Soak it up, Minnesota
I met a woman who worked on restoring rivers in the U.K. Much like our goals here, she was directed by E.U. policy to restore the condition of the stream … Read more
Freshwater Society
The Great Lakes States
Does “Midwest” do it for you? I’ve always struggled with it as a good geographic descriptor. The Census Bureau didn’t even settle on its definition until 1984. Whatever the terminology, … Read more
The mystery of the rainbow darter
I felt a bit like Sherlock Holmes when Konrad Schmidt, retired DNR Fisheries biologist, contacted me about when the last known contact took place between two fish populations — the … Read more
Twenty-twenty hindsight
I inadvertently started humming a song from 1905 as I was reading Dan Egan’s new book, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. (Check out a recent interview with … Read more
From entryway to waterway?
I learned of a farm family in west central Minnesota that spends about $70,000 each year to buy fertilizer for their farm. Corn fertilizer costs have ranged from $120-200 per … Read more
French fries and water quality
My son was hungry and in a hurry. He ordered the double cheeseburger meal with fries in the drive thru; what’s the harm? It had been a couple decades … Read more
The art and science of snirt
You may have seen the photo exhibit by a friend of mine, John White. It was touring the region during the last year (and prints are available for sale here). … Read more
These are a few of my favorite things
Blueberry, Wild Rice, Hockey, Agate, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady’s Slipper, Morel, Norway Pine, Walleye, Milk, Loon, Lester. Is this some kind of a weird shopping list for a camping trip? If … Read more
The Norwegian and the puddle
I have gone on my share of geology field trips with visiting geologists from around the world. We typically visit exposures of glacial sediment, commonly found in gravel pits, and … Read more
No more green for Madison
Most of us who spend time on lakes know they can “green up” as they warm up. Excess phosphorus generates that not-so-healthy green bloom. The Yahara watershed is trying something … Read more