This Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the 20th Annual Butterfly Count at Big Oaks. I had no previous experience with butterflies- in fact before this event the only butterfly I was able to confidently identify was a monarch. Turns out it was false confidence because in attempting to bulk up on my butterfly identification skills before the count, I discovered that the monarch and viceroy are very similar looking so I had probably been misidentifying but

As I walked out to the Louisville International Airport curb I was greeted by my supervisor Joe Robb. He would be my mentor and supervisor for the next 11 weeks of my summer fellowship at Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge. Prior to coming to Big Oaks, I had worked at Glacial Ridge and Rydell national wildlife refuges under Ben Walker, a former Big Oaks wildlife biologist. Coming to Big Oaks, I had a one-track goal, to get up and running a long term research project on roadsid

This Monday evening we held an ice cream social at the historic Oakdale School House located on the refuge. As the clock struck 5:00 and families began to trickle in, Dave Bear, Chairman of the Oakdale School Project, began with some opening remarks and the promise of homemade ice cream and treats. After everyone had sufficiently loaded up with bowls of sugar, Mike Moore shared a bit about the history of the school house and his book on the subject. Oakdale School House was c