Kellogg Biological Station

09/18/2026

Our Asst. Director of Engagement, Sarah, and Education & Outreach Coordinator, Misty, spent an inspiring week at the Organization of Biological Field Stations annual conference at the Schoodic Institute in Maine. A week of learning, collaborating and celebrating our research, education, and outreach programs.

Misty and Katherine from the MSU Science Festival presented our Sound & Science program, receiving many kudos from the OBFS crowd. Learn more here: https://www.wmuk.org/wmuk-culture/2026-07-24/album-preview-the-more-you-know-by-jordan-hamilton

09/17/2026

09/11/2026

Birds are moving, help them by turning off your lights at night!
Click links for more info
1. https://kalamazooaudubon.org/lights-out-kalamazoo-county/
2. https://www.fws.gov/story/2024-09/looking-lights-out
3. https://darksky.org/resources/guides-and-how-tos/lighting-principles/

09/10/2026

Join the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary and a KBS scientist for a snake adventure! Together we'll bust common myths about these important but misunderstood animals, meet a live snake, and explore how scientists study them. Register by Sept. 22 for this family-friendly program! More: https://bit.ly/3UO5sLt

09/10/2026

It is a full house as we kick off our All Scientists Meeting for the KBS LTER! This annual event is our chance to gather as a community and reflect back on the year’s work and plan for the future.

09/08/2026

09/04/2026

Our KBS LTER Director, Nick Haddad, arguing against the use of preventative Neonicotinoid use as a seed treatment in our aspirational treatment in the KBS LTAR. Neonicotinoids have been implicated in observed declines in bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. In areas where preventative insecticides have been outlawed, like Canada and the North East, there has not been a loss of corn yield.

09/03/2026

Braving heat, humidity, and drives through hail to attend the 4th Annual LTAR Field Day here at Kellogg Biological Station!

The day starts off with Tyson Robbins sharing his experience integrating forages into row crop systems, and Phil Robertson sharing the environmental advantages of perennials in the aspirational rotation of the LTAR. Already observed in 2025 data - increased water quality from reduced loss of nitrate, improved soil health, and less loss of greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide!

08/26/2026

The Kellogg Biological Station's Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site and Michigan State University Extension will co-host the fourth annual LTAR Field Day on Thursday, September 3. The event will highlight five years of regenerative agriculture research focused around integrating perennials into row crop systems, adopting no-till and tracking changes in profitability. Learn more here: http://spr.ly/6183B1waVT

08/25/2026

Researchers at Michigan State University have helped pull one of the world's rarest butterflies back from the brink of extinction.

🟢At one point during the recovery effort, more Poweshiek skipperlings lived in captivity than existed in the wild.

🟢Michigan has become one of the world's last refuges for several endangered butterflies.

🟢This research connects conservation, habitat restoration, climate change, pesticide use and ecosystem collapse.

Working alongside many partners including John Ball Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the team transformed one of North America's most vulnerable butterflies into a growing conservation success.

“We were actually able to save that species from extinction,” says David Pavlik, research assistant at MSU's Kellogg Biological Station and John Ball Zoo, who has spent years helping lead the recovery effort. “We released 102 butterflies in 2022 and more than 1,300 butterflies in 2025.”

Read the full story: https://msunatsci.info/skipperling