips for identifying every local owl species.
2020 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
“Whitefish Range Wildlife”
Speaker: Tim Thier
Tim shares three decades worth of knowledge from monitoring and researching wildlife in the North Fork of the Flathead and Whitefish Range.
2019 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
“Women Write the Wilderness”
Speaker: Susan Purvis, explorer, educator, and Go Find author
Susan discusses the challenges in writing about her personal experiences with wild places and how women’s narratives can connect people to the landscape.
“Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers: Early Adventures in the Bob Marshall Wilderness”
Speaker: John Fraley, author
The story of the 1928 trip of the Forest Service's Robert Marshall through the South Fork, and how Bob’s wilderness ethic may have been informed by this 8-day, breakneck trip.
“Wilderness Fisheries Management”
Speakers: Jim Vashro, retired FWP fisheries manager; Leo Rosenthal, FWP fisheries biologist; Matt Boyer, FWP science program supervisor
Montana FWP fisheries managers describe efforts to preserve fisheries integrity in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
2018 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
2017 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
2017 Wilderness Speaker Series Lecture #1: Mountain Goats of Northwest Montana PART 1
2017 Wilderness Speaker Series Lecture #1: Mountain Goats of Northwest Montana PART 2
“100 Days of Solitude”
Speaker: Amy Pearson, Adjunct Professor, Humanities Division, FVCC
Fire lookout, poet, and English Professor at FVCC, Amy Pearson, will share the life changing experience and writings that resulted from the summer she lived and worked at Jumbo Lookout in the heart of the Bob.
“THE NAMES OF THE STARS, A Life In The Wilds"
Speaker: Pete Fromm, wilderness author.
Acclaimed author of "Indian Creek Chronicles," the story of his seven winter months alone in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness tending salmon eggs, Pete's newest book, "THE NAMES OF THE STARS; A Life In The Wilds" is the story of another month alone in the wilderness caring for fish eggs, this time the Bob.
2016 Wilderness Speaker Series Recordings
2016 Wilderness Speaker Series Lecture #1: "Wilderness Fire Management"
2016 Wilderness Speaker Series Lecture #2: "From Yellowstone to Yukon, Nature Needs Half"
2016 Wilderness Speaker Series Lecture #3: "This is the Crown of the Continent, Our Home" Rick Graetz