Science Heroes: Katherine Johnson

Welcome to Science Heroes, the column highlighting incredible scientists and naturalists that if you don’t know, you should! This month highlights mathematician Katherine Johnson!

Field Frame Friday: Bird Bling!

When we catch adult white-crowned sparrows they get some extra jewelry. In addition to a metal band with a unique ID number, they get a unique combination of color bands so that we can identify individuals from a distance using binoculars. [Photo and caption by Carly Hawkins] Carly studies how bird songs influence mating strategies…

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Creature Feature: Golden-crowned Sparrow

Once upon a time, in a land far from people, a tiny egg cracked in its nest. Slowly, a small beak pushed through, delicately casting pieces of eggshell aside. It was followed by dark grey bulges that were closed eyes, and finally a floppy, mostly featherless and helpless body that weighed only 3 grams [1]….

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Field Frame Friday: Field (Research) Advisory!

Throw back! Animal behavior research takes us from the labs to field. While the field can be a particularly fun part of research for scientists like PhD candidate Amelia Munson it brings its own unique challenges. Here, Amelia battles wind, temperature and unstable ground to perform in-the-field dissections to better understand how pesticide run off…

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Field Notes: Settling into a Field Site and Embracing my Inner Limpet

As I summit Everest, sweating from exertion with the sun glaring on my face, I turn my gaze downward and sweep the creviced ground with my eyes. The creatures I am here to study are inconspicuous, blending into the rocks with their grey, ridged shells. Their species name is Siphonaria gigas, the Greek gigas meaning “giant,” and these…

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