
Location: Bozeman, Montana
Founded: 1893
Affiliation: Public unit of the Montana University System
Classification: Research University/Very High
Academic calendar: Fall and spring semesters and a summer session with two six-week sessions and one 12-week session.
Accreditation: Regionally accredited by Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Professional schools and departments are approved by specialized accrediting organizations.
Degrees offered:
Bachelor's, master's, certificate and doctoral degrees.
Campus:
1,781 acres located in the Gallatin Valley.
Housing: Ten residence halls
Varsity sports: Men (Bobcats) -- football, basketball, track, cross- country, skiing, and tennis; Women (Lady Bobcats) -- volleyball, basketball, track, cross-country, tennis, golf, and skiing.
Athletic conference: Big Sky Conference, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Division I (I-AA football).
Campus organizations: Approximately 140 student organizations on campus
Nearby attractions: Bridger Bowl Ski Area, 16 miles; Big Sky Ski Resort, 45 miles; Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area, 10 miles; Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, 25 miles; Yellowstone National Park, 80 miles; Glacier National Park, 350 miles
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MSU professor has found a fungus that produces a new type of diesel fuel
A team led by a Montana State University professor has found a fungus that produces a new type of diesel fuel, which they say holds great promise.
Calling the fungus' output "myco-diesel," Gary Strobel and his collaborators describe their initial observations in the November issue of Microbiology, which carries a photo of the fungus on its cover.
The discovery may offer an alternative to fossil fuels, said Strobel, MSU professor of plant sciences and plant pathology. The find is even bigger, he said, than his 1993 discovery of fungus that contained the anticancer drug taxol.
Strobel, who travels the world looking for exotic plants that may contain beneficial microbes, found the diesel-producing fungus in a Patagonia rainforest. Strobel visited the rainforest in 2002 and collected a variety of specimens, including the branches from an ancient family of trees known as "ulmo." When he and his collaborators examined the branches, they found fungus growing inside. They continued to investigate and discovered that the fungus, called Gliocladium roseum, was producing gases. Further testing showed that the fungus -- under limited oxygen -- was producing a number of compounds normally associated with diesel fuel, which is obtained from crude oil.
"These are the first organisms that have been found that make many of the ingredients of diesel," Strobel said. "This is a major discovery."
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