Hello, friend of the KU Field Station!

The prairies are alive with yellows and purples, busy grasshoppers, and developing seeds, while colors are changing and the first leaves are falling in the woodlands. As the field season winds down and the fall semester kicks off, the buzz of activity is shifting from field crews to class visits across our prairies, woodlands, and reservoirs.

We’re gearing up for a busy September, from hosting part of the Grassland Restoration Network workshop and attending the Organization of Biological Field Stations conference to continuing ongoing research projects and learning with you all during our public programs. It's going to be a great month!

See you out there!
Wendy

Friday, September 5 | 8:30–10:00 p.m. | Armitage Education Center

Join the Astronomy Associates of Lawrence for a night under the stars at the KU Field Station!

The waxing crescent moon, about 22% illuminated, will be beautiful through telescopes without washing out the rest of the sky. With clear skies, we will be spotting planets, stars, and more! Telescopes will be set up on the lawn behind the Armitage Education Center, offering clear views of the night sky beyond the glow of city lights.

Bring a chair or blanket and settle in under the stars to enjoy the wide open sky, surrounded by the chorus of late summer night sounds, like katydids calling, coyotes singing, and owls hooting. Whether you stay for the entire event or just stop by for a quick look, we’d love to have you join us!

Where: KU Field Station, Armitage Education Center, 350 Wild Horse Road, Lawrence, Kansas 66044

What to bring: Cozy clothes, a chair or blanket, a mug for tea/coffee

To RSVP, please email Wendy (wendyholman@ku.edu).

This program is weather permitting and requires clear skies, so please make sure to RSVP to receive updates from Wendy in case of changes due to the forecast.

Sunday, September 21 | 2:00 p.m. | Armitage Education Center, KU Field Station

September Topic: One Scientist’s Journey to Protect the World’s Most Threatened Vertebrates

We often hear about the wildlife we aim to protect, but what about the people making that protection possible?

Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo, a doctoral candidate in KU’s Herpetology Department, will share a story that blends science with the human experiences that spark curiosity and inspire action.

One book set this small-town kid from the southern Philippines on a path that led to the rediscovery of Guttman’s stream frog, a species known from just a single specimen and lost to science for 27 years. That journey eventually brought Kier to KU, where he now studies frogs, the world’s most threatened group of vertebrates, and continues the work that first ignited his passion.

Kier will also explore how this rediscovery became a symbol for collaborative conservation, inspiring research and protection efforts among many stakeholders to preserve the frog’s remaining habitat. His story is one of curiosity, persistence, and unexpected turns, and it shows how KU Herpetology’s collections and research spark conservation far beyond Kansas.

Where: KU Field Station, Armitage Education Center, 350 Wild Horse Road, Lawrence, Kansas 66044

What to bring: A mug for tea/coffee to help us reduce waste.

Please RSVP to Wendy (wendyholman@ku.edu) as space is limited. It also helps us plan for seating and snacks!

Science Sundays is a monthly series of talks covering a variety of science topics, including research happening at the KU Field Station. These free talks are open to everyone but may not interest younger audiences. You don't have to be a scientist to attend, just curious about the natural world!

Saturday, September 27 | 6:00 p.m. | here-ing at the KU Field Station

Celebrate the changing seasons with us in 2025! Join us for the third walk of this seasonal series, each marking an equinox or solstice. Together, we will walk the here-ing labyrinth, welcoming each new season with intention and connection to the land. 

Visiting the same place throughout the year offers an opportunity to observe change: subtle shifts in color, new growth emerging, the arrival and departure of different animals, the way light moves through the landscape. By grounding ourselves and following the path, we can take this time to notice the beauty of the world around us and embrace the transition of the seasons, quietly and in community.

Shy grasshoppers, developing seed pods, and the shifting colors of the prairie and surrounding woodlands will guide our sunset walk, while golden light bathes the landscape and invites reflection on the changing season.

Come walk with us and experience the beauty of fall unfolding!

What to expect: The here-ing labyrinth is a narrow, dirt path created and sustained by footsteps. It is approximately one mile (one way) long and takes about an hour to walk in and out. Elevation change is minimal. Click here to learn more about here-ing.

What to bring: Closed-toed shoes, long pants, water bottle. 

Where: Roth Trailhead, 2055 E 1600 Road, Lawrence, Kansas 66044 (Google Maps)

To register, please email Wendy (wendyholman@ku.edu).

This program is weather permitting, so please make sure to register to receive updates from Wendy in case of changes due to the forecast.

When: Friday, October 3, 8:00–9:30 p.m.

Where: KU Field Station, Armitage Education Center

RSVP to Wendy at wendyholman@ku.edu

We’ve been busy preparing for October’s Cedar Milling Field Day at the trailhead of the soon-to-open public trail in the Rice Woodlands, part of the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve. With help from Dave Bruton of the Kansas Forest Service and a portable Wood-Mizer LT40 sawmill, we’ve been turning cedar logs into boards and carving pieces, stacking up a growing pile of freshly milled cedar to dry. Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of logs to watch being milled, try milling yourself, and take home for your own projects in October!

We will have limited quantities of wood to share with participants to create with this winter, with an opportunity to showcase your work in a gallery at the Lumberyard Art Center in Baldwin City during the trail’s grand opening event in April 2026! More details about the spring maker event and gallery show will be released next month.

Andrew Rutter shared his infectious enthusiasm for freshwater mussels with us during last month’s workshop. From their mind-blowing reproductive strategies, like mimicking specific prey fish to lure in their host fish, to their vital role in healthy waterways, Andrew helped us see just how remarkable these creatures are. Participants also had a chance to practice identifying some of the mussel species that quietly filter and clean our streams and rivers. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

In August, KU’s Graduate Student Organization hosted local 4-H members at the KU Field Station for an evening of hands-on science fun. These middle and high school students got a taste of what makes a field station special, learned about frogs as indicators of ecosystem health, caught some aquatic invertebrates, and even got to see freshwater jellyfish! They collected water samples, examined tiny critters under microscopes, and practiced identifying local frog species. Guided by KU grad students who aren’t much older than them, the group got a glimpse of what their own futures in science could look like. We had so much fun that we barely took any photos!

August means it’s back to class, and we love when students and professors from different disciplines make the Field Station part of their classroom. Second-year architecture students in Rick Ember’s Architectural Design 1: Form & Function course visited to kick off the first of three major projects they will work on this semester, each taking them deeper into the design process. For this first assignment, students are designing a hypothetical KU Field Station Interpretive Center. Each student will come up their own design while supporting one another along the way, fostering a collaborative atmosphere.

Students shared that site visits like this are an essential part of their creative process, helping them connect with both the project and the place while drawing inspiration from everything around them. They spoke about the textures of tree bark, the shape of the land, the sounds of grasshoppers, the winding roads, and the perspectives that only come from being fully immersed on-site. Visiting the location lets them “experience a new place with architecture brains on,” connect to its history, and engage all of their senses to spark ideas for their preliminary designs.

We can’t wait to see what they dream up!

Not on social media? No problem.

Here are a few of our favorites from the past month. 

This month’s Science Sunday invited us to slow down, listen, and see prairie plants in a new light. 🌱✨

Through poetry and ecology, Megan Kaminski opened space for thoughtful reflection on our relationship with the prairie.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this contemplative afternoon of science and poetry! 🌿📖

The tiniest whorled milkweed pods 🥹

As they mature, they’ll fill with dozens of seeds, each attached to silky threads that catch the wind and drift to new places once the pod splits open.

Whorled milkweed may be small, but it plays a mighty role in the prairie, providing late-season nectar for pollinators and acting as a host plant for monarch caterpillars. 🌱🦋✨

Featuring: 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢

🌙🦋 Lights, sheets, action! 🔦✨

Thanks for celebrating the weird and wonderful world of moths (and more) with us!

This is the monthly newsletter for the University of Kansas Field Station community. Each month, we share details about upcoming public programs, volunteer opportunities, and highlights from the month before. 

To read previous issues, please visit our newsletter archives.

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Wendy at wendyholman@ku.edu.

University of Kansas Field Station Mission: 

   To foster scholarly research, environmental education and science-based stewardship of natural resources.

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