University Communications and Marketing

MSU Billings Professor Dr. Kemmerer is pictured with a rescued African elephant in Kenya in 2012.

Community invited to MSUB for A Night on the Wild Side

Slated for 6-9p.m., June 27 in Liberal Arts room #205. Event includes seven, 20-minute presentations by students and local experts

Contacts:

Lisa Kemmerer, lkemmerer@msubillings.edu

University Relations, 657-2266

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Montana State University Billings is excited to present A Night on the Wild Side starting at 6 p.m., June 27 in Liberal Arts Building room #205.

The community is welcome to the free presentation series, featuring experts from all over the state.

They will explore animal communication, rescue and rehabilitation, a history of the Smithsonian at Yellowstone Park, the fishy underworld of streams and lakes, and little-known international work in bird rehabilitation on the west end of Billings. 

MSU Billings Professor Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, who is organizing the event through the Philosophy department, said the evening will be a “wildlife extravaganza.”

“This evening will include a variety of topics that will appeal to many people,” Kemmerer said. “For instance, I don’t think many people realize that Billings is home to world-renowned animal rescue experts or that the state is grappling with a giant tortoise problem. They’re an invasive species.”

One of those local animal rehab experts is Dr. Sheila McKay, owner of the local non-profit DJH Bird Resources.

The organization specializes in waterfowl and species propagation. McKay will discuss bird rescue and rehabilitation in the Magic City.

“Road incidents are just one way they come to us,” she said. “If a bird gets hit, or separated while crossing the street.”

A Night on the Wild Side is funded by a grant from Humanities Montana.

A Night on the Wild Side speaker schedule:

6 p.m.: Introduction

6:05p.m. Sarah Bradley, MSU student, “Learning to Love and Protect Montana Wildlife.”

6:25p.m. CANCELLED (Dr. Sara Waller, MSU Philosophy Dept., “Communicating with Animals.”)

6:45 p.m.: Dr. L. A. Kemmerer, MSUB English, Philosophy and Modern Languages, “Eating Wildlife.”

7:05 p.m., Dr. Sheila McKay, WJH Bird Resources, Billings, “Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation in the Magic City.”

7:25 p.m., Dr. Diane Smith, Research Historian, USDA Forest Service, and Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, “Yellowstone and the Smithsonian: Centers of Wildlife Conservation.”

7:45 p.m., Dave Pauli, Billings, “Wildlife Rescue.”

8:05 p.m., Dr. Theo Lipfert, MSU School of Film & Photography, documentary film, “Invasion of the Giant Tortoises.”

8:30 p.m., Q and A