Tag Archives: writing

Yet Another Intentional and Valuable Post

Posted on by
9

People sometimes ask me if I have a certain number of posts I’m supposed to write in a year. A quota, if you will. I always tell them that if that were the case, you’d probably know because I’d occasionally post something that was clearly a space-filler. A post that didn’t really serve any purpose other than to be a post that counted toward a quota.

Instead, I hope you’ve noticed that all my posts have a clear purpose. Sometimes, I’m sharing a story of something I’ve seen or learned recently. Other times, I’m trying to synthesize information from my own experiences and/or those of others that I think might be helpful to the kind of people that read this blog. And, of course, sometimes I just share photos that I’ve taken recently with the hope that they’ll help inspire people to appreciate the prairies that I love.

If I was writing on deadline or to fulfill an obligation to produce a certain number of posts each year, I’d probably feel pressure to occasionally put out a post that didn’t really accomplish any of those purposes. A post that seemed thrown together without a coherent or logical flow. As intelligent readers, I think you’d know if that was happening.

Did you know robber flies will attack and feed on other robber flies?

Tangentially, I recently heard a comedian talking about writing sketches to entertain themselves, as opposed to writing content they thought would make other people laugh. I, personally, think that’s ludicrous. As an artist or entertainer, I think your first responsibility should be to the audience. Creating something just to make yourself laugh is fine, but you don’t have to share that with the world. I think my kids would agree with that. In fact, I know they would.

Back to the point, I’m always very intentional about the posts I write. I know I have an obligation to many people who follow this blog. I’ve been writing this blog for more than 15 years now (!!) and its continued growth is, at least in part, because I take my responsibility seriously.

By the way, did you know this is a blog? That’s weird, right? That makes me a blogger and you a blog reader. I’m not sure which is more embarrassing. I won’t tell if you won’t.

I think a lot of people have assumed that this is just a newsletter I send out via email. That’s definitely more respectable than a blog, so let’s just go with that. Thank you to everyone for reading my newsletter.

Wolf spider burrows are often about the diameter of a coin just smaller than a nickel but bigger than a dime. I wish there was a coin of that size…

Speaking of different forms of communication, social media continues to be an important way to share content. I have struggled to figure out how to use platforms like Instagram productively (@prairieecologist, if you’re interested). Having said that, I now have more followers on Instagram than I have readers of this, um, newsletter. Maybe it’s time I took social media as seriously as I take my responsibility to provide consistent, useful content here.

Well, I’ve probably given you enough helpful information for one post, so I’ll let you get back to your day now.  To be clear, I’m not ending this post just because I’ve just hit 500 words. No one is watching to make sure I hit any minimum word count, just as they’re not counting the number of posts I write in a year. I hope this helps quell any rumors to that effect.

Hiring Now! The 2026 Hubbard Fellowship with The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska

Posted on by
Reply

It’s time! We are now accepting applications for our 13th class of Hubbard Fellows. Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested. I supervise our fellows each year, and can’t wait to meet the next two.

The Hubbard Fellowship was built to help people bridge the gap between what you learn in college and the skills and proficiency needed to start a career. After graduation, many (most?) aspiring conservationists spend several years in seasonal positions, trying to gain enough experience to qualify for career positions. Because those seasonal jobs tend to be fairly narrow in scope and short in duration, it can take a while to build a diverse resume.

2025 Hubbard Fellow Noelle Schumann ignites a prescribed fire under the watchful eye of a mentor.

Hubbard Fellows are involved in nearly everything The Nature Conservancy does in Nebraska over the course of their 12-month fellowship. They spend a lot of time doing land stewardship – getting the training they need along the way – but also attend board meetings, engage in strategic discussions, and help with fundraising and marketing work. Fellows get to meet and work with researchers, lead groups of volunteers, and talk about conservation to the public.

In addition, each Fellow can design their own independent project, which allows them to dive more deeply into a topic of their interest. As long as it provides some kind of tangible benefit to The Nature Conservancy, projects can look like just about anything. Fellows have conducted field research, created art, developed recommendations for conservation strategies, designed outreach programs and materials, and much more.

Our other 2025 Hubbard Fellow, Kojo Baidoo, gets an up close look at bison at The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve.

By the end of their year with The Nature Conservancy, fellows tend to have a stronger sense of what they want to aim for in their career. Sometimes, that leads them into graduate school, ready to focus on their chosen topic, and with an eye toward what they want after they complete their next degree. Other times, it sets them up for a successful job application in land stewardship, environmental education, conservation fundraising, or other fields.

If all of this sounds like something that applies to you, please apply! We get applicants with both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The level of your degree doesn’t matter nearly as much as your enthusiasm and potential. We want to help build the next generation of conservation leaders (including all forms of “leadership”) so tell us why this fellowship would be helpful to you and why you’re excited about the opportunity.

You can read much more about the Hubbard Fellowship here and in this brochure. Applications are due September 28, 2025 and our two new fellows will start on February 2, 2026.