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From the Argus Leader:
SDSU: South Dakota's Land-Grant University.
Joanna Murray and Julie Thorstenson share more than being sisters.
Both Eagle Butte women earned their graduate degrees at South Dakota State University's Prairie Ph.D. program. Both are using their new skills and knowledge to help the ecology of the Cheyenne Sioux Indian Reservation, where they live.
"We work together, share an office and e-mail," Thorstenson said.
Murray said they each edited the other's thesis and helped "by just being there for support and guidance."
Thorstenson was first to receive a degree in the program, finishing in May 2005. The habitat biologist wanted to find a better way to restore cottonwoods along rivers, a topic of interest to the local tribe as well.
Thorstenson said the tribe had lost much of its prime riverbank habitat with the flooding of the Missouri River that occurred as a result of building the Oahe Dam and forming Lake Oahe.
Murray studied the burrowing owl, a small migratory bird that breeds in the northern states and winters in Mexico. The owls are drawn to prairie dog towns for nesting areas.
Both Eagle Butte women earned their graduate degrees at South Dakota State University's Prairie Ph.D. program. Both are using their new skills and knowledge to help the ecology of the Cheyenne Sioux Indian Reservation, where they live.
"We work together, share an office and e-mail," Thorstenson said.
Murray said they each edited the other's thesis and helped "by just being there for support and guidance."
Thorstenson was first to receive a degree in the program, finishing in May 2005. The habitat biologist wanted to find a better way to restore cottonwoods along rivers, a topic of interest to the local tribe as well.
Thorstenson said the tribe had lost much of its prime riverbank habitat with the flooding of the Missouri River that occurred as a result of building the Oahe Dam and forming Lake Oahe.
Murray studied the burrowing owl, a small migratory bird that breeds in the northern states and winters in Mexico. The owls are drawn to prairie dog towns for nesting areas.