Invasive species expert teaches volunteers to overcome ‘plant blindness’
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By Anna Ironside
Caroline Miller is a botanical technologist at Michigan State University’s W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, as well as a master’s student. Her work has made her a driving force behind restoration projects on campus and beyond. From invasive species removal days to a growing movement to replace traditional turf lawns with native landscapes, Miller doesn’t quit.
Growth in shoreline armoring is reshaping Michigan’s Lake Michigan coast
By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva
A new study documents a fivefold increase in shoreline armoring along Lake Michigan’s Eastern coast.
How seeds from the past are saving a unique flower of the Great Lakes
By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva
More than 30 years ago, a group of scientists planted just 4,200 seeds of the rare Pitcher’s thistle in the sandy dunes of the Great Lakes. At the time, no one knew if the new populations would survive. Today, three decades later, the restored populations are thriving and spreading.
From otters to butterflies: How Minnesota became a pioneer in nongame wildlife conservation
By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva
In the late 1970s, when most wildlife conservation programs in the United States focused almost exclusively on game species, a quiet but historic shift began in Minnesota. It was here that one of the nation’s first state programs dedicated to protecting so-called nongame wildlife emerged from butterflies and bats to bald eagles and river otters. That story is now told in detail by Carrol Henderson in his new book, “A National Legacy: Fifty Years of Nongame Wildlife Conservation in Minnesota.”