- Wild Basin is hosting an Earth Day scavenger hunt on April 22, followed by a full moon yoga class on the porch of the visitors center from 7-8pm. For more info, click here. RSVP for the yoga event here.
- The golden-cheeked warblers have arrived in Central Texas after spending the winter in the tropics. Four males have established territories at Wild Basin, so now is a great time to hike on the trails and listen/look for these endangered songbirds.
- We submitted grant proposals for continuous water quality monitoring equipment in Bee Creek as well as new signage along the trails to support delivery of dynamic, smartphone-based interpretive content to students and visitors. SEU students in several courses, including Dr. Goering’s Writing About Science, Dr. Bilinski’s Ecology lab, and Dr. Beck’s Intro to Sustainability, are working to create content that will be shared with Wild Basin visitors using the Google Field Trip app and QR codes.
- Two of the Spring 2016 Wild Basin interns were selected to participate in REUs this summer: Stephanie Perez (Georgetown University – environmental science & policy in Washington, DC) and Amanda De La Rosa (University of Virginia – field-based ecological research at Blandy Farm).
- Dr. Amy Belaire was invited to be the keynote speaker at the British Ornithologists’ Union 2016 conference. She presented a keynote address titled “The dynamics between people and birds in urban landscapes” at the conference on April 7 in Leicester, England.
- Several new exhibits have been installed in the Wild Basin visitors center recently, including a set of microscopes, “A Year in the Life of A Golden-cheeked Warbler” exhibit, and touchscreens to explore iNaturalist. Come check them out when you get a chance!
- For any planned research activities at Wild Basin or other BCP tracts, remember to submit permit applications at least 30 days in advance of your planned field work. Please find permit application info on our website here: http://think.stedwards.edu/wildbasin/resources
- Last but not least, the winners of the 2016 Hook Scholarships will be announced this week.