Fall Semester Prep

Throwback to Fall 2020. Looks like we'll be masking up again this semester. I’ve faced some challenges these past couple weeks that have made it difficult to keep up with online activity. I have a wrist injury that has forced me, temporarily, to work with one hand. This makes certain tasks like typing much more … Continue reading Fall Semester Prep →

Midsummer Dreams

Covid19 reminded me that cultivating dreams is still, and has always been, at the center of what we should consider "practical."

It’s Okay to Pull Back (Or, Confessions of a Would-Be Entomologist)

Cup traps proved very effect for sampling early spring native bees. Friday, I met my student, Gabrielle, on a frosty spring morning to set up traps for her capstone project. Gabrielle is following up on work begun last year assessing the impact of stem nester refugia on native bee communities in prairie remnants at Jerry … Continue reading It’s Okay to Pull Back (Or, Confessions of a Would-Be Entomologist) →

Farewell, 2020

Our classic interdisciplinary course Ecology Through the Writers Lens ran under a different format this year, with local day trips instead of week-long overnight visit to the Flint Hills. Of course, everyone masked up. Photo by Amy Milakovic. As this extraordinary year winds down, I find myself reflecting not so much on what 2020 took … Continue reading Farewell, 2020 →

(Re)Connecting Wild

The woodland sunflower in full bloom. Look closely and you'll see a native bee (family Halictidae). I promised I'd share some inspiring stories from NACCB2020, so this week I'm embedding the short film (Re)Connecting Wild from NineCaribou Productions. (Re)Connecting Wild documents the efforts of the Nevada Department of Transportation and partners to re-connect an historic … Continue reading (Re)Connecting Wild →

Words of Courage, Comfort, and Contemplation

Prairie wildflowers brighten the summer months at Jerry Smith Park, Kansas City, MO There are small things I can point to as bright spots inside the pandemic. Among these, I've discovered the pleasure of podcasts. I know: I'm years behind on this one. I'd never listened to podcasts before March 2020, but being away from … Continue reading Words of Courage, Comfort, and Contemplation →

When History Repeats

Unknown author - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=774892 A year and a half ago, when travel was still a thing, I had the opportunity to visit the great city of Berlin. While there, I spent an afternoon at the Topography of Terrors Museum. Built on the rubble of the former headquarters of the … Continue reading When History Repeats →

Black Lives Matter

I've been contemplating what to say here about the national and global outrage expressed in response to police violence against people of color. This is not a new problem for our nation; though like many others, I hope we are at last reaching a new horizon. Rather than indulge in my own take, I prefer … Continue reading Black Lives Matter →

Reconnecting

Normally this time of year I would be at my annual Women's Writing Retreat, more affectionately known as Dollbabies Week. Like so many other spring activities and conferences, that plan was washed away by the tide of Covid-19. My literary colleagues and I have organized a remote edition instead. It won't be the same, but … Continue reading Reconnecting →

Dia de la Amistad

My bee page is now updated - check it out for details about our 2020 field season. I'm excited about my projects, coordinated as always with KC Wildlands, KC Parks, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). We're going to conduct a standardized survey of a unique habitat in the Kansas City area, the rocky … Continue reading Dia de la Amistad →