Author: ucross-admin

Understanding Community Perceptions of Recreation and Wildlife in Jackson, Wyoming

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As Jackson Hole’s visiting population has increased exponentially and recreation use has continued to climb, Bryce and Bea worked with the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative to investigate how to balance Jackson’s growing recreation habits while preserving its existing ecosystems and wildlife. By conducting interviews with Jackson recreators, the team hoped to gain a greater understanding Read more about Understanding Community Perceptions of Recreation and Wildlife in Jackson, Wyoming[…]

Mapping Resource “Neighborhoods” of Big Sagebrush — Damaris Chenoweth

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Once covering nearly half of the American West, sagebrush ecosystems are now among the most threatened in North America.  In the past century, climate change, human land use, shifting disturbance regimes, and the introduction of invasive plants have driven significant loss, fragmentation, and modification of sagebrush communities.  As part of my research, I will characterize Read more about Mapping Resource “Neighborhoods” of Big Sagebrush — Damaris Chenoweth[…]

From Zero to 9,600 Organic Acres in Montana’s Great Plains — Tim Ibbotson-Sindelar

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I arrived at the farm on a Saturday three weeks ago. I drove for three days from Philadelphia to Hill County, Montana. The land first became flat and mostly treeless in eastern North Dakota, where I spent my second night on the road. The third and final day of driving was uninterrupted flatness. Though while Read more about From Zero to 9,600 Organic Acres in Montana’s Great Plains — Tim Ibbotson-Sindelar[…]

Soil Health and Soil Carbon Sequestration in Regenerative Agriculture

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Darya worked with Mad Agriculture, an organization focusing on regenerative agriculture out of Boulder, Colorado. She assisted the organization with projects in two realms: policy and soil carbon sequestration. Her policy-related work included projects in conjunction with the Colorado Collaborative for Healthy Soils and preparing a grant application aimed to increase farmer engagement with soil Read more about Soil Health and Soil Carbon Sequestration in Regenerative Agriculture[…]

Modern Storytelling, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Difficulties of Trying to Convey Truth — Reid H. Lewis

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Is it possible to tell a complete story? I mean, not a good story or a fun story or a scary story; a complete story? One that tells all the parts, doesn’t leave anything out? The type of story you finish and not only think “Wow, I have a holistic and entire understanding of blank,” Read more about Modern Storytelling, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Difficulties of Trying to Convey Truth — Reid H. Lewis[…]

Farming from afar — Darya Watnick

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This summer I’m working as a summer fellow for Mad Agriculture. MadAg is working, as they put it, to “catalyze a regenerative revolution in agriculture that is beautiful, just, and inevitable.” MadAg works with farmers across the Mountain West, Southwest, Great Plains and Midwest to help them ecologically and economically. I had initially planned to Read more about Farming from afar — Darya Watnick[…]

Water in the Southwest and the New-Old Threat of Uranium Mining — Humna Sharif

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Clean and safe water is one of the most precious resources anywhere in the world, but this is especially true for arid regions with growing populations. Southwestern US, known for being hot and dry, is getting even hotter and drier due to climate change. The Colorado River is the single most important source of water Read more about Water in the Southwest and the New-Old Threat of Uranium Mining — Humna Sharif[…]

Conservation Planning for Sheridan County, WY

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Our research assistant team worked in partnership with the Sheridan Community Land Trust to develop a conservation planning mapping tool to guide future private land conservation efforts. They incorporated a variety of spatial data from public sources to help SCLT prioritize and direct its funding and outreach in cooperation with its organization’s goals to protect Read more about Conservation Planning for Sheridan County, WY[…]

Methods for Non-Native Trout Removal in Rocky Mountain Streams — Brendan Boepple, Franklin Eccher, Laurel Low

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The reintroduction of native trout in the Mountain West is a valuable conservation tool for fisheries managers with an interest in maintaining healthy populations of threatened trout species. At the same time, the choice to reintroduce native trout involves a complex decision-making process with numerous biological, ecological, and social considerations. This process is complex, namely, Read more about Methods for Non-Native Trout Removal in Rocky Mountain Streams — Brendan Boepple, Franklin Eccher, Laurel Low[…]

Funding the Future of Conservation: A GreenLight Ideation Session with Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Franklin Eccher

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Colorado, like many western states, faces a sticky problem: its outdoor spaces are being loved to death. The problem is multi-fold, a product of the transient recreational eco-tourism industry, but also of its influx of permanent residents. Colorado’s population is projected to double from five million to ten million people from 2010 to 2050. The Read more about Funding the Future of Conservation: A GreenLight Ideation Session with Colorado Parks and Wildlife — Franklin Eccher[…]

Final Soil Dryer Prototype — Nat Irwin

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Now that my project partner, Seila De Leon, and I have finished our ten week fellowship at the Yale Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Design, I will reflect on the progress we have made and the work that still exists for us. At the end of the fellowship, we had created what is, at least Read more about Final Soil Dryer Prototype — Nat Irwin[…]

The Swan Lives On — Sam Maher

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The last time I posted, I was a busy forensic ecologist/detective discovering the culprit behind dips in trumpeter swan productivity in western Wyoming. Now, I’m a slick computer programmer using remote sensing data to spatially examine the habitat characteristics selected for by nesting swan pairs. To be transparent, I am neither slick nor a computer Read more about The Swan Lives On — Sam Maher[…]

A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher

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Trey Davis, the Preserve Manager at The Nature Conservancy’s Tensleep Preserve, described Tensleep as “a place of superlatives.” Everything at Tensleep is the oldest, the most diverse, the most valuable to researchers, and yet in order for those superlatives to remain true the place must also remain relatively unknown and untouched. My explorations of the Read more about A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part Two) — Franklin Eccher[…]