News
Fri, 07/12/2024
Butterfly effect: Scientists argue over monarch’s ESA status
Monarch butterfly expert Orley “Chip” Taylor says the colorful insect is doing pretty well, all things considered. Challenges, yes; the monarch has them, in spades. Population numbers are down, the climate is changing, and precious milkweed-rich habitat is getting harder to find.
Wed, 07/10/2024
KU community mourns death of longtime employee Lee Ann Bennett
The University of Kansas community is mourning the death of Lee Ann Bennett, a senior research assistant at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research. Bennett, a Lawrence resident, died June 30.
Mon, 07/01/2024
Healing the ground we broke
Amble through Kansas prairies and cornfields as we learn how treasuring the ground beneath our feet can lead to farms that better withstand climate change, use less fertilizer and suck carbon out of the atmosphere.
Thu, 06/20/2024
Community invited to tour KU Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden
are invited to a semiannual tour of KU’s Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden, set for the day after the summer solstice. The garden includes research plantings, a large native plant demonstration garden and the KU Community Garden, which is managed by a group of students who grow food to donate...
Mon, 06/17/2024
Annual summer solstice tour of KU medicinal garden set for June 21
The public is invited to the summer semiannual tour of the KU Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden at 7 p.m. June 21, one day after the summer solstice. The garden, situated just east of the Lawrence Municipal Airport, includes research plantings, a large native plant demonstration garden and the KU Community Garden.
Thu, 06/06/2024
Area science teachers visit KU Field Station this week
Nine middle school science teachers from Kansas converged at the KU Field Station, just north of Lawrence, this week. They took part in the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute, an immersive program that gives secondary educators the chance to work with KU scientists to explore resources and gain new ideas for their classrooms.
Mon, 06/03/2024
KPR podcast: A New Guide to Kansas Mushrooms
A New Guide to Kansas Mushrooms is out now from University Press of Kansas. Ben Sikes, associate scientist and associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Caleb Morse, collection manager at KU's McGregor Herbarium, worked with Sherry Kay on this new edition.
Tue, 04/30/2024
Seven students receive Kansas Biological Survey Student Research Awards for 2024
The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research has awarded $7,500 in funding this spring for student research to be conducted this year. Seven students will receive assistance through the research center’s 2024 Student Research Awards.
Tue, 04/30/2024
#KUFieldWorks: Surveying the Kansas ferret population to improve conservation
Each year, a team of people from various organizations gather to perform intensive nighttime surveys of a reintroduction site in western Kansas. Wendy Holman and Nathaniel Weickert took part in a recent survey.
Wed, 04/24/2024
Canceled: KU Field Station marks 75th anniversary with Visitors’ Day April 27
Editor's note, April 26: This event has been canceled due to expected inclement weather. The event will be moved to fall 2024, with a new date announced after Sept. 1.
Wed, 02/14/2024
Monarch butterfly count is 2nd lowest on record: researchers
According to researchers, just nine colonies of monarchs were located this season in their winter home, covering less than one hectare of land. To help put these numbers into perspective, CBC Windsor reached out to Kristen Baum, the director of Monarch Watch, an education, conservation and research program based at the University of Kansas.
Sun, 02/11/2024
Monarch butterfly sightings may be fewer in the US this summer
Monarch butterfly sightings may be sparser than usual in the U.S. and Canada following a drastic drop in populations wintering in Mexico, researchers told ABC News.
Wed, 02/07/2024
Monarch butterflies just took a big hit. Midwesterners may see few of them this year
Scientists say roosting monarchs took up 2.2 acres of Mexican fir forests this winter. That's the second smallest overwintering population on the books.
Wed, 01/03/2024
The choreography connecting kelp forests to the beach
How does the synchrony of abundance across kelp forests affect beach food webs and resilience in a changing environment? A new paper by current and former Reuman Lab members & collaborators in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores these questions.
Tue, 12/19/2023
Research offers a reason why diversity in plant species causes higher farming yield, solving ‘a bit of a mystery’
A study appearing in Nature Communications based on field and greenhouse experiments at the University of Kansas shows how a boost in agricultural yield comes from planting diverse crops rather than just one plant species: Soil pathogens harmful to plants have a harder time thriving.
Wed, 11/22/2023
Tagging monarch butterflies to track migration
This short video on The Weather Channel encourages visitors to the website to participate in the monarch tagging program of Monarch Watch and provides contact info. It follows an interview with Chip Taylor, Monarch Watch founding director.
Tue, 11/21/2023
Centuries-old forests in the Midwest are struggling. Fire can help save them
North American oak-hickory canopies are powerhouses for feeding wildlife. Without periodic understory fires, they wane.
Thu, 11/02/2023
Kristen Baum will lead Monarch Watch
Monarch Watch, an international program at the University of Kansas dedicated to the conservation and study of monarch butterflies, has a new director. Kristen Baum, well known for her work on monarchs and pollinators, began this week as director of Monarch Watch and as a senior scientist at the Kansas...
Tue, 10/31/2023
Algae blooms are getting more toxic and spreading north on the Great Plains
States like North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana will have to deal with toxic blue-green algae blooms already common in Kansas. Utility companies will have to act fast to treat drinking water and keep it safe.
The ugly blue-green algae that frequently spoil Kansas lakes for swimming, fishing and supplying drinking water are growing more toxic as the climate changes.
And they’re spreading farther north.
Fri, 10/27/2023
Monarch Watch on The Weather Channel
How do monarchs find their way to Mexico, and what effect does weather have? Chip Taylor of Monarch Watch answers those questions and more.
Wed, 10/25/2023
KU research: Human-driven climate change to amplify risk of toxin concentration in U.S. lakes
Environmental and health regulators in Kansas routinely notify the public when lake concentrations of blue-green algae surged to levels that people and pets should avoid drinking or swimming in the water.
Warning advisories are in place for Lake Afton in Sedgwick County, Fossil Lake in Russell County, Big Eleven Lake in Wyandotte County, Harvey County East Lake, Lovewell Lake in Jewell County and South Lake in Johnson County. Algae blooms of lesser threat to people and animals were reported in Horsethief Reservoir in Hodgeman County, Lake Shawnee in Shawnee County and Warnock Lake in Atchison County.
Mon, 10/23/2023
Research shows climate change boosts likelihood of toxin releases from algal blooms in American lakes
A broad analysis of lake water quality across the United States reveals human-driven climate change is increasing risks of high toxin concentrations from algal blooms in U.S. lakes, posing increasing hazards to people and wild and domestic animals, including dogs. ...
Mon, 10/16/2023
KU Field Station plans prescribed burn in Baldwin Woods next week
of Kansas Field Station has scheduled a prescribed burn of part of the Rice Woodland tract of the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve for the week of October 23–27. Smoke will be visible near the intersection of East 1700 Road and North 500 Road in Douglas County during the late morning...
Sun, 10/01/2023
Scientists and volunteers work together to monitor annual butterfly migration
The annual monarch butterfly migration is well underway. The insects are due to arrive in Mexico just in time for the Day of the Dead in early November. For decades, scientists with the nonprofit group Monarch Watch have relied on thousands of volunteers to try and figure out the mysteries behind this long-distance journey.
Fri, 09/29/2023
A spill near a Kansas nature reserve dumped oil and industrial salt water
About 10 barrels of oil and 1,500 barrels of industrial salt water spilled from an oil pipeline into a creek near the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas earlier this month. Rattlesnake Creek runs through the refuge, an important migratory stop for birds. The spill happened outside of the refuge and it isn’t immediately clear what the impact on wildlife will be.
Thu, 09/21/2023
Week of events celebrates completion of walking labyrinth at KU Field Station
Several public events in early October will celebrate the completion of “here-ing,” an environmentally embedded artwork by Janine Antoni at the KU Field Station. A two-mile walking labyrinth, “here-ing” is shaped like the anatomy of the human ear that traverses a reseeded former cropland and woodland. ...
Thu, 09/21/2023
Two KU doctoral students receive Fulbright-Hays dissertation award
Two doctoral candidates at the University of Kansas have been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award, receiving a combined $92,000 to conduct research in South America. ...
Wed, 08/30/2023
Butterfly collapse spurs new investigation in Kansas
Monarch Watch founder Chip Taylor is interviewed in this Flatland KC story about a new study that he endorses.
Wed, 08/09/2023
Microplastics are in Kansas lakes. Here's how they compare globally.
Steve Kraske interviews Ted Harris, assistant research professor, on KCUR's Up To Date, about the implications of the global study on microplastics in lakes, which was published in Nature.
Fri, 07/28/2023
Kansas lakes contain hidden pollution with unknown health impacts, study finds
Two researchers from the University of Kansas are shedding light on the presence of microplastics in Kansas lakes and reservoirs alongside more than 70 other researchers in a global study, according to KU. Ted Harris, an associate research professor for the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research at KU, alongside Rebecca Kessler, a former student of Harris and recent KU graduate, participated in the efforts to identify microplastics in Kansas waters.