News
Wed, 11/22/2023
Tagging monarch butterflies to track migration (Opens in new window)
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 (Opens in new window)
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
LAWRENCE — 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...
Tue, 10/31/2023
Algae blooms are getting more toxic and spreading north on the Great Plains (Opens in new window)
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 (Opens in new window)
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 (Opens in new window)
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
Mon, 10/16/2023
KU Field Station plans prescribed burn in Baldwin Woods next week
The University 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...
Sun, 10/01/2023
Scientists and volunteers work together to monitor annual butterfly migration (Opens in new window)
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 (Opens in new window)
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
Two KU doctoral students receive Fulbright-Hays dissertation award
LAWRENCE — 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 (Opens in new window)
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. (Opens in new window)
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
Seemingly pristine water could be hiding a tiny form of man-made pollution which is drawing the attention of scientists in a global study. Two researchers from the University of Kansas (KU) 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. See the full story from KSNT, Topeka, Kan.
Fri, 07/28/2023
Kansas lakes contain hidden pollution with unknown health impacts, study finds (Opens in new window)
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.
Fri, 07/28/2023
Young artists of Van Go unveil 20 new benches (Opens in new window)
For Van Go apprentice artist Barack Bennett-Robinson, drawing from emotion is part of making meaningful art. Bennett-Robinson created a bench for local conservation organization Monarch Watch. The bench memorializes Sarah Schmidt, who had worked at Monarch Watch for several years. Sarah, her husband Tyler and their daughter Lula were killed last year while camping in Iowa.
Thu, 07/27/2023
More plastic found in some lakes than in ocean ‘garbage patches,’ study finds (Opens in new window)
A recent study found that some lakes around the world contain as much, if not more, plastic than polluted ocean gyres, also known as "garbage patches." Researchers tested samples from 38 lakes and reservoirs on every continent except Antarctica.
Wed, 06/07/2023
The Alien Seagrass (Opens in new window)
Christopher Rogers, associate research professor, is a collaborator on this study of the Virgin Islands seagrass beds ecosystem, filmed for this video by Virgin Islands NSF EPSCoR. For the project, Christopher is doing all the crustacean identifications and the statistical analyses of invertebrate biodiversity between native seagrass beds, invasive seagrass beds and mixed seagrass beds.
Thu, 06/01/2023
Manipulating plant microbiomes in the field (Opens in new window)
In this episode of the British Ecological Society's "Applied in 5" podcast, Lydia Groves of the Journal of Applied Ecology interviews Assistant Research Pro. Liz Koziol about her recent article that was shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022, which celebrates early career ecologists.
Thu, 05/18/2023
Lawrence High students growing milkweed to help monarchs (Opens in new window)
In this column contributed to the Lawrence Times, Allie Lippe-Mackey, who teaches biology, astronomy and geology at Lawrence High School, describes a daylong school event with Monarch Watch staff, who taught students about monarchs and the role of milkweed in their life cycle.
Thu, 05/11/2023
Native fungi amendment shows promising results in organic crops
LAWRENCE — Can fungi used in restoring native landscapes boost organic crop production, too? ...
Tue, 05/09/2023
A walking labyrinth in Lawrence (Opens in new window)
Eminent American artist Janine Antoni’s “here-ing” labyrinth at the KU Field Station aims to foster listening, wholeness and healing of the body and the land.
Mon, 05/01/2023
Six students receive Kansas Biological Survey Student Research Awards for 2023
LAWRENCE — The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research at the University of Kansas has awarded $6,500 in funding this spring for student research to be conducted this year. The research center’s 2023 Student Research Awards are providing six graduate students with funding in support of their ecological...
Mon, 04/24/2023
Cloned saltwater creatures hatched from decades-old eggs turn out to be new species (Opens in new window)
Associate Research Professor Christopher Rogers and international colleagues "unraveled" the mystery of two “undescribed” groups of brine shrimp Kazakhstan and Tibet and discovered a new species in the process. (Photo: Alireza Asem)
Fri, 04/14/2023
Haskell, University of Kansas work to bring underrepresented communities into lab sciences (Opens in new window)
This story about student research through KU’s Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) leads with the work of Dori Summers, of the Baer Ecology Lab, on native grasses used in restoration of plowed land.