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Tag: Science
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Science and Education Center Conceived 40 Years Ago
When Great Smoky Mountains National Park put together a general management plan 40 years ago in 1982, included was the skeleton concept of a new laboratory. This lab would meet the needs of a relatively small group of scientists and researchers who were then working out of historic buildings of the Voorheis Estate, located on Cherokee Orchard
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Community scientists discover a treasure trove of new Smokies species
Over the past few years, national park visitors helped document a slew of new species records in the Smokies using a community science app called iNaturalist.
Thanks to the app and a community science project called Smokies Most Wanted, more than 70 species were recently added to the list of over 21,000 species known to Great Smoky Mountains
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Volunteer Preserves Smokies’ Plant Diversity
by Aaron Searcy, Publications Associate
With the eye of an artist and the steady hand of a lab technician, Janie Bitner carefully preserves some of the rarest and most delicate plants found in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Taken together, the many species she helps enter into the park’s collections build a convincing case
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Park scientists and nature writers reflect on the meaning of ‘habitat’
George Ellison, whose “Nature Journal” has long been a fixture of the Asheville Citizen-Times, was named one of the 100 most influential people in the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He is shown here with columnist Frances Figart.
When the United Nations designated the first Monday of October of
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Wildlife Biologist Helps Elk Return to Appalachia
By Aaron Searcy, Publications Associate
In the not-so-distant past, red wolves and bison roamed the Great Smoky Mountains, passenger pigeons flew en masse overhead, and Carolina parakeets chattered in the welcoming branches of American chestnut trees. Today, every one of those species has disappeared from the Southern Appalachian landscape &
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A Chance Encounter with Russula Mushrooms
Please remember that picking plants is prohibited in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but some fruits, berries, nuts, and certain mushrooms may be gathered for personal use within limits. No wild mushroom should be eaten unless its identification is certain, which usually requires an expert to determine. Many mushrooms are poisonous, some
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Discover Life in America Keeps on Discovering
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
Did you know that there are now 21,183 total known species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park? That’s a lot of species, and new ones are always likely to be discovered during bioblitz events hosted by nonprofit park partner Discover Life in America (DLiA).
DLiA manages the All Taxa
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Park Leads the World in Science of ‘Water Bears’
By Aaron Searcy
When Dr. Paul Bartels takes a walk in the woods, he sees a landscape absolutely teeming with bears. You’ll just need a microscope to see the ‘bears’ he has in mind.
“They occur in moss and lichen on trees and rocks,” said Bartels. “They’re also in soil, in leaf litter, and stream
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Word from the Smokies: Retired Biology Professor Dan Pittillo Still Digs Research
By Frances Figart, Creative Services Director
I met and became friends with Dr. Dan Pittillo through this column. He writes me an email every time one of my articles is published here; in fact, that’s how I know what day they run. He always tells me something I didn’t know about my topic, and he shows the kind of appreciation upon
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Father–Daughter Duo Discovers New Aquatic Organism
By Frances Figart
A new aquatic organism has been discovered from a wetland near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. It's a microscopic worm-like creature that feeds on algae and bacteria, and it appears to be pretty common across North America and much of the world, if one thinks to look for it.
This slide image of a hairybellied
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