WHITEHALL – Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park will host a free talk entitled “Alpine Wildlife and Shifting Climates” on Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m. in the park’s campground amphitheater.

Come explore the varied ways in which wildlife can respond to changes in regional weather and climatic conditions. You will learn about how alpine animals react to these shifts by following American pikas and marmots, two of Montana’s small yet charismatic mammals. This talk will help you step into the animals’ shoes and imagine how they experience the environment around them.

This is the fourth presentation in Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park’s annual Friday Summer Speakers Series, which introduces a new speaker each Friday at 8 p.m. throughout the summer.

About the speaker

Peter Billman grew up exploring the forests of northern Minnesota. He moved to Montana in 2013 to pursue his bachelor’s degree in fish and wildlife ecology and then went on to complete his master’s degree in earth sciences. Since 2016, he has studied the effects of changing climates on populations of American pikas throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains. Like many others, he has fallen in love with the mountains and dedicated his research career toward understanding how alpine species are responding to shifting environmental conditions.

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is about 15 miles southeast of Whitehall, along Montana Highway 2. For more information about the park, please visit stateparks.mt.gov/lewis-and-clark-caverns or call 406-287-3541.

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