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Hello Flog! Today was a great day out on the prairie. We got a lot of important things done, but more importantly, we had fun getting them done! Weather-wise it was a nice day, we were slightly concerned at lunch after a brief spurt of rain, but things cleared off and the beautiful weather held through the afternoon. While temperatures in western MN have gone down a bit, the mosquito population still seems enormous.
In the morning some folks worked on independent projects, a select few worked on planning a top secret project ‘The Big Event’ (flog post coming soon to an Echinacea project flog near you). I worked in experimental plot one with Kristen, Andy, Anna, and Michael to find and record all flowering heads, Its a big job but luckily not as big as experimental plot 2!
 Kristen and Andy next to their prized flowering Echinacea I took a break at about 10:30 to learn more about our brand new GPS unit named Darwin. This is an excellent investment for the project and will help us get a lot more field work done. It has many more useful functions than our GRS-1 units which seem to be terminally ill.
At lunch, we discussed the finer points of the 40-hour work week.
Post lunch many of us went back out to experimental plot 1 to find and record information on the Hesperostipa spartea that are planted near the Echinacea in that plot. Since it is a grass it can be difficult to spot, I was lucky enough to work with Zeke who seems to have been blessed with the ‘Stipa Sense’ or the ability to spot these plants from at least 2 miles away on a foggy morning.
The team learning how to find Stipa
Have a great night!
Will
On this great Sunday to start off the month of July, the Roost woke up to rainy skies and an expectation of a rather laid-back day indoors. Fortunately, the weather cleared for sunlight and team CoW Bee was able to set up P2 for our Jennifer’s experiment by painting, bagging, and crowning flowering Echinacea heads. Thereafter, the Roost squad (and Kristen) reconvened at the Roost and decided it was time to turn away from the prairie ecosystem to relax at the limnetic Lake Agnes in Alexandria. At the lake, we engaged in common leisure activities some may call sport: kanjam, swimming, frisbee, and soccer. This small excursion was a morale boost for the team; we found that our fellow roostmates have skills other than searching for melted toothpicks.
Evan, Zeke, Michael, Brigid, and Andy simultaneously pass the soccer ball and the frisbee. After sports ‘n stuff at the lake, the team decided to plant our taproots and relax for the afternoon before dinner. Mia cooked dinner tonight with the help of Kristen. It was a lovely combination of sautéed onions and peppers in a noodle matrix, with a fresh salad prepared from veggies we got from the house’s CSA. Once dinner ended, the squadron decided to disperse to get some work done or just relax. Into this wonderful time of relaxation, someone (this individual will remain unnamed) decided we should play a “super fun card game” called Mao (named after the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong). This game makes no logical sense, as it consists of an Uno-like base game in combination with rules generated by players, except nobody knows what the rules are… As one can imagine, this game is not fun, and I quickly left to engage in more productive activities – like writing this flog post and reading a paper for our journal club. As the Roost begins to settle down for the night, I ask myself, “what joy is found in playing an effectively rule-less card game in which people are actively raging?” I personally do not know the answer, but I will perform a thorough investigation at the Hjelm house during lunch tomorrow. Until then, remember to never listen when someone says, “hey let’s play this fun card game but I get to make up all the rules and not tell you.” Happy July!
Evan, Mia, Zeke, Michael, and Brigid play the “game” Mao.
Last week, Allen and his wife Doris won an amazing award at the Volunteer Awards Reception! Congratulations Allen and Doris!
Allen and Doris were presented with the 2018 Kris S. Jarantoski Excellence In Horticulture Volunteer Service Award, an award that recognizes volunteers for “their dedication to nature, enthusiasm for education, and exemplary volunteer service in support of horticulture and plant collections at the Chicago Botanic Garden.”
We have been so happy to have Allen on our team. He is a long-term volunteer at the garden and has worked on a variety of different projects over the years. He comes in on Tuesday afternoons to work with Team Echinacea and is one of our critical achene counters! Thanks for all of your hard work, Allen- this award is well-deserved!
 Allen counting achenes.
Susie, a member of Team Echinacea since 2011, was also recognized for volunteering over 600 hours this past year! That is quite an achievement. Susie would come in all day Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting out with randomizing or cleaning in the mornings and then working in the herbarium in the afternoon. Susie did so much great work for the Echinacea Project, always had a smile, and was always keen to learn about what the lab managers and grad students were working on.
Susie with all of her randomizing materials out.
Following Zeke’s excellent dinner last night, we well-fed residents of the Roost, plus Kristen and Will, extensively discussed what movie we should watch. 30 minutes of heated debate resulted only in a suggestion to watch The Smurfs (2011). Given the failure of these deliberations, the crew decided to play frisbee instead. The Roost and its allies honed their frisbee skills with several rounds of “Michael in the Middle.” After this intensive exercise, the crew drove to Dairy Queen for some well-deserved ice cream and then watched fireworks from a hill in Lake Brophy County Park.
Making friends with Alex locals at Dairy Queen The residents of the Roost enjoyed a relaxed Sunday morning, but by lunch time we were ready for more adventure. In an effort to engage in the cultural heritage of the area, we visited Runestone Park near Kensington. There we toured the new visitor center and went on a brief, mosquito-filled hike. We then returned to Alex for a lovely dinner prepared by Mia.
Evan attempts a new translation of the Kensington Runestone All in all, the Roost crew had a great weekend. We relaxed following our first week at the Echinacea Project, continued exploring Alexandria, and most importantly, enjoyed some quality bonding time.
Hello Flog!
I am excited to be the first flogger of the season (other than team flogs)! Since we had such a busy first week in the field all of us at the Roost were looking forward to some well deserved rest. Speaking of the Roost this is where part of the team lives in Alex, the house got its name from all of its rooster themed decorations. Last night Kristen and Will came over to the Roost and we found a cat outside the house. The cat was so nice, she was very friendly!
The Roost Kristen and our new friend I made scrambled eggs for breakfast and for some of the house. They were quite tasty if I do say so myself.
The Chef with the meal Happy Place Brigid, Evan and I went to Target to get some supplies for the Roost. As a College of Wooster student Target is a big deal, there is no Target in Wooster, Ohio. It lived up to and exceeded our expectations, everyone was so nice! After Target we headed to Goodwill. We were in search of a bowl for salad. We have been using a pitcher or a large pot to make salad for the last five days. The pitcher has been working well but we finally caved and bought a real sized bowl. At Goodwill we found some of the strangest clothes and wore them. Brigid found a fabulous snakeskin coat, shoes, the outfit was completed with a zebra striped scarf and a news boy cap. She will be deputing this outfit at Alex Fashion Week 2018 along with Riley in his “Adventure Wear” in his half unzipped zip off field pants.
Everyone is a critic Zeke is making stir fry for dinner tonight and we are all looking forward to eating it and using our new salad bowl!
See you soon flog!
Native long grass prairie is the most endangered ecosystem in North America. Humans are the obvious cause of the dramatic reduction of this system. The human impacts on prairie can be seen in nearly every remnant prairie that the team visits and the Nessman plot is no exception. The Nessman plot is a roadside prairie remnant, with corn on one side, soybeans on the other, and a small patch of remnant prairie in the middle, bisected by a gravel road. A little ways down the road there is a dairy farm once owned by the Nessman family. The prairie that remains consists mostly of invasive alfalfa and European cool-season grasses. These four things: agriculture, pastureland, invasives, and transportation, are the culmination of the main effects that humans can have on the tallgrass prairie.
On Monday June 18th, we went to this prairie remnant and got a glimpse of the impact that humans have had. Upon arrival, we quickly saw the prolific flowing of non-native alfalfa, and the buzz of pollinators all around. The agriculture crept in from both sides, squeezing the heavily invaded remnant prairie closer to the road. Even still, two massive Echinacea plants bud in this highly disturbed prairie site. It made us realize that, even in the most affected sites, native plants still survive and even thrive.
This raises an important concern for every person who interacts with the prairie: how can we have as little impact as possible? Every step we take in the prairie can have deleterious effects on important and rare plants. Here are a few ways that we reduce our impact when we enter the prairie remnants.
Steps and tips for low impact walking in prairie research:
-First you need to determine where you are trying to go
-Then you plan out a path that involves taking the least number of steps and disturbing the fewest plants.
-You need to take large steps and lift your feet up
-Once you get to where you are trying to go you should keep your feet planted, don’t shuffle or shimmy
– After observing or gathering the intended information, make your way back attempting to follow your original path. Remember to take large steps and lift your feet up.
– Finally, once you’ve successfully made it back, receive some well deserved congratulations from your fellow team members! Because as we here say at the Echinacea Project- “It’s not just about the Echinacea!”
Echinacea Project 2018
Assistant Professor of Biology, The College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio), 2015 -present
Research Interests
Reproduction in flowering plants is particularly vulnerable to fragmentation and the loss of insect pollinators. Typically plants with hermaphroditic flowers have mechanisms that reduce the likelihood of pollination within the same flower and require a vector (i.e., wind or pollinator) for successful sexual reproduction. Native solitary bees are common pollinators for many plants species. However, pollination research has mainly focused on large social bees—bumblebees and the non-native honeybee. In addition, most studies only quantify seed set (i.e., the female fitness of a plant), thus ignoring fitness contributions from siring seeds (i.e., the male fitness of a plant).
This summer we will quantify how four generalist solitary bee taxa contribute to total male fitness in a mate-limited prairie plant, Echinacea angustifolia. We will also compare how each pollinator taxon varies in its relative contribution to a plant’s male and female fitness. To quantify male and female fitness, we will use a combination of a novel manipulative field experiment and previously developed genetic tools. This summer’s research will build on previous pollination research by College of Wooster thesis students. In 2016, we found that Echinacea’s pollinator community changes over the course of the flowering season (see: Ison, JL, LJ. Prescott, SW Nordstrom, A Waananen, and S Wagenius. 2018. Pollinator-mediated mechanisms for increased reproductive success in early flowering plants. Oikos. doi:10.1111/oik.04882)
Statement
Hi floggers! I’ve collaborated with the Echinacea project for many years (before there was even a flog!). I started as a Team Member back in 2003 after graduating from St. Olaf College. After few years, I started my dissertation research on Echinacea. After completing my dissertation, I took a few years off the Echinacea Project to work on a plant that takes 30 days (instead of 7 years) to flower. However, I couldn’t stay away from Echinacea and have been examining Echinacea‘s pollinators since 2013. When I am not watching bees on Echinacea, I enjoy hiking and tennis. I also have a very active nearly-three-year-old who loves being outside.
Echinacea Project 2018
Plant Biology & Conservation, Northwestern University 2017-
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University if Kansas 2017
Research Interests
Broadly, I am interested in how landscape dynamics shape bee communities. Did you know that over 80% of bees in the prairie spend part of their life in the ground? We have lots of information about how bees forage and the kinds of pollen they forage for, but know very little about the kinds of conditions suitable for bees to build their nests. My thesis project explores how land use history and soil microhabitat indicators influence nesting densities. This summer I will explore how common land use treatments (remnant prairies, restorations, and old agricultural fields) influence where bees build their nests!
Statement
I am a Master’s student in Plant Biology & Conservation through Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. I grew up moving all over the country but went to high school and college in the Kansas City area. I believe passionately in diversity and inclusion and try to do my part to make STEM a more equitable field for people of all backgrounds and identities. I am active on Twitter and Instagram and am learning how to use these platforms for science education and communication. I love to read in my spare time, but I also just enjoy learning/speaking Spanish, listening to good music, smelling candles, and cooking yummy food!
 Some bees posing with me and a microscope!
Echinacea Project 2018
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018 –
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 2018
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in the genetics of plant populations as well as investigating how phenotypes are expressed in different environments. I have estimated the heritability of flowering time in Echinacea angustifolia and I would like to evaluate selection on flowering time. I am also interested in learning about patterns of flowering across a fragmented landscape, like the one we study in western MN!
Statement
I am from Alexandria, MN, about 20 minutes east of our study site. This will be my fifth year working on the project! In my free time, I like to do outdoor things, I particularly enjoy fly fishing and hiking. I also enjoy finding and listening to new music. This summer I plan to spend lots of my free time playing with our new puppy!
Echinacea Project 2018
Biology, College of Wooster 2018
Research Interests
I am interested in studying how different species of bees could have different effects on the fitness of flowering plants in the Prairie. More broadly I am interested in learning more about the pollination biology, and the prairie, and how both relater to conservation efforts and agriculture.
Statement
I am from Bennington, Vermont. I’m looking forward to spending some time in Minnesota. I haven’t had much experience studying plants, but I’m excited to learn. In my free time I like to to: play ultimate Frisbee, run, read, watch TV, hike, cross-country ski, etc.
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