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 […]
How to avoid cats if you’re a migrating bird, and other lessons from Classrooms Across Borders
by Stacy Moore and Dionné Mej̨ía April 2019 Click to read this blog in Spanish As part of IAE’s Classrooms Across Borders project, dual language (Spanish-English) immersion students from Lincoln and Garfield Elementary, schools located in Corvallis, Oregon, recently participated in a suite of outdoor science activities as part of all-day field trips to nearby […]
In search of the next generation of ecologists
By Denise Giles February 2019 It is always with a sense of excitement that we sort through applications looking for the team of seasonal interns that will contribute to our research, monitoring and restoration efforts. After 10 years of contributing to this process, I am always invigorated by the interest and passion for the natural […]
What native bees live in northern New Mexico? New bee inventory sheds light
By Olivia Carril, PhD, IAE partner and contractor February 2019 The southwest is often characterized by its stark beauty and vast landscapes. Here, rocks that sparkle in a ceaseless sun create a mosaic, from which sprout homely junipers and unwelcoming cacti. Mountains lie silently, 300 miles distant, the view of them uninterrupted by lush trees, […]
Four Reasons to Love Prairies
By Anna Ramthun February 2019 We talk a lot about prairie restoration at IAE. But why do we care about prairies? Why should you care about them? Although prairies don’t provide the obvious resources that forests do (no trees), and they do not provide the splashy benefits of wetlands (requiring folks to mitigate their losses), […]
The New Mexico Nature in Prisons Project: A Successful First Year
By Ella Samuel, Melanie Gisler, & Lillis Urban January 2019 More than 7,000 people are currently incarcerated in New Mexico state prisons, and this number is only projected to rise (See Source below; New Mexico prison population forecast, 2017). Despite a large and growing inmate population, New Mexico correctional facilities have few educational programs that […]
Teaching Animal Tracking in Juvenile Detention
By Tyler Knapp January 2019 How do you teach high school students about animal tracking if they are incarcerated, and can’t go out in nature? Well, you bring the tracks to them! On Wednesday January 9th, IAE Ecological Education Coordinator Tyler Knapp and Stacy Moore, Ecological Education Program Director, did just that at the Linn-Benton […]
The year in review
By Michel Wiman January 2019 As 2019 dawns and we plan IAE’s 20th year, we can take a moment to reflect on our restoration, research, and education over the last 12 months. We’ve checked a lot of boxes in 2018: Growing native plants As of this writing, IAE has 1,340 acres of Oregon habitat in […]
Staff Publication: Choosing native plants for pollinators…but not pests!
By Kimiora Ward January 2019 Widespread attention to pollinator declines has motivated land managers, farmers, and gardeners to plant wildflowers for pollinator habitat at large and small scales, but the question always arises – which native plant species give us the biggest bang for our buck? IAE’s new Southwest Office Restoration Program Coordinator Kimiora Ward […]
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 […]
Kids Go Wild Learning about Migratory Birds
By Dionné Mej̨ía November 2018 “Cool, I love the red throat on the hummingbird,” claimed a young student during Lincoln Elementary School’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) night on November 14th, 2018. Numerous students examined bird study skins and nests to learn about three particular birds—the black-throated gray warbler, the great blue heron, […]
Season’s Plantings
by Anna Ramthun December 2018 As the planting season and the year draw to end, we are feeling incredibly grateful for our volunteer base! With their help, the Habitat Restoration Program was able to plant 34,460 plugs, bulbs, trees, shrubs, and bare-root native plants this year. Of these, 4,885 were plugs of threatened and endangered […]
From Seedlings to Sagebrush: A Year of Success at Warner Creek Correctional Facility
By Amy Zimmer November 2018 Supporting over 300 species of birds, mammals and fish, the sagebrush ecosystem comprises the landscape surrounding the communities of Paisley and Lakeview in Eastern Oregon. Encompassing roughly 120 million acres of the western United States, this delicate ecosystem has been impacted over the past century by an increasing number of […]
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 […]
First Foods Celebration at Champoeg State Park
By Andy Neill October 2018 On Saturday October 13th, IAE staff took part in a cultural event at Champoeg State Heritage Area and State Park near Wilsonville, Oregon, that was the culmination of the efforts with our partners at Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde (CTGR) and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The event […]