A Quick Survey of Prairie Ecologist Readers

Eliza Perry, one of our Hubbard Fellows has been helping us evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts to share information about the ecology, restoration, and management of prairies.  If you have a few minutes to take a quick survey, Eliza and I would really appreciate hearing your opinions about this blog and how we might improve it.

The link to the survey is at the bottom of this page.  Thanks for your help!

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From Eliza:

If you are reading this, please consider participating!

The Hubbard Fellowship includes an opportunity to explore an area of each Fellows’ choosing that somehow contributes to the mission of The Nature Conservancy. The options are pretty endless, but I wanted to be sure my project dealt with the people side of conservation in some way.

For the past few months, I have been working to help the Platte River Prairies measure its impacts on our target audiences. So far, my work has focused on interviewing conservation professionals all over the state in an effort to assess how effective we are at communicating our messages.

Now, it’s time to turn to the blog, our primary tool for engaging a broad audience, to understand who visits the blog, why you read it, and what impact it has had on you. We hope to use the information you provide us to better cater to your interests, as well as evaluate the impact the blog is having.

We hope to hear from absolutely everyone, even if this is your first visit to the blog! I got a 91.3% participation rate out of the 23 conservation professionals I reached out to for an interview, which is pretty exceptionally high, but I’m rooting for an even higher rate with our blog readers.

The survey is 10 questions and should take about 5 minutes to complete. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you can skip any of the questions. There are no right or wrong answers! I have tried to provide space for further comment on each of the questions, but if you run out of room at any time, please hold those comments until you reach the final question, which just asks for additional feedback. Your responses will remain completely anonymous, so don’t hold back. We want to hear all of your comments and criticisms!

I’m keeping the survey open to the public for about two weeks before it will be closed for analysis. I would love to answer any questions you might have concerning this project, so please feel free to email me at eperry@tnc.org. If you would prefer to email my staff supervisor, Chris Helzer, Eastern Nebraska Program Director, you are more than welcome to do so at chelzer@tnc.org.

Click HERE to take the survey.

 

Hubbard Fellowship Blog – Back on the prairie: fresh snow and hoar frost

 

A guest post from Anne Stine, one of our Hubbard Fellows.  All photos are by Anne.

 

Fresh snow on bushclover and yarrow in the Derr Sandhills.  The Nature Conservancy's Platte River Prairies, Nebraska.

Fresh snow on bushclover and yarrow in the Derr Sandhills. The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies, Nebraska.

I’ve finally returned to Wood River after a long absence. It’s been ages since I was out on the prairie, or since I even saw it out the window.  The re-acquaintance period after my long time away did not disappoint. Just after I got back, we had some fun weather in the wake of the polar vortex (though I was *less* excited about the frozen pipes…). Specifically, we saw fresh snow followed by hoarfrost.  I was pleased to have a reason to get outside and take pictures.

Hoarfrost on Canada goldenrod

Hoarfrost on Canada goldenrod

I’ve seen hoarfrost before, but I’m struck by how lacey and delicate the world looks with white limning the edges of each leaf and twig. Fresh snow is dramatic in its own right.  I like the way it fuzzes out the horizon and scatters light.

Hairy grama, Bouteloua hirsuta, on the Derr Sandhills during a light snow shower.

Hairy grama (Bouteloua hirsuta) on the Derr Sandhills during a light snow shower.

I am also pleased to report that I have retained my ability to withstand the cold weather. I dress like an arctic explorer, but at least I get outside!

If you’re curious, this is the face behind the posts… winter edition.

If you’re curious, this is the face behind the posts… winter edition.

The morning I woke to hoarfrost, I made a bee-line to the sand pit restoration to capture it on the cottonwoods. The sand pit restoration is one of my favorite places to tromp around in the Platte River Prairies.  I return there regularly enough I was able to make this fun comparison of summer and winter images.  I find this reconstructed wetland to be picturesque year-round. These two pictures are up on TNC Nebraska’s Instagram, nature_ne.  I’m so glad I’m here to see the much-feared prairie winter.

Sand pit restoration: summer vs. winter.

Sand pit restoration: summer vs. winter.

Hoarfrost lining my favorite cottonwood, ice on the creek.

Hoarfrost lining my favorite cottonwood, ice on the creek.

Another view of my favorite cottonwood, framed by common evening primrose stalks.

Another view of my favorite cottonwood, framed by common evening primrose stalks.

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