We are working with the Mushrush Ranch, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, and the Nature Conservancy to find solutions for grassland bird conservation, prairie stream health, and habitat remediation that also meets the financial and logistical needs of ranchers in the Flint Hills. This is an experimental study that uses GPS-controlled collars to manipulate grazing. In 2022 we completed our pre-treatment year, and in spring 2023, the collars were turned on. Check out the poster that Katy Silber presented on this work in Feb 2023, or listen to the NPR story about our project from the early days.
We have now collected two years of treatment data and welcomed Theo Michaels as the post-doc to lead the team. Additionally during 2024, one of our team (Noelle Schumann) designed and led a day-long event exploring the intersection of Art and Ecology.