This year is the 5th year of my 10-year freshwater mussel monitoring project. This is an effort to collect, identify, tag, measure, and photograph the diverse group of mussels (see photos above with 4 or 5 species in each tray) living in the Sangamon River in Illinois. While I call it “my” project, there … Continue reading “Mussel Monitoring Project, Year 5 – 8/16-17/2025”
Danelle went to a Mississippi River Water Trail Association meeting on the educational barge belonging to Living Lands and Waters. These two groups are true powerhouses in education and stewardship of the Mississippi River! The barge was parked just downstream of the Mel Price Lock and Dam in Alton. One highlight of the event was … Continue reading “Living Lands And Waters Barge – 8/29/2024”
After mom died in May of 2023, her children collected all of the printed photos in the house.I had wanted to scan these in the past, but mom was always working on them. For years, I’ve wanted access to them to scan and get them shared with others. Hayden had scanned a few with a … Continue reading “Family Photos From The Past – 12/21/2023”
My family and friends may not know this about me, but I love birds. I spent the early morning hours of several days in September looking for all of the amazing birds that are migrating through the St. Louis area. Oh, in case you didn’t figure it out yet, this is Danelle, not Hogan 🙂 … Continue reading “Early Morning with the Birds – 9/18 & 9/26/2023”
Danelle is on year 3 of a 10 year freshwater mussel sampling project. And for the record Danelle from 2 years ago, I did come back. This year is the first time she is re-visiting a site that has already been sampled. The first site we visited is at the Allerton, IL retreat center. There … Continue reading “Mussel Sampling – 8/12/2023”
We saw an open invitation by adventure extraordinaire and friend, Dan Strieker to come out and paddle Dresser Island. Dan often goes off on paddling adventures and posts them out to Facebook. I didn’t want to be left out this time and it sounded awesome. Danelle was able to come with me. Dan was there … Continue reading “Dresser Island Paddle – 5/4/2023”
I had a work trip to Chicago to attend the AGU 2022 conference. (Since this is about a work conference, you can tell this is Danelle posting and not Hogan!) AGU is the American Geophysical Union – a group that includes anyone who studies water, soil, rocks, air, or space. The event was attended by … Continue reading “Chicago Conference – 12/11/2022”
Part of Danelle’s work at NGRREC is research. (I know the description following won’t be totally accurate) One of her current research projects is a 10 year study of fresh water mussels. This study was put together with dedicated volunteers passionate about this subject along with professional experts on the subject. I was lucky enough … Continue reading “Sangamon Double Weekend – 8/13/2022”
My next door neighbor told me that there were bees swarming in his front yard tree. He contacted a beekeeper association and they put him in touch with a specific beekeeper. I wish I could remember his name, but is a very cool dude. He came out with few tools and never put on any … Continue reading “Bee Swarm – 5/13/2021”
This has been going on for about a month. Danelle and I were taking a walk and noticed that there was an oily film on the water in the creek. On our first walk, we followed upstream for a rather long walk and found the source of the pollution. It was reported to MSD and … Continue reading “Deer Creek Pollution – 1/5/2021”