Field Notes

If you are a winter enthusiast, we are off to a great start this year. Snowshoers, skiers, and snowmobilers have had excellent snow conditions. To add to the great snow conditions, we have enjoyed relatively mild temperatures. So how does snow form and what are the different types of snow?

With wide eyes and anticipation, many stare to the skies on the night of December 24th to watch for the outline of a tiny sleigh and eight flying reindeer. But, how did Santa first come about?

Botany of Thanksgiving Everyone has their own list of things to be grateful for at Thanksgiving. Along with your thoughts of turkey and football, take a minute to appreciate the plants, yes, the plants, that originated in the Americas, that add flavor, color and nutrition to your Thanksgiving table. T

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how the Lacey Act protects rare trees around the world.

It’s the second Tuesday of the month, which is when we hear from our commentators in the field.

This week, Gretchen Gerrish of UW-Madison’s Trout Lake Station tells us about darkness as a resource.

Susan Knight of UW-Madison’s Trout Lake Station is enjoying her summer by doing aquatic plant surveys, and she may be coming to your lake soon.

She tells us about it for this month's Field Notes.

In this month's installment of Field Notes Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses bird’s-eye wood, some of the most beautiful material a woodworker can use.

When I say “figure in wood” you may not be familiar with the phrase.  But if I say bird’s-eye maple, an image of beautiful swirls pops into your mind.  There are many other types of wood figure such as curly, tiger stripe, fiddleback, and quilted, but I would like to focus on bird’s-eye today.

Years ago Dave Daniels from Rhinelander heard of a research project that really interested him, but he never heard what came out of the project so he sent a question to WXPR’s Curious North series asking us to look into it: What ever became of the Little Rock Lake Acid Rain research project conducted by water scientists at the Trout Lake research station near Boulder Junction?

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses trees and their resistance to decay fungi.

For this month's Field Notes feature, Susan Knight discusses Wild Rice, and its amazing transformation from spring to fall.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses snow load and how it impacts our homes.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Susan Knight discusses the importance of seedbanks - in the past and in the future - for the survival of our food crops in an uncertain future.

It's the second Tuesday of the month, which is when we hear from our commentators in the field.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how trees adapt with changes in elevation.

In my last Field Notes broadcast, I spoke about the amazing human body and how it adapts to working and playing at high elevations. Elevation has impact on other organisms besides humans. Let’s look at elevation and how trees adapt to this harsh environment.

With Christmas on the horizon, many of us are thinking about gift giving.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Susan Knight discusses the virtues of coal (just in case you get some in your stocking).

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses how the body adapts to recreation in high elevations.