I am proud to present our featured scientist, Julia Sosin! Julia and I worked together in the summer of 2015, mostly doing Phragmites control. We kept each other sane while lost in the forests of reeds, dressed to the nines, packs full of chemicals on our backs. One of my favorite work days (and I’m …
I am very excited to introduce this month’s featured scientist: Corrie Navis. I met her while we were both pursuing our Master’s degrees in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Eastern Michigan University. Corrie’s excitement for science (and many other things, actually) is extremely infectious, and her current research is so adorable that I have …
I’ve got a few new scientists in the works for this series, but none of them was quite able to get back to me in time for May (it’s a busy time as many scientists prep for their field season or have already begun it), so I figured I’d share with you the scientist I …
We’re here to talk about our monthly Michigan invasive species, which is in full spring frenzy as we speak. Name: Alliaria petiolata, commonly called garlic mustard. Native Range: Europe Description: Garlic mustard is an herbaceous plant (meaning it has no woody stems) that smells like garlic when you crush the leaves. The first year, it …
When I think of someone I can depend on, I think of Kyle G. George. Kyle earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology with minors in Chemistry, Conservation Biology, and almost Captive Wildlife Management from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, but I learned just what an asset he is to have on your …
In honor of Earth Day, I wanted to take a time out to talk about climate change. This is not a post designed to teach you about the facts of climate change, so whether or not you think climate change is real, it would be appreciated if you read this post through to the end. …
Today’s featured Michigan invasive species is one that I am intimately familiar with since I used them for my graduate school thesis experiments, which I’ll tell you all about another time. This species is the rusty crayfish, and the State of Michigan is serious about controlling their population, for reasons you will learn below. Name: Orconectes …
This is one cool guy that I had the pleasure of sharing some learning experiences with at the University of Michigan- Dearborn. He graduated a year before me with a Bachelor of Science in Land Resource Analysis, picking up Certificate in geospatial analytics and mapping. Within the last year or so he’s taken a position …
Here’s our first monthly “Masters of War” series post, which highlights invasive species in Michigan so you can recognize and help report them. I thought we’d start off with this particular plant since our first featured scientist, Jake Bonello, spends a lot of time mapping its location and treating it. Name: Phragmites australis, commonly called Phrag …
I mentioned emphasizing native plants in my post “Looking Out My Backdoor”, and got a request for what some of my favorites are. The short answer is almost ALL of them (not poison ivy), but that’s not really helpful. I could end up writing another 15 page long post just on natives, but I decided …
