2013 Summer Crew

L to R: Thomas, Hunter and Kirby painting the shed "Whitehall Schools Gold" color.
Bryce Murphy
Birth Date: 1996
Born in: Butte America
Nickname: B-Murph
Eye Color: Brown
Hair color: Brown
Favorite Pop:
Favorite Candy: 1000 Grain Bar
Most hated noxious weed: Russian Knapweed
Favorite bio-control agent: Cyphocleonus achates
Least Favorite bio-control agent: Flea Beetles
Favorite Insectary tool: Daisy (The Rototiller)
Plans after High Shcool: Attend MSU
Best Parts of Job:
  • Over night collecting trips
  • Monitoring and scouting trips
  • Swimming in the Bitteroot River
Worst parts of Job:
  • Having to deal with Flea Beetles
  • Finding hoses that work
  • When Colton had the hose
  • Trying to keep my eyes off Hunter :/
B-Murph the two year experienced veteran - in the insectary.  Note the
Russian knapweed in the upper left, the spotted knapweed blooming
with purple blossoms and the sweet corn growing in the insectary to
show folks that these insects do not feed on crops (and for the fun of
growing it...).






Thomas "Farmer John" Davidson

Birth Date: 1995
Born In:  San Diego, CA
Nickname: Farmer John
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Favorite Pop: Barks Root beer
Favorite Candy: kit-Kat
Most Hated Noxious Weed: Spotted Knapweed
Favorite bio-control agent: Cyphocleonus
Least favorite bio-control agent: Flea Bettles
Favorite Insectary tool: hoe
Plans after high school: Get my degree for HVAC
Best Parts of Job:
  • Scouting
  • Swimming the bittteroot River at work!!
  • Road Trips
Worst Parts of Job:
  • Hunter looking good every day
  • Transplanting Yellow toad flax
  • Colton with a hose
"Farmer John" Thomas D. expertly painting Whitehall Gold
on the freshly primed storage shed at the insectary.




Colton "Frogger" Coffing

Birth Date: 1997
Born In: Helena, MT
Nickname: Frogger / Mighty Mouse
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Favorite Pop: Canada Dry
Favorite Candy: Anything
Most Hated Noxious Weed: Houndstongue
Favorite bio-control agent: O-Beer - Oberea erythrocephala
Least favorite bio-control agent: Flea beetles Aphthona sp.
Favorite Insectary tool: Hose
Plans after high school: Attend college, play rugby or football.
Best Parts of Job:
  • Working With B-Murph and Farmer John
  • spraying Hunter with the hose
  • When Hunter lost her phone
  • Swimming in the Bitterroot R.
  • Road trips
  • Riding the 4-wheeler out monitoring
Worst Parts of Job:
  • having to compete with Hunter about being the hardest worker
  • When Bryce complains about being sprayed w/ the hose
  • transplanting yellow toadflax
  • Collecting in really hot weather in long pants and boots.
"Frogger"  Colton C. is a madman with a clippers.  Here he is clipping
Russian knapweed so it will resprout.  This resprouting will cause the
yappers (Russian knapweed tip gall midges) to emerge as adults and
form new galls at this site west of Whitehall, MT.




Hunter Ament
Birth Date: 1997
Born In: Boise, Idaho
Nickname: Huzza
Eye Color: green and blue
Hair Color: dirty blonde
Favorite Pop: diet coke
Favorite Candy: twix
Most Hated Noxious Weed: leafy spurge
Favorite bio-control agent: Oberea
Least favorite bio-control agent: flea beetles
Favorite Insectary tool: Clippers
Plans after high school: Attending the University of Iowa and major in pharmaceutical science.
Best Parts of Job:
  • Transplanting the toadflax and spotted knapweed
  • Talking to the people with past releases.
  • Road trips.
Worst Parts of Job:
  • When the boys complain about my phone even though they use theirs just as much.
  • Calling people
  • Having to wake up early
  • When spiders crawl on me. Yuck.




Kirby Myers

Birth Date: July 31, 1989
Born In: Billings, MT
Nickname: Kirbs
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown
Favorite Pop: Diet Pepsi
Favorite Candy: Snickers
Most Hated Noxious Weed: spotted knapweed
Favorite Bio-control Agent: Cypho
Least Favorite Bio-control Agent: flea beetles
Favorite Insectary Tool: Clippers
Plans After High School: Graduated from the University of Montana Western in Spring of 2012
Best Part of Job:
  • Collecting Oberea and Cypho
  • Monitoring for new sites to collect
  • Road trips

Worst Part of Job:

  • Transplanting yellow toadflax
  • Collecting flea beetles
  • When high schoolers are driving


Mr. Breitenfeldt with his Brittany Breez at a field trial.  Mr. B is the Coordinator of
The Whitehall Project.  The project has been spreading biological weed control
agents since the early 1990's.

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