GEOGRAPHY Valpo man turns friend’s tragic death into a way to help others This article explains how waypoints and locators can help save lives in rugged areas like Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. With few recognizable markers, injured hikers or runners may not be able to give first-responder medical personnel accurate information on where they are. Simple signs posted throughout the park give waypoints, which coordinate … Continue reading Current Event Connection: Waypoints Help Hikers in Indiana
Disclaimer: OK, so this post is 2 weeks late as a result of my temporarily misplacing my thumbdrive and getting caught up with other work. Sincerest apologies! The good news is, it’s still plenty relevant, because BioBlitz is a year-round initiative. And in fact, planning is already underway for the 2010 signature event in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Look for more BioBlitz news in upcoming months here on the blog!
This past weekend [er, May 15], I trekked out to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (INDU) to take part in the 3rd annual BioBlitz, a 24 hour species inventory hosted by National Geographic and the National Park Service. While not quite as sunny as last year’s event at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA or “SAMO”), it was no less rich of a scientific endeavor. At SAMO, I was primarily occupied with public outreach, manning an activities booth. This year, my focus was a citizen science collaborative mapping project. Along with a few other staffers, I led four groups of local students using National Geographic Education’s new Fieldscope tool to track ecological succession along the dunes. But that was just one of the activities taking place at the park. Here are some highlights, in the spirit of “Five for Friday.”
5 Favorite Blog Posts For the past two years, National Geographic’s Ford Cochran and Emily Landis have braved extreme temperatures and sleep deprivation to bring round-the-clock coverage of the Blitz. Here are my five favorite posts from this year’s Blog:
The band on the main stage of the Festival is winding down, and we’re already contemplating the next annual National Geographic-National Park Service BioBlitz. It’s planned for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a 15,000-acre urban park accessible to Chicagoans via commuter train. Indiana Dunes boasts 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, plentiful undulating sand dunes, swamps, prairie, and forest land. According to Carl Sandburg, “Indiana … Continue reading Next Stop: Indiana Dunes
