By Michel Wiman May 2020 Please note: IAE’s work at Champoeg Prairie is currently on hold due to COVID-19. Willamette Valley native prairies occupy less than 1% of their original range, and are now among North America’s rarest ecosystems. Once blanketing the Willamette Valley with diverse forbs, grasses and shrubs, prairies have always provided critical […]
Category Archives: IAE
Celebrating 20 years of IAE
By Michel Wiman November 2019 In a standing-room-only crowd of Institute for Applied Ecology supporters, IAE staff shared innovative projects and stories from their field season on a recent fall evening at the Corvallis Arts Center. This year’s Stories from the Field was a special Annual Meeting for IAE, celebrating the accomplishments of 20 years […]
Prints for sale: Stilwell’s Oregon Botanicals Series
The Institute for Applied Ecology is very fortunate that Oregon artist Frances Stilwell has donated prints from her series titled “Oregon Botanical Landscapes: An Opportunity to Imagine Oregon Before 1800” to support our restoration, research and ecological education work. Ms. Stilwell is a scientist and artist whose love of Oregon ecosystems shines through in her […]
Every early-career scientist needs this, and our Internship Program provides it
By Michel Wiman August 2019 ‘Experience required.’ Look through any science or land management job board and these words will be there, usually in the Minimum Qualifications section. The experience required for most permanent land management and ecology positions often includes field techniques and real-life data collection. So what’s a recent graduate to do for […]
Weed warriors unite for the 8th annual Invasive Species Cook-off
By Michel Wiman, photos by Owen Dell August 2019 Nonnative plant infestations are a huge struggle for land managers and community members alike. We spend hours pulling weeds from our gardens, and time and resources mowing them from our farms, roadsides, and natural areas. Natural resource professionals often watch as their control efforts are overwhelmed […]
Comparing Dobermans to Chihuahuas: Great Basin plants are adapted to local conditions
Owen Baughman, The Nature Conservancy of Oregon; Elizabeth Leger, University of Nevada, Reno; and Tom Kaye, Institute for Applied Ecology A new study published in the most recent issue of the journal Ecology and Evolution shows that plant species native to the Great Basin are generally adapted to local conditions, a fact that could be a key […]
Better than therapy? Watching Willamette Valley pollinators
By David Cappaert, Willamette Valley Pollinator Technician June 2019 Pollination is an essential part of the mating scheme for plants. A simple example is in the case of apples: honeybees visit flowers which then produce apples. It is more complex (and interesting) in the case of native prairie plants. Our Prairie Pollinator project is a […]
Who wins when a frog meets a bombardier beetle? And other Bioblitz discoveries
By Deborah Clark, IAE Board of Directors June 2019 Before I tell the story of the frog and the bombardier beetle, I want to share my mini-adventure at the 2019 Corvallis BioBlitz. What is a BioBlitz, you might ask? It is a celebration of biodiversity — a fun, family-friendly challenge to find and record as […]
Meet the 2019 Conservation Research Interns!
by Miranda Geller May 2019 IAE 2019 Conservation Research Program Interns Eva, Erica, Cia, Rose and Crew Lead Miranda started on a typical gloomy spring day in Oregon, and have since been settling in and learning about what the season will bring for them. Eva, Cia, and Miranda will be traveling all over Oregon—from the […]
Exploring pollinator conservation as an essential skill
by Michel Wiman April 2019 We at IAE feel that science education and the opportunity to steward our planet’s natural resources should be available to all. Recently, I was invited to give a workshop for the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program out of Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon. The goal of the program […]
Flight of the Fender’s Blue
By Carolyn Menke January 2019 Fender’s blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi) was listed as an endangered species primarily because of its extreme rarity due to upland and wet prairie habitat loss and fragmentation. Sites with the butterfly across its range in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, have been monitored on a mostly annual basis for almost […]
A Project for Collaboration and Community
IAE is thrilled to be a part of a coalition of environmental organizations launching The Confluence, a shared space office center the be constructed in Corvallis. The groups have been collaborating since 2014 on the project. A feasibility study was conducted to assess the shared space center concept in our community, identify potential sites, conduct a […]
Gaining good ground at OSU Vegetable Farm
By Emily Wittkop, November 2018 IAE currently manages 66 restoration sites in Oregon and partners with agencies such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for plug and seed production. In order to produce seed for restoration, IAE has expanded our farm program to the Oregon State University […]
Migratory bird habitats connect Oregon and Mexico in ‘Classrooms Across Borders’
Michel Wiman, October 2018, with special thanks and photos courtesy of Tara Davis, Willamette River-Rio Laja Twinning Project; Heath Keirstead of the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District; and Kathleen Westly of Marys River Watershed Council. Why are one-third of all migratory bird species worldwide in decline? Most research points to habitat loss as the […]
Seasons of Herbert Farm Natural Area
By Anna Ramthun September 2018 The Herbert Farm Natural Area is undeniably special. Located just south of Corvallis, the area was an important gathering and foraging spot for local Native American tribes, and is still regarded as an important cultural area by the modern Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde. The Institute for Applied Ecology […]