Science on the Rocks
Grab a beverage, pull up a rock, and meet the scientists working the Plateau.
Every week, a researcher or staff member sits down and tells us what they are actually finding out there. No lecture hall, no slide deck obligations, no jargon — just an hour of conversation with the person doing the work, and every question welcome.
Pack in a drink of your choice and your curiosity. The exact spot on campus depends on the weather, which up here is its own kind of programming.
Talks from a recent season
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Microplastics in Big Brown Bats
What urbanization leaves behind in wildlife, in places nobody thought to look.
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Dendrochronology
Reading tree rings as records of climate, fire, and forest history.
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Glow Worms of the Highlands Plateau
The tiny bioluminescent insects that light up the forest floor after dark.
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Conservation Research on Kral’s Water Plantain
Propagating a threatened aquatic plant, and what it takes to keep it here.
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The Hidden Chemical World of Salamanders
How lungless salamanders talk to each other in chemical signals.
The 2027 speaker list is still being netted, banded, and released. We are hard at work on it — check back before the first warm Wednesday.