Russell Conti

Montana State University | Ilíiaitchik: Indigenous Correspondents Program (ICP)

Major / Minor: M.S. Biological Sciences

Graduation Year: 2026

Hello relatives, I am an Ecology Masters Student at Montana State University, studying how increased urban development in a historically pristine mountain environment has altered the nutrient dynamics of a stream and its aquatic food web through time and space. I also earned my Bachelors in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences from MSU. During undergrad, I conducted research on cyanobacterial blooms in alpine lakes and helped identify the tributary streams contributing the largest nutrient load to a local river, which was recently listed as impaired due to elevated nutrient levels. I grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and am a part of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. As an ICP fellow, I look forward to growing my ability to tell stories with my peers in this program. Through this experience, I hope to effectively tell the story of the watershed I am studying.