W.K. Kellogg Biological Station

Graphic featuring image of people looking at posters during the 2025 KBS Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, with the text Monthly updates from Kellogg Biological Station - August.

Keep up with KBS! Read the August newsletter: bit.ly/3UEw3ar

The honk heard across the Great Lakes Learn more about the comeback story of the giant Canada goose and how to coexist with them.

Canada geese have an incredible comeback story in Michigan. Learn the story and how to coexist with them! Our latest article:

www.canr.msu.edu/news/the-hon...

Flyer for Blending Art and Science event, featuring a drawing of a sketch book, course schedule, and the text: Learn how to keep a nature journal of biology observations. Guided by local artist Taylor Scamehorn, deepen your connection to art, science, and place.

There's still time to register!

Don’t miss the Blending Art & Science workshop — where creativity meets curiosity. Explore the intersection of scientific inquiry and artistic expression.

Reserve your spot today: events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?ev...

Group photo of the 2025 KBS undergraduate summer cohort, along with their mentors, taken on an outdoor staircase.

Program from the July 24, 2025 KBS Summer Research Symposium.

2025 summer undergraduate students listen to remarks at the beginning of the Summer Research Symposium.

2025 summer undergraduate students listen to remarks at the beginning of the Summer Research Symposium.

Congratulations to our summer 2025 undergraduate student researchers and interns, and to their mentors. Thank you for sharing your work with us today!

Sophie did do a lovely job! Dedicated to our late friend and co-author Steve Tonsor @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social @xavierpico.bsky.social @gbradburd.bsky.social @quercus62.bsky.social @avawobbles.bsky.social

Stay tuned! Available soon from the MSU online bookstore!
#MacrophyteMonday

Families, the theme of this week’s Wild Wednesdays program is frogs and toads. See you at the Sanctuary! bit.ly/4egal5G

An array of reconstructed prairie plots

A sampling frame in a reconstructed prairie

It was a good first day resurveying a prairie reconstruction experiment at the MSU Lux Arbor Reserve

Now 11 years after these plots were sown, we are asking how initial seeding treatments (# species, season of sowing) influenced plant persistence and longer-term community outcomes

Families, the theme of this week’s Wild Wednesdays program is insects. See you at the Sanctuary! bit.ly/4egal5G

Families, the theme of this week’s Wild Wednesdays program is "Turtles or Tortoises?". See you at the Sanctuary! bit.ly/4egal5G

A flagpole with an American flag stands against a blue sky with puffy white clouds and trees in the background.

🎇 Beginning at 3 p.m. on July 4, 2025, access to the KBS Conference Center & Manor House Estate property on Gull Lake will only be open to KBS students and employees. 🎇

This is to allow our staff and students to attend a holiday gathering. Thanks for your understanding.

Marika Jaeger will join us at the end of this week as this year's joint KBS LTER + LTAR Artist in Residence!

Marika is a painter and scientist whose work highlights themes related to endangered species, climate change, and social-ecological systems.

Very honored and humbled! Thanks to MSU and KBS for creating the space for me to conduct meaningful research! A special thanks to PRI for submitting the nomination! Most importantly - thanks to my lab- as they are so often the ones on the ground executing our research in meaningful ways.

The tortoise and the air: climate shapes sex-ratio reaction norm variation in turtles Abstract. For some species, gonadal sex determination relies on environmental cues and thus ought to match local conditions, which can be accomplished thro

Proofs are up for my latest pub in @journal-evo.bsky.social! It’s a big ol’ analysis of how sex-ratio reaction norms vary with local climates within and among turtle species with TSD. Check it out here:

doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Sarah Reimer honored by MSU with prestigious Jack Breslin award Sarah Reimer, manager of the administrative office at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, is a recipient of a 2024-25 Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff award.

A belated but very hearty congratulations to Sarah Reimer, KBS administrative office manager and go-to person for nearly everyone at the Station at one time or another, who received a prestigious Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award from MSU. It’s such a well-deserved honor! More:

A green graphic featuring a headshot of Christine Sprunger and the World Food Prize Foundation and PRI logos. Contained in a light green arrow, is the following text: Congratulations! 2025 Top Agri-food Pioneer. The text below the arrow reads: Christine Sprunger, Associate Professor of Soil Health, Plant Resilience Institute, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

A graphic featuring photos of the 39 Top Agri-food Pioneers titled "2025 Changemakers." The text below reads: "TOP Agri-food Pioneers, You've been TAPped, www.worldfoodprize.org/tap"

Congratulations to @sprunger.bsky.social on being selected by the World Food Prize Foundation as a 2025 Top Agri-food Pioneer for her work in regenerative agriculture and soil health that has transformed sustainable farming systems worldwide! Learn more about #FoodPrize25 at: bit.ly/46dbskz

Families, the theme of this week’s Wild Wednesdays program is owls and hawks. See you at the Sanctuary! bit.ly/4egal5G

Local adaptation of both plant and pathogen: an arms‐race compromise in switchgrass rust In coevolving species, parasites locally adapt to host populations as hosts locally adapt to resist parasites. Parasites often outpace host local adaptation since they have rapid life cycles, but ho...

Excellent new paper out this week led by former postdoc (now NC State Assistant Professor) @aceraceae.bsky.social. "Local adaptation of both plant and pathogen: an arms-race compromise in switchgrass rust." nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

June 18 & 25 | Wild Wednesdays at the Sanctuary Families with children are invited to this summer’s Wild Wednesday series, held on select Wednesdays during July and August.

Make your Wednesdays a little wilder! Join the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary in June and July for Wild Wednesdays, and learn about a different plant or animal each day.

Wild Wednesdays are in-person programs designed for families with kids ages 3-8. Learn more: www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/06/wild...

Thursday, July 10 | Natural Shoreline Workshop Kellogg Biological Station is hosting a hands-on workshop to teach waterfront property owners how to improve their shorelines and support lake health.

Own a lakefront property in Michigan? Join us for a hands-on workshop that will teach you how to improve your shoreline and support your lake’s health. Learn more: www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/06/natu...

Friday, July 18 | Erica Bradshaw Art Exhibit & Reception The W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary is hosting an art exhibit and reception to highlight the work of last year’s KBS Long-Term Ecological Research program artist-in-residence, Erica Bradshaw.

Erica Bradshaw, our 2024 KBS LTER artist-in-residence, is returning for an exhibit and reception showcasing the works inspired by her residency.

Stop by the Bird Sanctuary’s Overlook Building between 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday, July 18, to meet Erica and see the exhibit: www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/06/eric...

Homeowners sketch out their wants and ideas for their inland lake shoreline homesite, including plans for planting the native plant they received as a thank-you for their participation.

Erick Elgin from MSU Extension talks to homeowners from 6 different Iron County lakes about natural shoreline practices they can implement themselves to protect the lakes they love.

Protection of natural shorelines on inland lakes - even in the relatively wild Upper Peninsula of Michigan - is critical for water quality and ecological health. We were in Iron County this week giving a packed workshop and site visits to support homeowner shoreline conservation efforts.

We’re so excited to be in Chicago this week to present Data Nuggets to a group of preservice, middle, and high school teachers! Thanks to Mike @mikegrillo.bsky.social and Lara at @loyolachicago.bsky.social for being such amazing hosts!

Scene Magazine June 2025 50-06 Scene Magazine June 2025 50-06

A great interview with W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Manager Lisa Duke is in the latest edition of Scene Magazine. Check it out on page 6!
scenepub.com/images/scene...

State of the Butterflies in the United States | Xerces Society A study published in March 2025 showed that we are losing butterflies at a rate of 1.3% per year in the contiguous US. State of the Butterflies in the United States presents a summary of those finding...

This report distills our findings on butterfly decline www.science.org/doi/full/10.... and describes actionable conservation urgently needed for butterfly recovery. @xercessociety.bsky.social

State of the Butterflies in the United States xerces.org/publications...

We are excited to announce our second Artist in Residence, Dr. Blaire Morseau, visiting @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social in June. Blaire is a beadwork artist & Assistant Professor in Dept. of Religious Studies & affiliate faculty in American Indian & Religious Studies at @michiganstateu.bsky.social.

A Spartan making a positive impact on Michigan, one plant at a time On a typical summer day working at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Kate Reitz walks the woods, wetlands and dunes of the park to survey the plants and collect seeds.

KBS has helped change the trajectory of countless careers over our almost 100-year history.

Read Kate Reitz's story, which tracks from a small town in northern Michigan to KBS by way of Michigan State University, to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Our #NSF grant, supporting a fruitful collaboration with the @cissyballen.bsky.social Lab, was terminated, along with over 1,600 others. We describe the impact of this loss in a press release here. datanuggets.org/2025/06/nsf-...

We were lucky to be joined by leaders across the grain chain at the Food Grade Grains Field Day here at @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social We learned what goes into all the grain-based products we enjoy - a crusty croissant, beans & rice, a piece of bread - and all the people who collaborate to make them!

Honored to become a @aaas.org fellow with @lisaschultemoore.bsky.social and Amy Toth. Prairie strip scientists well represented today! @kbslter.bsky.social