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.