The Linkage Lunch program was launched to engage, inform, connect, and motivate our Missoula community around landscape conservation.
The general focus of Linkage Lunches are presentations from experts to discuss conservation of habitat, connectivity, wildlife, water, or wildness…and all things in between. They may have a local, statewide, nationwide, or global context. But our goal is that each presentation will include some level of connection to how each of us can help tackle connectivity conservation at home in some way.
Come join the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and other practitioners, agency staff, conservation professionals, and any interested members of the public in these exciting lunchtime talks. You won’t want to miss it! Bring your lunch, if desired. All are welcome!
Please join us for our next Linkage Lunch, on November 4, 2026!
Our November Linkage Lunch will feature Rob Ament, road ecology extraordinaire, who recently retired after spending the last 20 years of his career splitting his time between Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. Combined, he worked on both the science and the policy of transport ecology and ecological connectivity worldwide.
His presentation will showcase the efforts of a variety of countries across the globe seeking to address the adverse impacts of roads and railways on animal mortality and ecological connectivity. From elephants and tigers to gibbons, snakes and salamanders, he’ll demonstrate how many nations are exploring their first efforts to make their transportation systems more wildlife friendly for a wide range of species.
Rob Ament was co-chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Transport Working Group from 2017-2026 and its Asian Elephant Transport Working Group from 2019-2026. He has enjoyed visiting many of the crossings reviewed in his presentation. Rob co-authored all three IUCN technical reports that the Working Groups produced during his tenure.
We hope to see you there!
Cheers from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation’s Missoula staff:
Brendan Moynahan, Katie Deuel, Gabriel Oppler, and Kylie Paul
Take a look at our past Linkage Lunch speakers and topics:
October 2026: Daniel Bird
Woven Wire Fences Influence Elk Movement Response on the Blackfeet Reservation
September 2026: Radley Watkins
Every Stream is a Corridor: Private Lands’ Contribution to Aquatic Connectivity
May 2026: Kellie Carim
eDNA for Conservation of a Culturally Important Fish Species at Riverscape Scales
April 2026: Kathy Zeller
Recreation Effects on Wildlife and Implications for Connectivity
March 2026: Jenn Thomsen and Joe Mbaiwa
Exploring Connections Between the Kavango-Zambezi and the Crown of the Continent Landscapes
Jan 2026: Jedediah Brodie
A Well-Connected Earth: Operationalizing Landscape Connectivity to Support 30 x 30
Dec 2025: Brendan Moynahan
Federal Bison Conservation: Connecting Ecology, Genetics, and Culture
Sept 2025: Kylie Paul
Connecting Communities and Wildlife: Integrating Wildlife Habitat Connectivity into Local Government Planning
June 2025: Molly McDevitt
Navigating Complexity in Conservation: Connecting Rigor, Relationships, and Resilience
Dec 2024: Marcel Huijser
Road Ecology: Are We Making the Right Turns?
May 2025: Heather Abernathy
Elk, Landscapes, and People: Finding Balance in a Changing West
Nov 2024: Erick Greene
Just Add Water: The Osprey’s Roles in Landscapes and Waterscapes
Oct 2024: Doug Chadwick
Ecological Connectivity: A Unifying Theme in Conservation
Banner photo: Lolo Creek, Lolo National Forest, Montana – Adobe Stock
