Please read over the descriptions of our current projects. If you have similar interests and would like to do research in the Yellowstone area, please contact us about developing a proposal. We are particularly interested in the opportunities revealed by our vegetation survey of Yellowstone, in which we have identified sites that would be useful for the study of plants growing under high temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. Click here for an interactive summary of our survey results.

OR

If you already have an established research program, we can help you become more familiar with Yellowstone or do your field work for you.

We are experts on the Yellowstone backcountry and have devoted years to learning about its science, literature, and natural history. We can work with you to:

-- identify suitable study sites

-- collect preliminary measurements

-- develop monitoring protocols

-- collect samples

-- recruit local field technicians.

-- maintain field equipment in remote locations and under adverse conditions.

-- provide accurate GPS/GIS maps

If you need only a limited number of samples or routine (weekly, monthly) measurements, we can do your field work for you with a recurring (as needed) field work contact. We can also offer the use of our field equipment, including dataloggers and GPS units, on a limited basis.

We can do the leg work and develop a preliminary game plan for your field research before you even arrive in Yellowstone.

We are also interested in hearing from undergraduate and graduate students that need advice on developing their Yellowstone research projects.

Contact us at the email address above, or call 406-579-7701.

Mike Tercek, Ph.D.

Mike Tercek has lived and worked in the Yellowstone area for 18 summers, making it his year round home for the last 5 years. In 2003, he completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University in New Orleans. His dissertation focused on the genetics and ecology of plants that are endemic to thermal areas near Old Faithful. Since graduation, Mike has made his living as a full time researcher, writing grant proposals and consulting for other researchers.

Publications:

Tercek, M. T., D. P. Hauber and S. P. Darwin. 2003. Genetic and historical relationships among geothermally adapted Agrostis ("Bentgrass") of North America and Kamchatka: evidence for a previously unrecognized, thermally adapted taxon. American Journal of Botany 90:1306 -1312. (view pdf)

Tercek, M.T. and J. L Whitbeck. 2004. Heat avoidance life history controls the distribution of geothermal Agrostis in Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 85(7): 1955-1966. (view pdf)

Tercek, M.T., T. S. Al-Niemi, and R.G. Stout. 2008 Plants Exposed to High Levels of Carbon Dioxide in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone Science 16(1):12-19. (view pdf)

Appoloni, S., Y. Lekberg, M. Tercek, C. Zabinski, and D. Redecker. 2008. Molecular Community Analysis of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Roots of Geothermal Soils in Yellowstone National Park (USA). Microbial Ecology online (view pdf)

Tercek, M.T., R. Stottlemyer and R. Renkin. In prep. Inverted trophic cascade: Bottom-up factors contributing to land-scape level vegetation changes in Yellowstone National Park.