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Pools of phosphorus across the LTER: Reflections from an LTER Fellow

1.9.24

Ethan Weinrich is a graduate student in MSU's Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, advised by Sieg Snapp. The Challenge Soils contain the largest pool of phosphorus on Earth. Yet, farmers need to add phosphorus to their fields to help crops grow. This is called the Phosphorus Paradox: there is so much phosphorus in soils, yet plant growth is limited by this nutrient. The tricky part is that most of the phosphorus in soils is locked away in forms not available to plants. How can plants access the phosphorus they need to grow? Phosphorus minerals in soil can be broken

Buchanan students visit KBS LTER and Kellogg Bird Sanctuary with RET Melissa Frost

11.30.23

Throughout 2022 and 2023, Melissa Frost, biology and chemistry teacher at Buchanan High School, joined the KBS LTER through our Research Experience for Teacher (RET) program. The NSF-funded RET program partners teachers with scientists to assist in ongoing research in the lab, as well as providing the teacher the opportunity to develop their own research project. Melissa joined Sarah Evan's lab, and worked with scientists Jennifer Jones and Caitlin Broderick. Melissa embraced the RET as a chance to integrate more research and data into her teaching. "Participating in a RET program allowed

Combine art and science in a sun print workshop at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary

7.17.23

Augusta, Mich. — An upcoming workshop, hosted at the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, will blend art and science into a beautiful sun print piece. Callie Chappell, an artist, science communicator, scientist, and a 2023 artist-in-residence with the KBS Long-term Ecological Research program, will lead the workshop, set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at the Sanctuary. Participants will be encouraged to bring culturally or personally significant materials with them for use in the project. The workshop will begin with a short walk through the

2023 KBS LTER Artist-in-Residence set for June 12-18

6.12.23

A Kalamazoo woodcut printmaker and teacher is the 2023 Artist-in-Residence for Michigan State University’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Launched by MSU in Summer 2022 in an effort to promote art and science collaborations, the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Artist-in-Residence Program is now in its second year and will host Trevor Grabill from Flat Mountain Press June 12-18 as the 2023 Artist-in-Residence. According to Gretel Van Wieren, Professor of Religious

Long-time collaborator with KBS, Dean Baas, recognized as NRC-SARE Hero

6.6.23

Dean Baas: NCR-SARE Hero Coordinated by the NCR-SARE Alumni Organization, the term “NCR-SARE Hero” recognizes the leadership, vision, contributions, and impact that individuals have made in the field of sustainable agriculture in the region. Dean Baas’ academic training started at Michigan State University (MSU), where he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering. Baas worked for 20 years with the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Michigan, in technical/management positions, before returning to MSU to undertake a doctorate in environmental geosciences and biosystems

Area educators invited to Kellogg Biological Station K-12 Partnership’s Summer Institute

5.31.23

Hickory Corners, Mich. — Teachers and informal educators of K-12 students are invited to engage in science teaching professional development this summer at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. The 24th annual K-12 Partnership Summer Institute is set for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, through Thursday, June 22. Registration is now open! This year’s theme is “Our Changing Planet, Classrooms to Ecosystems,” and will include scientific talks by Dr. David Karowe, Dr. Lauren Sullivan and Naim Edwards. Each morning’s science talk will be followed by a series of interactive and

DreamScene Placemaking: Artists-in-Residence 2022

5.23.23

Anna Lee Roeder and Erik Vasilauskas are the husband and wife team behind DreamScene Placemaking in Kalamazoo, and our 2022 KBS LTER Artists in Residence. They visited KBS twice during their Residency in 2022. For their first visit in the spring, they stayed with us for a week and toured KBS, visited our long-term experiments, and met with scientists, students, and staff. In the fall, they presented a brownbag seminar on the development of their artistic styles and how the residency fit into that trajectory. As a product of their residency, Anna and Erik engaged the KBS summer

Similar invasive insects coexist through slight differences in environmental responses

3.2.23

Novel analyses of a 31-year dataset on invading ladybeetles shows that small differences in habitat preference across years allow for two similar invading species to coexist while native species decline. Invasive species lead to novel interactions Invasive species are one of the main threats to biodiversity in an increasingly interconnected world. As humans move organisms around, either purposefully or incidentally, new combinations of species have the opportunity to interact with one another. These novel interactions have the potential to affect an invader’s persistence in the

KBS Long-Term Ecological Research program awarded $7.65 million NSF grant

2.8.23

The W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research program at Michigan State University recently received a renewal of its foundational grant from the National Science Foundation, reaffirming its future and status as one of the country’s premier research sites. Established in 1989, the KBS LTER is one of 28 NSF LTER sites nationally and is the only one dedicated to understanding the ecology of agricultural systems. With a focus on row crops, the 34-year-old program studies how agriculture can be environmentally friendly without harming yields. A renewal

Article featuring KBS research wins outstanding paper award

1.30.23

A paper that examines best practices for improving soil health over time has been recognized as outstanding by the American Society of Agronomy, or ASA. The paper, spearheaded by W.K. Kellogg Biological Station resident faculty and MSU assistant professor Christine Sprunger, detailed research that was conducted at the KBS Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center site. Tvisha Martin and Meredith Mann also contributed to the paper, titled “Systems with greater perenniality and crop diversity enhance soil biological health,” which was originally published in 2020 in the journal Agricultural