It was a typical weekday evening text for me—a video from a friend showing several interesting sea creatures and the message, “Do you know what these are? Some kind of mussel?” While the white-shelled creatures attached to a piece ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources
I love bogs. The mucky, sunny spaces here in northwest Florida are inevitably full of beauty and surprises. Due to the sopping wet, acidic, and nutrient poor soil, plants in these areas must make some unusual adaptations. As I have written ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources
As I looked out the backseat of the car window as a kid in Mississippi, it covered everything along the highways—the gullies in the shade, the ridges and hills, abandoned buildings, telephone poles. My imaginative mind easily pretended ... READ MORE
Category: Invasive Species, Natural Resources
Ugh, cogongrass. It is a beast of a plant—insidious, stubborn, and overwhelming. Once introduced to an area, it slowly takes over, crowding out native species and reducing previously diverse habitat to an unwelcome monoculture. Like most ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources
Growing up in east-central Mississippi, some of my earliest childhood memories revolve (get it?) around tornadoes. Collectively, we spent hours in tornado drills, curled into a fetal position with our heads against the wall and hands clasped ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources
If you have driven down Bayfront Parkway in downtown Pensacola over the last few weeks, you have likely noticed something new going on in the bay. Large “islands” of sand, planted with thin green grasses, dot the seascape just beyond ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources
Spend just a few minutes trying to wade through sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense), and the origin of the “saw” moniker is evident. This relatively tall (9-12 feet) wetland plant is bordered on its long blades and on the underside of its ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources, Water
We use the term, “living on the edge” to express a life of excitement, extremes, and perhaps a bit of danger. Frontier towns and port cities have this same dynamic, with a constant influx of new energy, people, and goods shuffling the ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources
I have a soft spot for bats. I know, I know, they give people the creeps and can show up in unwanted places (like attics and sheds). But collectively, the bats in our community eat millions of mosquitoes and agricultural pests every night. ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources, Wildlife
I can only recall being caught in a rip current once, but the memory is so vivid I can picture that beachfront clearly even 32 years later. I was boogie-boarding in an area with huge wave action, and had been riding the waves with delight ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources