Josh Stafford receives New Staff Member Award
Dr. Joshua Stafford was presented the 2007 Outstanding New Staff Member award by Chief Brian Anderson at an INHS Staff meeting on May 1, 2008. The Outstanding New Staff Member Award recognizes exceptional achievement and service by a new staff member employed at the Survey for five years or less.
Josh is the Director of the Forbes Biological Station (FBS) in Havana and was hired by the Survey in August 2004. Josh has had an outstanding record of scientific and outreach activities since his arrival at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). Over the past three years, he has been a PI on grants totaling more than $ 1 million and has published at a rate exceeding two publications per year, with several more in press or in review. He serves as an associate editor for the journal Wetlands. Josh has also participated in many outreach activities and has published 12 popular articles on wildlife management and ecology. Josh has deservedly earned the respect of his colleagues and peers at both the FBS and the INHS and has become one of the Survey's strongest assets.
Published Date: May 13, 2008
Volunteers Needed to Establish Aquatic Plants in Local Lakes
Two projects, one at Lake Paradise in Matoon, and one at Lake Shelbyville, are seeking volunteers to help with aquatic plantings. Those wanting to help should be dressed for the weather, and if possible, bring a pair of chest waders. These projects are a joint effort of the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Mattoon, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and other volunteers.
Volunteers should meet at Lake Paradise at the boat ramp lot on May 10, 2008 at 9 a.m.
Volunteers should meet at Lake Shelbyville at the Dam West Recreation Area (9th Street) boat ramp on May 17, 2008 at 9 a.m. Volunteers should be dressed for the weather, and if possible, bring a pair of chest waders.
More information about these projects can be found on the Prairie State Outdoors website article at the following URL: http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/volunteers_sought_for_habitat_project/
Published Date: April 28, 2008
Green Building for River Research
The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center Field Station, which is a joint effort of the Illinois Natural History Survey and other institutions, will provide a research center for studying the "mesocosm" of the Mississippi River.
Phase I of the project is projected to be finished by September 2009 and will use solar panels, as well as wind and water turbines, to produce its energy.
Read more about this project by visiting the April 18, 2008 article in the Belleville News-Democrat at this URL: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/story/314176.html
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in the April 20, 2008 article in the Edwardsville Intelligencer at: http://www.goedwardsville.com/articles/2008/04/20/local_news/4200825823.txt
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the article posted at STLtoday.com, available at the following URL: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/EBAA844BE4D19A838625742F0010B20B?OpenDocument
Published Date: April 23, 2008
First comprehensive treatise on leafhopper genus Zyginama published
INHS entomologists Chris Dietrich and Dmitry Dmitriev have published the first comprehensive treatise on the diverse leafhopper genus Zyginama, species of which are distributed from the central USA to northern South America. The authors provide a key for identification of the 74 species of the genus, descriptions of 43 new species (including one from Illinois), an estimate of the phylogenetic relationships among species, and summaries of their distributions and host plants. Illustrations, including color photos of adults, are provided for each species.
The full title of the work is Review of the Species of New World Erythroneurini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) II. Genus Zyginama
Information about ordering INHS Bulletin Volume 38, Article 3 can be found at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/resources/howtoorder.html
Published Date: April 17, 2008
Most abundant small mammal in IL: short-tailed shrew
Illinois Natural History Survey Senior Mammalogist, Joseph Merritt, provides information about the short-tailed shrew for Chicago Wilderness magazine. The article can be found at the following URL: http://www.chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring2008/myn_shrews.html
Published Date: April 17, 2008
Traveling Science Center to be at Earth Day Event
The Illinois Natural History Survey's Traveling Science Center will be at the St. Charles Park District's Earth Day Festival on April 26, 2008. The free event is being held at Campton Hills Park and begins at 7:30 a.m.
More information about the event can be found at the following URLs:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=171572&src=5
http://www.st-charlesparks.org
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=180565&src=2
Information about the Traveling Science Center can be found at:
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/outreach/TSC.htm
Published Date: April 15, 2008
Passing of Dr. Glen C. Sanderson
Dr. Glen C. Sanderson of Champaign, Illinois, a renowned scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, passed away on March 22, 2008 at the age of 85. More information about Dr. Sanderson's life can be found at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/releases/Sanderson.pdf.
Published Date: March 27, 2008
Diesase or Climate Change Causing Amphibian Decline?
Scientists provide differing viewpoints on the cause of amphibian decline: is it climate change or disease? Viewpoints discussed by multiple scientists in the
View the complete PLoS article
Published Date: March 25, 2008
Entomologists stifled by Indian bureaucracy
An international collaboration to study insects in the Western Ghats mountains in southern India is stalled due to a hold up by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).
INHS' Paul Tinerella
and Michael Irwin
are involved in trying to keep the project moving along. View the complete Nature article
Published Date: March 20, 2008
New director starts May 1, 2008
Brian Anderson, new Chief for the Illinos Natural History Survey, will begin his new position on May 1, 2008. Previously, he was the assistant to the president at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.
More information on the new Survey Chief can be found at the following news sources:
State-Journal Register, URL: http://www.sj-r.com/Outdoors/stories/26068.asp
Prairie State Outdoors. URL: http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/illinois_natural_history_survey_gets_new_director/
Published Date: March 4, 2008
Signs of spring abound
In a February 28, 2008 article discussing the emerging signs of spring's approach, Illinois Natural History Survey ornithologist Steven Bailey is quoted discussing early nesting bird species. The Pioneer Local article discusses the early spring arrival of flowering plants, butterflies, birds, and other harbingers of the season.
View the complete article, including photos at the following URL: http://www.pioneerlocal.com/811937,on-springsigns-022808-s1.article
Published Date: March 4, 2008
Survey volunteers at local PBS station
A group of Survey volunteers recently helped take pledges for the Festival Pledge Drive at WILL, the PBS station of the University of Illinois. Several staff members volunteered for multiple shifts, with the main Natural History Survey group handling pledge lines on Sunday, March 2, 2008. Sunday's volunteers are pictured below.
If you are interested in volunteering or making a pledge please visit WILL at the following URL: http://will.illinois.edu/default.htm
Back row: Beth Wohlgemuth, Samantha Carpenter, Jacquelyn Potter, Brenda Molano-Flores, Mickalei Lindquist, Jean Mengelkoch; Front row: Susan Braxton, Joseph Merritt, Gail Kampmeier, and Walter Hill.
Published Date: March 4, 2008
Winter bald eagle count a new record
In an article published February 23, 2008 in The Daily Journal, Survey scientist Randy Nyboer discusses the this year's record bald eagle count. Though the count is unfinished, it has already surpassed previous records.
View the complete article at the following URL: http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=414815
Published Date: February 25, 2008
Winter tips for bird feeders
Christopher Whelan, an avian biologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, recently offered some tips for keeping overwintering birds in your yard. The tips were featured in the Like an Eagle-Soar blog and were offered through the National Wildlife Association.
View the February 24, 2008 blog entry at the following URL: http://successblognet.com/likeaneagle/index.php/archives/7
Published Date: February 25, 2008
Bumblebee populations declining
The bumblebee crisis was discussed in a February 21, 2008 post to the North Carolina State University Insect Museum blog. The article discusses what factors are contributing to the bumblebee's decline and mentions research done by Solter labs. Lee Solter is an Associate Scientist and Insect Pathology Research Leader with the Illinois Natural History Survey.
View the complete blog entry at the following URL: http://blogs.lib.ncsu.edu/page/insects?entry=declining_bumble_bees
Published Date: February 22, 2008
Natural History Survey part of proposed University of Illinois unit
During his February 20, 2008 State of the State and Budget Address, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich proposed a plan to merge the Illinois Natural History Survey, Geologic Survey, Water Survey and Waste Management and Resource Center into a new University of Illinois unit, the Institute for Natural Sciences and Sustainability. The proposed plan would remove the Surveys from the Department of Natural Resources effective July 1, 2008.
More information about this proposal is available through the following web news sources:
University of Illinois News Bureau, URL: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0220surveys.html
State Journal-Register, URL: http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/25620.asp
Prairie State Outdoor, URL: http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/dnr_faces_40_percent_budget_cut/
News-Gazette, URL: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2008/02/22/ui_officials_applauding_survey_proposal
The Pantagraph, URL: http://www.pantagraph.com/blogs/main/?p=2581
Published Date: February 21, 2008
Contaminated sediments affecting wetland mice
Jeff Levengood and Ed Heske recently published an article entitled "Heavy metal exposure, reproductive activity, and demographic patterns in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) inhabiting a contaminated floodplain wetland" in Volume 389, Issues 2-3 of Science of the Total Environment.The article discusses the effects of using contaminated sediments from Lake DePue, Illinois to create a wetland that is home to white-footed mice.
View the Science of the Total Environment article at ScienceDirect. Accessible through subscription only.
Published Date: February 21, 2008
Illinois Natural History Survey Chief to retire
David Thomas, Natural History Survey Chief since 1997, will retire on February 29, 2008.
View the complete press release at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/releases/INHS_Chief_retires.pdf
Published Date: February 21, 2008
Survey scientists researching moist-soil resources for waterfowl
Natural History Survey scientists, Joshua Stafford, Aaron Yetter, Chris Hine, Randy Smith, and Michelle Horath have been continuing the moist-soil research of Frank Bellrose from the Forbes Biological Station and F. C. Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center in
Havana since 2005. In an article featured in the March 2008 issue of Outdoor Illinois, the scientists discuss their research, the work of Frank Bellrose, and management issues for moist-soil habitats.
View the article, including photos, at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/releases/Stafford_IO_0308.pdf
Published Date: February 21, 2008
Preventing the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in deer
Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, epidemiologist with INHS, recently spoke with Eilee Heikenen-Weiss for the Eight Forty-Eight program on Chicago Public Radio. The show discusses Chronic Wasting Disease in deer and DNR efforts to sample populations and prevent the spread of the disease.
View the transcript or listen the audio* for the January 17, 2008 episode at the following URL: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=17194
* Warning: Contains graphic descriptions of animal dissection
Published Date: February 8, 2008
Life in the Soil a must-read for naturalists and gardeners
Author James Nardi, adjunct scientist with INHS, discusses his new book "Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners" in a February 7, 2008 article published in the Anchorage Daily News. The well-organized book features information on a wide array of animals living in the soil beneath our feet. Readers will find taxonomic data, information on food web interactions, and species impact for gardeners.
View the complete article at the following URL: http://www.adn.com/life/story/307546.html
A December 20, 2007 Washington Post article discussing the book and its release is available at the following URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121900556.html
His book is available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Published Date: February 7, 2008
William Anderson receives Award of Merit
William L. Anderson was the recipient of the 2007 Professional Award of Merit from the North Central Section of The Wildlife Society on December 5th at the Annual Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference held in Madison, Wisconsin. The Wildlife Society’s Professional Award of Merit is given periodically to outstanding wildlife professionals, who live in the eight-state North-Central Section, for their contribution to scientific knowledge and their leadership over a period of several years.
View the DNR Press Release at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/releases/Anderson_DNR_011708.pdf
View the Natural History Survey press release (with photo) at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/releases/Anderson_PR_012008.pdf
Published Date: January 17, 2008
Jeff Levengood published in Journal of Great Lakes Research
Results of a study led by INHS wildlife toxicologist Jeff Levengood were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research. The study reports that Chicago-area herons are still being exposed to banned pesticides.
For an in-depth article about the study visit the University of Illinois New Bureau at the following URL: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0116herons.html
View another article about the herons on EarthTimes.org at the following URL: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/176412,herons-flourish-despite-banned-chemicals.html
View the compete Journal of Great Lakes Research article (subscription required) at the following URL: http://www.iaglr.org/jglr/db/show_article.php?file_name=2007/num4/33_4_791-805.pdf
Published Date: January 16, 2008
Frank Bellrose mentioned in State Journal-Register article
The late Frank Bellrose, a highly esteemed senior scientist with INHS, was mentioned in a State Journal-Register article discussing the recent discontinuation of funding for the Landowner Incentive Program.
View the complete article at the following URL: http://www.sj-r.com/Outdoors/stories/23386.asp
Learn more about Frank Bellrose and his contributions to the Survey at the following URL: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/sep-oct97/bellrose.html
Published Date: January 15, 2008
Gene Robinson receives mention in Science Magazine
Gene Robinson, research scientist and adjunct to the INHS, was mentioned in an article discussing monarch butterflies and their use of the sun as a guide in migration. The article was featured in Science magazine.
View the complete article at the following URL: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/108/2
Published Date: January 9, 2008