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[…]
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[…]
One of the major challenges I faced during my study was dealing with the weather; benthic invertebrates are extremely sensitive to natural fluctuations such as water flow and temperature. In order to reduce as many scientific variables as possible during sampling, I spent the first weeks waiting for optimal conditions, which was extremely difficult for Read more about A Strong Fourth Quarter — Joshua Perez-Cruet[…]
Ranch Crew was an excellent opportunity that I was able to take ahold of, but I was not entirely prepared for what all it entailed. When first glancing over the flyer for it I thought that it might be working as a ranch hand for part of the two weeks, but it was not to Read more about Ranch Crew: 2018 Overview — Caleb Gray (a Uni. of WY student)[…]
I first drove into Ten Sleep under cover of Washakie County darkness. The dark ribbon of highway unfurled through the silhouettes of foothills, a seemingly stark landscape in the late-May dusk. My father joined me on the ten-hour road trip from my hometown of Montrose, Colorado to the Nature Conservancy Preserve at Tensleep, and by Read more about A Girl Scout’s Walden (Part one) — Franklin Eccher[…]
Throughout our two weeks with Ranch Crew we became intimate with the Forks Ranch. Assessing ground cover and clipping grasses to measure biomass, we came to understand the natural characteristics of the ranch. We also came to appreciate the deep history of the place through our hosts Cole and Elaine Benton of Grizzly Outfitters. Cole Read more about The Forks and Fire — Brendan Boepple[…]
I have focused my last several weeks on the sampling portion of my project and am loving every minute of it!!! My foremost goal is to analyze how two subterranean sink systems affect the benthic macroinvertebrate communities of Canyon Creek through The Nature Conservancy’s property. I’ve been sampling invertebrates from 6 unique spots on the Read more about An Unexpected Discovery — Joshua Perez-Cruet[…]
I had the pleasure of arriving to Sheridan, Wyoming via road trip. My father, recently retired, proposed to turn the drive into a camping trip, and he and I spent three great days traveling the plains and mountains of Utah and Wyoming. Passing through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the drive was extraordinary. Coming Read more about Changing Perspectives: The Enemy is Everywhere — Reid Lewis[…]
June 2018 was Ranch Crew month for several students (including myself), Ucross members, and collaborating partners from ranch managers to plant ecologists. Ranch Crew is not necessarily what it sounds like. It is so much more than that. Ranch Crew is a two-week immersive experience in rangeland ecology, management, and last but not least…culture! Since Read more about Ranch Crew 2018: An Immersive Experience in Rangeland Ecology and Management — Lexi Smith[…]
Sometimes studying wildlife feels a bit like you’re a detective solving a mystery. You’ve got a question that no one really knows the answer to, a whole lot of information that may or may not be relevant, and probably some bureaucracy to navigate. But when solving it means that you might help a critter’s chance Read more about Forensic Ecology — Sam Maher[…]
Pretend for a moment that you’re a seal. You’re swimming along, minding your own business, when you hear a killer whale vocalizing nearby. Killer whales eat seals like you! So what do you do? You swim away as fast as you can, right? You’d be right, normally. But there’s something more: killer whales don’t always Read more about Predators and Prey — Adam Eichenwald[…]
Trout have a storied and complicated history in America’s conservation history. Ever since the early days of hatchery breeding – a monumental and often daring effort by Livingstone Stone in California – nonnative invasive trout have grown to dominate nearly every recreational fishery in the country. America’s collective memory has gone so far as to Read more about Trout Fishing in America — Franklin Eccher[…]
INTERACTIVE MAP GOES LIVE I’m happy to share that my summer fellowship researching human-wildlife conflict has been featured on the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) website. My research this summer examined strategies for reducing conflict betweeen humans and wildlife in the intermountain west. This work cuminated in an interactive map showcasing 20 innovative strategies to reduce Read more about Interactive Map — Ross Donihue[…]
The coolest part of science is when we make mistakes. Seems counterintuitive, right? Why would a mistake be the cool part of science? The thing is, science is designed to catch mistakes. First, “cool” data is automatically suspect. We go over it a million times before ever attempting to publish it, ironing out everything and Read more about Finding Errors in Data — Adam Eichenwald[…]
So I ran into a problem. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I’m looking into gyrfalcon predation of ptarmigan in Alaska. So far, my data successfully shows that ptarmigan are avoiding locations where gyrfalcons are densely packed – which makes sense; you wouldn’t beeline to set up camp in a lion’s den. Read more about Wind and the Landscape of Fear — Adam Eichenwald[…]