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Smokies Entomologist Reflects on Role of Women in Science
Entomologist Becky Nichols determines the peak display period for the famous synchronous fireflies of the Smokies. Photo courtesy of Joye Ardyn Durham.
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
When Becky Nichols was in graduate school there weren’t many women studying to become entomologists. Over the years, she
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The Smokies in Your Backyard: Flowering Dogwood
By Steve Kemp and Janet Rock
Photo by GSMA
Although it is illegal to dig up plants in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and transplant them in your yard (all plants, animals, and even rocks are protected in the park), you can purchase native plants at reputable nurseries and propagate a bit of the Smokies around your home. Our new Smokies
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Beyond the Shadow of the Woodchuck
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
The woodchuck is the largest ground squirrel in the deciduous forests of the eastern United States. Photo courtesy of Tim Parker.
Whether you call him a woodchuck or a groundhog—whether you consider her precious or a pest—you must admit this charismatic critter has
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Park birds may have benefited from Clean Air Act
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
Warblers like this Black-throated Green Warbler are at the highest risk of illness and death from ground-level ozone, which not only harms avian respiratory systems but also damages vegetation that they depend on for food and shelter. Photo courtesy of Warren Lynn.
It is likely
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Mountain Time: Glenn Cardwell of the Smokies
By Arthur “Butch” McDade
Arthur "Butch" McDade, left, and Glenn Cardwell, right, outside of Sugarlands Visitor Center in 2014. Photo courtesy of Arthur McDade.
In Greenbrier there’s a path that leads to an old homesite. The house is gone but you can still spot foundation stones and a stone springhead nearby
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Trailside Talk: Ode to Winter
By Mike Hembree; photo by Ann Froschauer
It’s no surprise that most of the approximately 12 million people who visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park in a normal year do so in four months: June, July, August, and October.
The summer months, of course, mean vacations for families, and they offer the Smokies at their greenest. October
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Park recruits volunteers for monitoring program
Martin Luther King Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. In honor of Dr. King's legacy, we share this upcoming opportunity to volunteer to observe visitor use patterns in the Smokies.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting
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North Carolina Field Station Enhances Park Research
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
The house on Limby Birch Mountain at The Purchase provides bunkhouse-style lodging for up to 11 researchers. Photo courtesy of NPS.
The southeastern corner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park lies in Haywood County on the southeastern side of the Cataloochee Divide.
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Image for the Asking: Reflections on the Past
Story and image by Don McGowan
William Ogle and his wife Martha Huskey were the first Euro-American settlers in the area of what would—by way of first being called White Oak Flats—one day become Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They arrived in the early 1800s (1803 by their own historical accounting), and in time their descendants spread
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Keeping Black Bears Wild and People Safe
The human-bear conflict will always be a concern in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This article recently published on National Parks Traveler—a nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas—is shared here to emphasize the importance of BearWise awareness.
Black bear
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