Students, community members explore climate 'Resilience' at BEO-UM event

Climate change is on many people’s minds as summer approaches, along with what may become a “fire season.” In response, students from Browning High School and the Buffalo Hide Academy visited with experts from the University of Montana and the Blackfeet Environmental Office on April 2, exploring a series of exhibits featuring community preparedness and “resilience” as answers. Then the event was opened to the public so they, too, could learn about responses to changes in the environment.

“The Blackfeet Nation is one of three communities that we’ve partnered with,” noted Robin Saha, program director and Associate Professor of environmental studies at UM. “The others are the Fort Belknap Indian Community, which like the Blackfeet Nation has a climate adaptation plan, and communities in the Bitterroot Valley.

“During the day about 80 students from Browning High School and 20 students from the Buffalo Hide Academy engaged with our Mobile Climate Resilience Exhibit comprised of seven interactive stations, including a stream table — ‘Infiltrate It’ — where students learned about river dynamics, ways to control flooding and erosion, the beneficial role of beavers on the landscape and more. Other stations included ‘Cool It! Houses,’ where students learn about building materials and designs to keep their home cool in the summer; ‘Waldo’s Fire Unready House,’ where students try to find problems with a model house that put it at risk if wildfire comes through; a ‘Smoke Box’ that demonstrates the health risks of wildfire smoke and ways families can protect themselves; ‘Chill City,’ a game about strategies to make cities resilient to the urban heat island effect; and ‘Nature’s Superpowers,’ which highlights ways that different Montana organisms are adapted to fire, drought, flooding and extreme heat.”

Direct interaction between visitors and experts from the University of Montana and the Blackfeet Environmental Office made the experience both personal and memorable.

“Termaine Edmo, other BEO personnel and educators from UM’s SpectrUM Discovery Area staffed the various stations,” Saha explained. “Students from Browning were very enthusiastic, curious and engaged. They received stamps in their ‘Stamp Booklets’ as they talked with educators at each station, and earned a water bottle sticker for visiting and engaging with at least three stations.”

Blackfeet country has the distinction of having instituted many adaptations to changing climate through efforts spearheaded by Blackfeet Community College, Browning Schools, the Blackfeet Environmental Office and other entities.

“The exhibits were developed through design workshops with our community partners and teachers” Saha said. “The exhibit included stories about some of the ways the Blackfeet are adapting to climate change, including using beaver dam analogs, getting Browning Tree City USA designation, building demonstration snow fences, and practices of regenerative grazing.”

The event was collaboratively planned and led with the Blackfeet Environmental Office. More information is available on UM’s NOAA-funded ReslienceMT project at https://www.umt.edu/spectrum/education/projects/resiliencemt/.

Future events are planned through June and may be found at https://www.montana.edu/communitydevelopment/youthclimateresiliencyseries2025.html.