Montana is a state of few people, but amongst these few are notably astute individuals. The state is fortunate enough to have a brilliant scientific mind dedicated to championing the ecosystem, environment, and climate. Dr. Steve Running has had an impressive and impactful career on an international scale, and is easily considered one of the world’s top ecological scholars. There is a plethora of material with Steve’s contributions: he has published hundreds of scientific articles, two books, and has held multiple chairs and memberships for vital scientific organizations.

Steve was born in Spokane, Washington about 200 miles away from his current home in Missoula. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s from Oregon State University, and went on to earn his phD in Forest Ecology from Colorado State University. His education and career expanded well beyond botany of trees, ecology, and forestry, and onto a global and planetary scale. Starting as an assistant professor in 1979, the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation (formerly known as the UM College of Forestry and Conservation) became an important stomping ground for Steve. If you attended the University of Montana within the past four decades, it is likely Professor Steve Running rode past you in his bike that he would always take to his classes where he would lecture or lead labs. He would encourage others and the university itself to take measures to reduce their carbon footprint, and continues to practice advocacy across Montana.

The Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) at UM has progressed under his direction, and his developed programs and investigations continue to be used by none other than NASA. NASA garnered his expertise from the UM professor, where Steve earned credits as the Land Team Leader for the NASA Earth Observing System, chair of the NASA Earth Science Subcommittee, and a member of the NASA Science Advisory Council. As his scholarship became well known, he was summoned to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC is an international board that was formed to accumulate top notch research regarding human caused climate change. The organization along with former Vice President Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. After winning this award, Steve said this poignant statement about its impact, “[w]hat the Nobel committee is saying is that we’ve got to wake up. We’ve got to change the course of the world”. Steve has championed this philosophy throughout his career.

Climate change has been an ongoing war of fact and opinion, of policy and money. As Steve explained in 2017, “[t]here is a very quiet, orchestrated effort to generate uncertainty and disinformation about climate. It’s real clear that the endgame of this has to be to quit using fossil fuels”. Steve has been an active participant in this war for climate change for decades through numerous political administrations and economic eras. Through his interactions with hundreds of college age students, Steve has remarked on great hope for the future generations to do what previous generations have failed to do in order to combat climate change. He technically retired as Professor Emeritus of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana in 2017, but he continues to carry on his lifelong mission of conservation as one of the brilliant minds of his field.

Biography by Kali Zaglauer