Tagged with " RINHS"
DEM’s Canada Goose Roundup
By     |    Jul 2, 2019
Posted in: ASRI, Natural Science, Ningret Wildlife Refuge, Rhode Island DEM, RIDEM, RINHS, Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, Uncategorized, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    No Comments

DEM’s Canada Goose Roundup

  It’s a warm June morning as a flotilla of five kayakers makes its way to a pond in Tiverton. They fan out across the diameter and quietly approach a small island. As they approach, a flock of Canada geese break off from their breakfast of sea grass and nervously begin to stir. The guardians stretch their long necks up, trying to assess the situation, making low sounds to each […]

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20 Years of Sorting Life with Rhode Island Natural History Survey
By     |    Jun 6, 2019
Posted in: bees, BioBlitz, Moth Mingle, Narragansett Bay Coyote Study, Natural Science, Ocean State Bird Club, Rhode Island DEM, RINHS, Uncategorized, URI     |    3 Comments

20 Years of Sorting Life with Rhode Island Natural History Survey

NOTE: This story originally appeared in RI Central Newspapers 6/6/19. David Gregg, executive director of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey (RINHS) sits under a canopy at a long table sorting ants. There are perhaps a dozen or so that he has recently collected contained in a tiny bottle. He separates them before handing them off to an ant expert who will do the job of telling the difference between […]

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Art, Science, and Open House at RINHS
By     |    Feb 3, 2019
Posted in: Uncategorized     |    2 Comments

Art, Science, and Open House at RINHS

When the Rhode Island Natural History Survey (RINHS) held its annual open house at URI’s East Farm last week, there was the usual chatter: how the latest scientific paper was coming along, what new discoveries had been made in the natural world. But what drew the most attention from the crowd wasn’t the skulls or the turtle shells on display in a glass case. It was the art. At first, […]

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Restoring and Recycling at the John H. Chafee Wildlife Refuge
By     |    Dec 19, 2018
Posted in: National Audubon Society, Natural Science, Outdoor writing, Rhode Island DEM, RINHS, URI, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    No Comments

Restoring and Recycling at the John H. Chafee Wildlife Refuge

The temperature along the bank of Narrow River is in the 30’s, and gusts of wind have a way of sneaking under coats, like someone is pouring ice water down the neck. The area seems devoid of life, save for a congregation of gulls gathered around a long black tube that resembles nothing so much as a fire hose. The hose wends its way to a floating craft on the […]

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Evil Spirits? Try Fungi
By     |    Mar 21, 2018
Posted in: Audubon Field Guide to Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Natural Science, Outdoor writing, RINHS, The Nature Conservancy     |    4 Comments

Evil Spirits? Try Fungi

What do you do when you’re being haunted by a recently deceased relative who doesn’t realize they’re dead? Or your camp is being invaded by a six-legged polar bear with a taste for human flesh? Or there’s a human-ish creature pulling a wagon load of disease headed your way? The answer to all is simple: fungi. And ethnomycologist Larry Millman, who spent years in the northern parts of the world […]

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The Secret Life of Bee (Keepers)
By     |    Aug 28, 2017
Posted in: apiculture, bee keeping, bees, Eastern Apicultural Society, Natural Science, Rhode Island DEM, RIDEM, RINHS, Uncategorized, URI, USFW, Writing     |    No Comments

The Secret Life of Bee (Keepers)

Childhood obsessions are pretty common. Some children love a particular line of dolls, trading cards, or teddy bears. As they grow, the obsessions are set aside, sometimes to literally gather dust. In other cases, though, the obsessions simply morph into something new. “When I was little, it was a unicorn obsession, and as I grew older it went from unicorns to something legitimate like bees.” At 26, Azure Giroux’s childhood […]

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BioBlitz: Counting All Creatures Great and Small
By     |    Jun 11, 2017
Posted in: ASRI, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, BioBlitz, dragonflies, land trust, Moth Mingle, Moths, Natural Science, Ocean State Bird Club, Rhode Island DEM, RIDEM, RINHS, snakes, Uncategorized, URI, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW, wasps, Writing     |    No Comments

BioBlitz: Counting All Creatures Great and Small

Picture this: you’ve been dropped into the middle of 1000 acres of woodlands, fields, and water. Your job is to count everything. Not just the birds flying by. Not just the types of trees in the forest. Nope. Your task is to count every plant, insect, fungus, bat, snake, fish, clam, flower, in fact to count every species of every living thing that calls that region home. And you have […]

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Spike in Sea Bass Numbers Sparks Skepticism
By     |    Mar 9, 2017
Posted in: Natural Science, Uncategorized     |    4 Comments

Spike in Sea Bass Numbers Sparks Skepticism

Recreational and commercial fishermen reporting dramatic increases in the number of black sea bass (BSB) had their observations confirmed at a recent Rhode Island Natural History seminar. However, getting people to believe the numbers and forecasts is no easy task. Dr. Gary R. Shepherd, fisheries biologist with NOAA’s Fisheries Science Center, attributes the apparent spike to increasing water temperatures in the northeast. “We’ve seen a sharp northern redistribution of BSB […]

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Wintertime Woody Plant I.D. with Rhode Island Natural History Survey
By     |    Jan 30, 2014
Posted in: BioBlitz, Kettle Pond, Natural Science, RINHS, URI, US Fish and Wildlife, USFW     |    2 Comments

Wintertime Woody Plant I.D. with Rhode Island Natural History Survey

                Who goes tramping through the woods in winter? It’s a time for relaxing by a fire, curling up with a hot beverage, reading. Outdoor events in the toughest month of the year? Surely no one would be foolish enough to even think of attending. Unless, of course, you are part of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey (RINHS). Then fifty of you show up.          The program, held […]

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