The Big Sky Institute

The mission of BSI is to develop and effectively communicate a scientific understanding of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. BSI’s location adjacent to Yellowstone, the largest pristine ecosystem in the continental US, provides a unique opportunity to understand how ecosystems function, especially in the context of increasing human impacts.

• BSI’s informal vision is to grow scientifically to be the “Wood’s Hole of the Rockies.”
• We intend to improve understanding of the GYE and to communicate those understandings to the public at all levels.
• We seek to improve decision-making at all levels in the GYE as a result of these activities.

Why focus on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem? With Yellowstone National Park as its core, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is a 20 million acre expanse of mountainous wildlands in a complex matrix of public and private lands spread over three states. The GYE is the only remaining large biologically intact temperate ecosystem in North America, comparable in geographic scale, biological integrity, and International renown to the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem in Africa.

• Like no other part of the planet, the GYE provides critical clues to the origin, current complexity, and future of life on earth, and, indeed, about the possibilities for life elsewhere in the universe.
• As the origin of three great river systems – the Colorado, the Missouri, and the Columbia – as the most intact biological template of PreColumbian America – as the greatest area of geothermal activity in the world – and as the world’s first protected wildlands, and thus the first social experiment intending an integration of modern humans with wildlands with the goal of compatibility, the outcome of the experiment is still unknown.
• The future of life in the American West and the future of wildland protection worldwide may ultimately be partly connected to the future of the GYE.

Why an interdisciplinary institute such as BSI?

“As the global footprint of human activity continues to expand, environmental science and engineering problems will provide great challenges and opportunities in the next decade. Because of the complex relationships among people, ecosystems, and the biosphere, human health and well-being are closely linked to the integrity of local, regional, and global ecosystems. Therefore, environmental research and education are central elements of local, national, and global security, health, and prosperity…New…capabilities have expanded the horizons of what we can study and understand about the environment. These advances create the demand for collaborative teams of engineers and natural and social scientists that go beyond current disciplinary research and educational frameworks. Imagination, diversity, and the capacity to adapt quickly have become essential qualities for both institutions and individuals, not only to facilitate research, but also to ensure the immediate and broad-based application of research results related to the environment.”

--National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education (2003)

Find out more about the people of BSI.

Interested in learning more about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?