Kim and John ran 50 kilometers. I laid on the ground and photographed spiders, mushrooms, and flowers. It was a good day.

There are countless ways to create habitat heterogeneity and manage for biodiversity in prairies. Here's another example.

How Diverse Should My Prairie Restoration Seed Mix Be?

“I’m doing a prairie restoration project - how many plant species should I put in my seed mix?” The answer to that depends on why you're doing the restoration project.  Do you want a planting that is both beautiful and resilient?  Are you…

Photos of the Week – March 22, 2026

I'm sorry not to have posted much lately. It's not you, it's me. Well, to be fair, it's also the roughly 1 million sandhill cranes that come through the Platte River each spring and all the people who come to watch them. If you've never visited the Central…

Prairie Bingo (if you like that kind of thing)

I don't know about you, but a nice quiet walk through the prairie can often help me deal with everything else going on around me. Last weekend, I spent parts of both Saturday and Sunday cutting trees and fixing fence at our family prairie. I also…

Photos of the Week – February 25, 2026

We had a few days of real winter this last week, including a little snow and some freezing temperatures. As a result, I had a few chances to go out and photograph snow, ice, and frost. It was great! Now, the temperatures are back to a spring-like feel and it…

I’m Always Glad I Went Out

I don't ever plan to write an autobiography, but if I do, the title might very well be, "I Was Always Glad I Went Out". And, of course, it will sell badly because that's not a very catchy title for a book. Plus, no one wants to hear about my childhood. Although it's a…

Ask The Prairie Ecologist (Again)

I'll get to the Ask The Prairie Ecologist part of this post below. First, though... One of the best things about this blog is that it has connected me to amazing people and stories all over the globe. The most recent example came last weekend, when I got an email…

Photos of the Week – February 5, 2026

I'm very grateful to have been featured in a short (6 1/2 minutes) video on Nebraska Public Media's Nebraska Stories. A terrific film crew spent two days with me at the Niobrara Valley Preserve and the final product came out really beautifully. I hope you…

The Post-Grazing Year

At the beginning of the 2025 growing season, I picked out three sites I could visit repeatedly to photograph/document how a prairie responded to having been grazed the previous year. That turned out to be overly ambitious, but I did manage to focus on one of those sites - an…

Photos of the Week – January 24, 2026

Well, I was out sliding around on the ice again this week. I made two trips up to the tiny reservoir north of Aurora to search for photo compositions on its frozen surface. I was not disappointed. Hemp dogbane seed (Apocynum cannibinum) Dogbane seed. Dogbane…

Prairie Boy Visits the Ouachita National Forest

Well, Kim and I had another ultramarathon vacation last weekend. We were down in eastern Oklahoma for the Ouachita Switchbacks 50K race. While Kim and her fellow runners were performing insane feats of athleticism on very steep, rocky trails, I…

Photos of the Week – January 16, 2026

I spent several days at the Niobrara Valley Preserve this week engaged in long brainstorming discussions about conservation and land management. It was invigorating, but we basically worked from dawn until dusk, so I didn't have much time to wander with my…

Prairie Pet Peeves (Part 1)

I'm generally a pretty happy person. Negativity tends to slide off my back. I hope this blog reflects that. I try to keep it pretty positive and full of wonder and exploration, not loaded with complaints, gripes, and negativity. I also appreciate alliteration, actually.…

Photos of the Year – December 24, 2025

Quick announcement. We are hiring a land steward for the Niobrara Valley Preserve. This person will join our land management team and work with prescribed fire, cattle and bison grazing, invasive species suppression, and much more, across 56,000 acres of…

Photos of the Week – December 15, 2025

First, a quick announcement that we are again offering up to five $1,500 grants to graduate students working on research related to conservation in the Great Plains. Read more about the Weaver Grant program here. Yesterday, I headed out to watch the sunrise…

Photos of the Week – December 5, 2025

It has finally gotten cold enough for my favorite winter wetland to freeze over. Mostly. I made two quick trips this week to the restored wetland at the Platte River Prairies. It's a former sand and gravel mining site and we converted it from a sandpit lake to…

Yet Another Intentional and Valuable Post

People sometimes ask me if I have a certain number of posts I'm supposed to write in a year. A quota, if you will. I always tell them that if that were the case, you'd probably know because I'd occasionally post something that was clearly a space-filler. A…

Photos of the Week – November 19, 2025

Recently, I've spent some time mining my photo library for images to use in a couple different projects. While I was down that hole, I took advantage of the process to build some collections of some of my favorite photos and post them on their own web page. I…

Photos of the Week – November 14, 2025

I mean, you knew this was coming, right? If you're on any social media platforms, you've already seen enough northern lights photos this week to last a lifetime. Well, guess what? I took some too. Then I waited until everyone was already saturated with images…

Photos of the Week – October 31, 2025

I got my first frost photography morning of the season yesterday. I'd been watching the forecast and had blocked out a couple hours on my calendar to make sure I had time to get out enjoy it. I woke up early and drove out to our family prairie well before…

The Value of (Some) Non-Native (GASP) Wildflowers in Our Yard

This might be an awkward week to laud the value of having a non-native wildflower in my yard. I'm an invited speaker at the Indiana Native Plant Society's annual conference this coming weekend. It's probably (?) too late for them to…

Photos of the Week – October 17, 2025

I've had too many hours in front of the computer this week and my eyes were complaining this morning. I looked outside and saw that some high clouds were nicely-diffusing the sun and decided that was enough of an incentive to take a prairie break. I scooted…

Photos of the Week – October 10, 2025

The fall migration is in full swing through our prairies. Dragonflies, birds, butterflies, and more are moving southward. Going out on dewy mornings is a great way to check up on butterflies and dragonflies because I can find them immobile and covered in dew…

Photos of the Week – October 1, 2025

Over the weekend, my wife Kim ran 100 miles. On purpose. The Cowboy 200/100 race has become an annual event for people who think marathons are more fun when you string a bunch of them together end-to-end. There were lots of those people on the Cowboy Trail (an…

How to Photograph Flat Prairies

For some reason, there are people who find it difficult to see the aesthetic beauty of places with limited topographic variability. First of all, that sounds like a "them" problem, doesn't it? Who needs mountains, or even steep hills to feel good about their…

The One-Hour Square Meter Photography Challenge!

Do you remember that square meter photography project I did? Twice? Whew, that was a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, it was more than worthwhile, but it was definitely a big commitment. I may try it again someday, but not right now. I continue to…

Hiring Now! The 2026 Hubbard Fellowship with The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska

It's time! We are now accepting applications for our 13th class of Hubbard Fellows. Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested. I supervise our fellows each year, and can't wait to meet the next…

Celebrating Sticky Seeds

Early autumn is a season of surprise and wonder.  Colors are changing and animals are scurrying all around, trying to check off all their pre-winter tasks.  For nature enthusiasts like us, it’s also a great time to appreciate the complex and sophisticated ways plants move…

Photos of the Week – September 2, 2025

August really flew by but it was a fun and interesting month. In addition to a full calendar of work and home events, I made time to explore several of my favorite prairies, including The Nature Conservancy's Platte River Prairies, Niobrara Valley Preserve,…