Mizzou School of Natural Resources

09/12/2026

The Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program is here at the Conservation Expo at Cooper’s Landing in Columbia, Missouri! ☀️💧We are sharing a booth with the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk and Missouri Water Center. Stop by and talk with us about LMVP and our work with volunteers across the state sampling Missouri’s waters.

Thank you MU Aquatic Ecology Lab Manager Sarah Smith and Lab Technician Arden Fraley for being out here today on behalf of LMVP, the Aquatic Ecology Lab and the School of Natural Resources! 👏👏

For more about the Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program:
https://www.lmvp.org/about

09/11/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s Charles W. Schwartz Lecture with Danny Brown. The afternoon was spent looking at breathtaking wildlife photography and hearing fascinating stories. 📸 🐦

We had the chance to see images of warblers, whitetails, deer, pelicans, owls, squirrels, foxes and even bobcats.

Danny Brown walked us through his routine and experiences capturing images of wildlife in Missouri conservation areas and parks. Everything from his 50-pound camera equipment, mimicking calls, early days waiting for animals to show and even getting between a mink hunting its prey.

He shared about his start, selling his motorcycle for camera gear back in 2006 and his journey adapting his style and working with different publications.

Danny’s photos have been published in magazines across the country, including Birds & Blooms Magazine, Bird Watching, Ducks Unlimited, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Magazine and various state conservation magazines and calendars. His images have been published in several books including two National Geographic bird guides.

Brown holds a Master’s Degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from University of Missouri, and served for 25 years as a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

In reflecting on his 25-year conservation career, Danny said he became in tune with the health of wildlife and natural resources as part of the job. Yet, his work as a photographer brought that connection and interest to a deeper level.

“I’ve become much more intimate with these different animals that I photograph and kind of watch their flight, and watch how they live up close every morning almost, for two to three hours. And it really enriched my appreciation for the basic ecology for wild animals in Missouri.”

SNR thanks Danny for a memorable presentation and inspiring us to look at the beauty in what’s living in our parks, conservation areas and other natural landscapes across the state. 👏 🌿

09/09/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Jacob Westhoff for his big win at the 25th Symposium of the International Association of Astacology (IAA)! 👏 The IAA is the only international professional society focused exclusively on the study of freshwater crayfish. 🦞

Westhoff is the Assistant Unit Leader of the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and an assistant professor in SNR. He concluded his second and final term on the IAA Executive Board, where he served the society for 8 years as one of two North American board members.

Westhoff delivered an oral presentation highlighting crayfish thermal ecology research conducted at Mizzou in collaboration with a Ph.D. student in SNR, Seth Callahan, and an undergraduate student in the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences emphasis area, Ella Witzman.

For this presentation and research, Dr. Westhoff was given the “best established career professional presentation” award. The “best early career professional presentation” award was won by Dr. Cheyenne Stratton, who received her undergraduate degree at Mizzou through SNR.

09/08/2026

It’s exciting to see the great places meteorology graduates go in their careers. Tiger pride! 🐯

It's featuring the meteorologists at the NWS Storm Prediction Center! We have graduates from a wide range of colleges across the country!

Are you interested in a career with the NWS? Discover paths in meteorology, hydrology, IT, and more at https://www.noaa.gov/nws-careers.

09/04/2026

Aubrey Teckam, a PhD student in The Center for Agroforestry and Graduate Research Assistant with the Revord Lab, walks us through her research examining hazelnuts at the Horticulture Agriculture Research Farm.

Hazelnut is an emerging crop for the Midwest, and Aubrey’s trials are helping to develop cultivars (and accompanying “pollinizer” varieties) that are disease resistant, highly productive and produce high-quality nuts to meet the standards of confectionary markets.

Hazelnut is just one of a few high value specialty crops that can boost farm viability while providing conservation value to family farms and landscapes.

09/02/2026

Grab your bikes and pedal for Missouri’s Forests.🚲🌳The Forest & Woodland Association of Missouri is hosting a tree-mendous bike ride event September 12 at 9 a.m. There, you will be taken on a scenic bike ride along Katy Trail, starting from Missouri River Center and ending at Cooper’s Landing.

Proceeds from the bike ride support forest conservation efforts of the Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri. To register, scan the qr code.

More registration and event details are pictured on the flyer or you can visit forestandwoodland.org/events.

08/31/2026

From unsung moments in nature to images seen in magazines across the country, Danny Brown has spent years capturing Missouri wildlife in extraordinary ways through photography and writing. 🐦‍⬛ 📸

Brown will deliver this year’s Charles W. Schwartz Lecture, a lecture that honors wildlife illustrators and photographers. The lecture has been on pause for several years which makes Brown’s appearance all the more significant.

Brown holds a Master’s Degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from University of Missouri, and served for 25 years as a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Danny’s photos have been published in magazines across the country, including Birds and Blooms, Birdwatching, Ducks Unlimited, Audubon, National Wildlife and various state conservation magazines and calendars. His images have been published in several books including two National Geographic bird guides.

Learn about the craft of wildlife photography and enjoy an engaging presentation from one of Missouri’s most celebrated photographers.

08/28/2026

Fresh flavors, bright harvests and community coming together to appreciate tomatoes. 🍅 ✨

If you were to visit this year’s Tomato Festival, you’d see rows of ripe tomatoes, smiling faces of the people behind the harvest and attendees lined up ready to try the spiciest peppers, salsa and even tomato lemonade.

In the Kids Corner, kids had the chance to play in the corn wagon, do scavenger hunts and even visit a butterfly house.

The Tomato Festival was held August 27 at Jefferson Farm & Garden. This will be the final festival for long-time Director and Co-Organizer Tim Reinbott before his retirement.

08/27/2026

Aubrey Teckam, a PhD student in The Center for Agroforestry and Graduate Research Assistant with the Revord Lab, walks us through elderberry harvests and the elderberry breeding program happening at the Horticulture Agriculture Research Farm. Senior Research Specialist Elizabeth Prenger leads this research at HARF.

She looks into cluster size, ripening date and several other characteristics in the program to develop elderberry cultivars that perform exceptionally well in Missouri and similar environments. Missouri is the #1 producer of elderberry in the U.S.

Elderberry is just one of a few high value crops that can boost farm viability while providing conservation value to family farms and landscapes.

For more about the Center for Agroforestry, visit the link below.
https://centerforagroforestry.org

08/25/2026

Despite being struck by lightning, this ABNR tree is being given a new purpose. ⚡ 🌳

On August 6, Columbia saw several thunderstorms. In the midst of one of these storms, lightning struck and snapped a baldcypress tree in half in Woodland & Floral Garden. This incident became a key talking point that day for anyone in ANBR since you could see the tree from the lobby.

While its days standing tall may have seemed to come to an end, Associate Professor of Forestry Hank Stelzer worked to make sure the tree’s journey would continue. Stelzer took the tree’s log to Baskett Forest to mill, saw and see what wood could be repurposed.

Baskett Forest Site Manager Guerric Good and SNR Sustainable Forestry Extension Specialist Brian Schweiss also helped in repurposing the log.

As of last week, Stelzer said the wooden boards need to be edged to remove bark, and then, they’ll be air-dried to remove moisture. After that, the boards will be placed in a solar kiln to complete the drying process.

SNR thanks Hank Stelzer for working to make sure this tree’s resources did not go to waste on a day that seemed to snap its life short.