For this week’s Photo of the Week series, I dug back into the photos from last month’s trip to the Niobrara Valley Preserve. On the last day of the trip, we woke up to fog and frost layered on top of an already snow landscape. The combination created a landscape of nearly monotone white. While I found plenty of photo opportunities across the frosty landscape, any bit of color really stood out against that background. Maybe the strongest examples of that were the numerous wild rose hips scattered around. Here are some photos I took of those rose hips, along with one landscape photo to help set the scene for you. Enjoy!

In other news, I had a post featured in The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science blog earlier this week. It was a great opportunity to share my square meter photo project with a broad audience. If you’re not familiar with the Cool Green Science blog, I’d encourage you to check it out. You can find a great variety of interesting topics there.

Hi – just popping in with two short announcements.

First, for those of you living in or around Lincoln, Nebraska, I’ll be giving a presentation to the Wachiska Audubon Society on January 10, 2019. I’ll be sharing photos and stories from my square meter photography project. The meeting is at 7pm and free to the public. You can find more information on Wachiska’s website. It’d be great to see you there!

Second, we are currently taking applications for our Weaver Grant Program. We give up to five $1000 grants each year to graduate students working on projects related to Great Plains conservation. You can read more about the guidelines for application and our priority topics by clicking HERE. Applications are due February 8, 2019. We typically receive 12-20 applications per year, so your chances are pretty good compared to, say, a National Science Foundation grant program…

Please pass the information about both of these items to anyone who might be interested. Thanks, and Happy New Year!