Image Source: Pexels Conservation science is vital to the protection of the environment in the communities that we call home. In Maryland, where 16 out of our 23 counties border the Chesapeake and its tributaries, conservation science plays a necessary role in the health and safety of all living things in the region. Understanding the […]
Tag: ecology
How Conservation Scientists Benefit the Maryland Area
Protecting Nature During Gardening Season
As we finally welcome spring and begin planning the coming year’s gardening work, it’s important to also keep the protection of nature and local wildlife in mind. Gardening can be a great form of stress relief while also adding natural beauty to your home. However, gardeners need to be aware of the impacts certain choices […]
Finding Ways to Benefit Our Soil and Prevent Erosion
The vast majority of people in the world today never give much of a thought to the ground they walk on. Those who do usually only acknowledge how muddy, dry, or filthy it is. Only a few truly appreciate the outsized role that dirt — particularly soil — plays in our lives and all life. […]
Hunting for fossils “a marilandia”: Members of a Maryland fossil club look for a state treasure
This article was originally published at the Chesapeake Bay Program website by Jake Solyst on January 26th, 2021. Thank you to Jake for letting us share this article on our blog! —————————————————————————————————————— Most Marylanders can tell you about the local blue crab or diamondback terrapin but few can identify the state fossil: an extinct, several-million-year-old snail known as the Ecphora […]
Irruption
After a tumultuous year full of pandemic and elections, nature reminds us that there is order and direction to life. This is reflected in the existence of birds. They are constantly in search of food and water and shelter. Their life is that simple. The only deviation is that some birds migrate and some birds […]
An Invasive Wild Edible Winter Rose
Multiflora is often the bane of a farmer’s existence, and a lovely hiking companion for walkers. Its flowers of 5 white heart shaped petals create gorgeous white-pink blankets throughout the forest, and also have the capacity to spread throughout fields and edges of growing spaces. Multiflora is a part of the rose family, much like […]
A Fall Comeback: Chickweed
Over the last month, I’ve noticed a plant friend from early Spring starting to emerge from their summer slumber. Chickweed, or stellaria media, is a cooler weather wild edible. It grows prolifically and spreads, though can be pulled easily from the roots. As many wild edibles, it is considered a weed to those who care […]
The Wild Grasses of Brooms
from Backwoods Brooms
The Witch’s Eggs: Stinkhorn Mushroom
In honor of Halloween, we are going to honor and explore a semi-edible mushroom that is kinda gross and scary looking! One that surely bridges the worlds. In this blog post, we will learn more about the Stinkhorn Mushroom, phallus impudicus and rubicundus, and mutinus elegans. Based on one of Stinkhorn’s scientific names, some find […]
NHSM Photo Safari Scavenger Hunt Stories
I moved to Maryland in February for my first job after finishing graduate school in Alabama. It was already a big change before COVID shut everything down. In mid-August, I was up late scrolling on Facebook when I saw a post about the NHSM fossil raffle. I started looking into the NHSM page where I […]