Hello, friend of the KU Field Station!

December has officially arrived, bringing with it the first real snowfall of the season. As we approach the end of another year, we want to take a moment to share our appreciation for everyone who joined us in learning and exploring in 2025. Whether you are a researcher, student, or community member, your support, curiosity, and love of Kansas inspire us every day.

Thank you for being part of the growing community that makes the KU Field Station what it is. We will be using the winter months to plan for the year ahead and hope you will join us again in 2026. We wish you a safe and happy New Year filled with curiosity and discovery.

With heartfelt thanks,
~ KU Field Station Staff

Sunday, December 14 | 2:00 p.m. | here-ing at the KU Field Station

Celebrate the changing seasons with us in 2025! Join us for the fourth and final 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.

Ripened seeds, dormant plants, and the stillness of early winter will set the scene. With shorter days and the sun hanging lower in the sky, this walk offers a chance to reflect on the seasons behind you and to set intention for the seasons ahead.

Come walk with us and experience the quiet of winter settling.

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: Sturdy footwear, warm clothes, 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.

Since 2008, KU students have helped Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks biologists with annual spotlight-distance surveys to estimate fall deer densities around the KU Field Station. (Scroll down to the Photos section for a look at last month’s survey.) Similar surveys take place across the state, including at the Clinton Wildlife Area, which serves as a useful comparison site. To date, results show that deer density at the KU Field Station is roughly twice that of Clinton.

In 2018, KU Environmental Studies student Olivia Childress set out to investigate whether this higher deer density was affecting the forest as part of an independent study project. Deer prefer the tender new growth of shrubs and trees, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of noticeable browse pressure at the KU Field Station. Working with KU lecturer Bob Hagen, Clinton Wildlife Area biologists, and teams of students, Olivia helped launch an experiment to measure the impact of deer browse on plant communities.

The team installed a series of six fenced exclosure plots, each paired with an unfenced control plot, at both the KU Field Station and Clinton Wildlife Area. Within each of the 12 plots, 10 naturally growing tree seedlings were tagged and measured, and 10 shellbark hickory seedlings were planted, giving each plot 20 trees to follow for growth and survival. Every fall, students revisited the sites to collect annual measurements.

2025 marked the final year of data collection. After measurements were taken last month, Bob Hagen (now retired!) and students dismantled the exclosures and wrapped up fieldwork for the project.

Next comes analysis of the full data set, which will allow comparisons of deer impacts between the two locations. We are excited to see what the final results reveal, and it sounds like a perfect topic for a Science Sundays talk in 2026!

We had perfect weather for a prescribed burn workshop with a group of KU students from the KU Botany Club. Sheena Parsons, KU Field Station manager, introduced students to the basics of intentional fire and fire behavior in the classroom before heading outside to put what they learned into practice.

Outside, Sheena and Tom McKenna, assistant research professor with the Kansas Biological Survey and Center for Ecological Research, guided students through the process of burning a small prairie plot. From assessing site safety, to lighting and fire containment, to the final mop up, students were able to experience different roles on the fireline.

There is something special about shared fire experiences that cultivates a strong sense of community. We love to hear people who have just completed their first burn consistently describe an undeniable feeling of trust, connection, and contentment that settles over the group once the work is done.

At the end of each growing season, the plastic covering the greenhouse structures for the Rainfall and Diversity (RaD) experiment is removed to prepare for winter.

Launched in 2018, the RaD experiment uses greenhouse structures to manipulate precipitation in a series of prairie plots. Each structure receives either 50% of or 150% of the ambient rainfall. In the early years, the plastic roofing stayed on year round, but researchers soon noticed something unanticipated. Rodent populations were booming under the covered structures, and it did not take long to understand why! Red-tailed Hawks and other birds of prey could not hunt beneath the plastic, creating an artificial refuge for rodents throughout the winter. The inflated rodent populations were eating seeds and roots and were interfering with the experiment’s ability to answer questions about plant responses to changing rainfall. To correct this, the team began removing the plastic at the end of each growing season to help keep rodent populations at more natural levels.

The plastic was removed on a gusty day last month. After finishing the first greenhouse, full of smiles and laughs, the crew figured out how to use the wind to their advantage. They removed the covering from the remaining eleven structures without a hitch, and the experiment is now officially put to bed for the winter!

While the Rainfall and Diversity crew was removing the plastic covering from the greenhouse structures, researchers were also collecting late season samples from several of the plots. Jim Bever, senior scientist with the Kansas Biological Survey and Center for Ecological Research, and Grace Hoysted, KU Visiting Fulbright Scholar, harvested roots from multiple prairie plant species as the plastic came off overhead.

Grace is an assistant professor of Environmental Biology and Sustainability at Maynooth University in Ireland. Her research focuses on the roles of mycorrhizal fungi and the relationships between plants and microbes. The samples collected here will provide an interesting comparison to plant and microbial interactions in a very different part of the world.

This team certainly knows how to make the most of the field season!

Dr. Melinda Adams, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science and Indigenous Studies and a member of the N’dee San Carlos Apache Tribe, opened this burn with the Apache words “gozhoo ko.” In English, this translates to “It is a good day for good fire.” And it certainly was! 

Conditions and people all aligned for this burn to happen at the Suzanne Ecke McColl Nature Reserve near the Roth Trailhead. This site has not been burned since 2008 which made it a wonderful location to reintroduce Indigenously led fire as part of Dr. Adams' ARISE First Awards research in resiliency with Kansas Tribes. 

This particular site also includes some of MK Kerron’s former research plots. MK is a Master’s student in the Adams lab, and her research focuses on the effects of cultural fire on soil properties. MK is finished up her degree, so be on the lookout for a chance to learn more about her research at Science Sundays in the spring!

A huge thank you to the Lumberyard Arts Center in Baldwin City for hosting us for last month’s Science Sundays talk. Every seat was full for Sheena Parsons’ presentation, Stories from Rice Woodland: How a Fire Became a Trail and Turned into an Exhibition. Participants took home more milled redcedar lumber after the talk, and we cannot wait to see what they create with it.

Keep an eye on our Facebook event page for updates and how to enter the upcoming juried exhibition, An Ode to Eastern Redcedar, which will open at the Lumberyard Arts Center this spring!

Not on social media? No problem.

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

Eyeshine > textbooks. 🦌👀🔦

Since 2008, Field Ecology (and now Mammalogy) students have helped the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks with annual spotlighting surveys of deer around the KU Field Station. Bundled in warm layers and equipped with spotlights and binoculars, observers ride on a platform mounted to the back of a truck moving 10–12 mph, scanning the dark for eyeshine. Each deer spotted is counted and classified by age and sex, helping biologists track local population trends over time.

📸 Thanks to local KDWP game warden, Jeff Clouser, for sharing photos from the back of the truck!

Northern lights on the prairie. 🌅🌾

We almost never get skies this fancy along the 39th parallel.

It was wonderful to see so many people at the KU Field Station taking in last week's show. 💜✨💚

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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