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Tag: Ecology

Clean Water, Healthy Town: The importance of the Monroe Watershed

Posted January 16, 2021 by Guest Contributor

[A retention pool covered in grass sits in a large parking lot.]

Lake Monroe is one of the best spots in Bloomington: trails, water skiing, boating, what more could you ask for? But little did you know, Lake Monroe is a lot more than just a leisure activity. It is the main water source for Bloomington and the surrounding areas. Each day the Monroe Water Treatment Plant pumps an average of 15 million gallons of water for people to use. We bath in this water and even drink it. But where is all of this water coming from? It turns out the answer is all around us…

How Your Diet Impacts the Environment

Posted June 13, 2020 by Guest Contributor

[A hand painted green, holding a leaf cutting.]

The food you put into your body not only affects your own health, but also the health of our planet. The world’s food system accounts for about twenty-five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Famous primatologist Jane Goodall once said, “you cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Are you making a difference? 

7 Tips on How You Can Help the Environment

Posted September 14, 2019 by Chloe Holden

This is part three in a series on primates and conservation. Check out parts one and two here. If you want to help with saving our environment and animal conservation efforts follow the tips below! Even the smallest efforts can make an impact on primate conservation, and help combat against the effects of global warming. 

The early bird gets the worm, part II: How behavioral ecology is connecting the dots between early-life stress and aging

Posted May 28, 2019 by Kat Munley

A young bird is perched on top of a person’s fingers. The bird has white feathers on its abdomen and gray feathers on its back.

This is the second post of a two-part series on a day in the life of a behavioral ecologist, which features the stories and research of members of Dr. Kim Rosvall’s laboratory in the Department of Biology. Click here to read the first post of the series! In Part I of this series, I discussed… Read more »

The cycle of life… and death… below your feet

Posted April 23, 2019 by Adrienne Keller

Photo of a deciduous temperate forest in autumn, with leaves senescing and leaf litter on the forest floor in various stages of decomposition.

As an ecosystem ecologist, I study how the cycle of life and death influences forest structure and changes over time. A walk in the woods might illuminate the forest’s dynamism as you observe squirrels tending to their buried acorn caches and listen to woodpeckers feasting on grubs. In contrast, the plant community may appear more… Read more »

When the things we can’t see matter: the plant vs. environmental change edition

Posted April 16, 2019 by Abby Kimmitt

Mark Hammond is planting seeds in a large pot filled with soil for the mesocosm experiment. Pots are lined up in two rows on shelving in a greenhouse. Another lab assistant is planting seeds in another pot in the background.

Farmers are facing new challenges in the age of global change. Drought is a major stressor for crops in Indiana and other regions of the U.S. and is forcing farmers to face the question: to irrigate or not to irrigate? Irrigation equipment is incredibly expensive, but is often the best quick solution to water crops… Read more »

A night at the museum takes us back to the future!

Posted April 9, 2019 by Katie Talbott

Photos of museum collection specimens of preserved silky pocket mice (Perognathus flavus) and kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii) used for stable isotope analysis. Skeletons are enclosed in small jars, and stuffed prepared skins are aligned in trays.

Graduate students across disciplines agree: as your years of graduate education increase, your knowledge and skill sets become incredibly specialized. Cue Liam Neeson in Taken, “I can tell you that I do not have money, but what I do have… [is] a very particular set of skills.” So when I asked Dr. Tara Smiley, a… Read more »

Getting to the root of the global carbon cycle

Posted November 27, 2018 by ScIU Editorial Team

a tree shown from an extreme low angle

This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Adrienne Keller in March 2018 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in our atmosphere continue to rise, and global warming has transitioned from a possible future phenomenon to a present environmental reality. Given this reality, scientists are… Read more »

The Microorganism Survival Toolkit: Dormancy

Posted November 20, 2018 by Guest Contributor

Alt Text: Colorized microscope image of multiple soil bacteria.

The author is ScIU guest writer Emmi Mueller, a graduate student in IU’s Department of Biology. What do the deepest parts of the ocean, the human intestine, and outer space have in common? All of these environments are able to harbor a diverse community of microorganisms. Microbes are involved in everything from nitrogen and carbon cycling to… Read more »

How cutting edge technology can help us understand animal migration

Posted September 4, 2018 by Abby Kimmitt

Two undergraduates are working on the device they created to measure the cardinal direction of flight of a moth. One undergrad is adjusting the moth attached to the device; the other undergraduate is checking the computer to make sure it is ready to record data

Scientists have long been interested in understanding animal migration, but gathering migration data proved difficult in the past. For example, the process of catching and recapturing migratory songbirds using mist nets is a laborious process. In the past, recovering songbirds produced data only about the breeding location and their migration destination, and rarely about the migration itself.  Studying… Read more »

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