It feels like just a few months ago everyone was talking about eggs—chicken eggs, that is—due to the rising prices at grocery stores. But here in the Bedford Ichthyoplankton Lab, all we talk about are fish eggs! Fish eggs come in a fabulously weird array of shapes and sizes, so for this Featured Fish we […]
In recent blog posts, we have discussed the four-dimensional nature of lotic ecosystems—using our Bug-of-the-Month to illustrate each dimension. More specifically, we’ve discussed the longitudinal dimension and the lateral dimension. For this article, we will focus on the vertical dimension. It so happens that the interactions I noted previously between upstream versus downstream and river […]
Read More… from Bug of the Month—Stygobromus, A Subterranean Crustacean
At a glance the mysterious sturgeon looks like it’s been borrowing bits from other animals—it has five rows of bony scutes like an alligator; has a heterocercal (tall-on-the-top) tail fin like a shark; and it has sensory barbels on its face like a catfish. But it isn’t related to any of those organisms, and its […]
After working with our Mid-Atlantic employees remotely from NH for years, it was finally time for me to travel south to meet our talented scientists and see some of these projects in person. More specifically, the project I wanted to see was the Conowingo Dam and Constellation’s Trap and Transport Program. (Yes—Conowingo is a fun […]
Normandeau’s Bedford Biology Laboratory enjoyed hosting students from Bedford High School on a 2-day “show and tell” outreach program. Heidi Colburn, Marine Science teacher at Bedford High School, has brought students to our lab in previous years and was ready to re-establish the connection again. She’s been very interested in finding ways to connect her […]
Read More… from Field Trip to Normandeau’s Bedford Biology Laboratory!
What a memorable day! Last month, Normandeau’s Michelle Vukovich and Julia Robinson Willmott had so much fun at the Girls Do Science 2023 event held at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Our booth entertained a whopping 1225 adults and 575 children for a total of 1800 visitors. Guests learned a lot from our Normandeau […]
For this article, let’s continue our discussion about the dimensional nature of stream ecosystems. A predominant characteristic of lotic (flowing water) ecosystems is what is called spatio-temporal heterogeneity. (We scientists like to use terms like that because it makes us sound smarter.) What it means is that invertebrate communities differ quite a bit from spot […]
Do you have a project within the range of the northern long-eared bat with construction scheduled for 2023 and beyond? If so, take note! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that the up listing of the species was warranted—from threatened to endangered. The status change will go into effect 30 days after the […]
In this remarkably busy, sensory-overloaded world that we all live in, it’s difficult to imagine yourself being plucked from society and immersed in an environment where communication with the outside world is not possible without a satellite phone—and even that has spotty reception. But this was very much the case for me, a recent environmental […]
Normandeau Associates, Inc. frequently conducts wildlife assessments in support of conservation efforts, environmental permitting, and to ensure federal and state endangered species act compliance. These assessments can be targeted to single species and/or habitats or be broad assessments of an area and cover all potential and observed wildlife and characterization of the project site. Road, […]
Almost everyone has heard of herring and sardines, but very few people outside the fishing business (and the fisheries-regulation business) have heard of our latest featured fish, the Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus)! This is a shame because all three are members of the same family (Clupeidae) and all three are both economically and ecologically important. […]
Gainesville, FL (May 18, 2022) – The final reports from an analysis of three years’ worth of aerial digital imagery collected on behalf of NYSERDA between 2016 and 2019 are now publicly available! These reports include data that provide support for the development of offshore wind in the New York Offshore Planning Area. The report […]
Read More… from Final Reports for NYSERDA Aerial Digital Imagery Study Now Available!
This month’s featured fish, the Striped Cusk-eel, is a strange and fascinating fish in the family Ophidiidae—the Cusk-eels, which (despite the name) are not eels! Striped Cusk-eels are small, bottom-loving benthic fish that grow to around 10 inches long. They have a slender body with a continuous fin (giving them their eel-like appearance) that is […]
Crew members on the fish recapture boat during the balloon tag study There we were—headed down a Belgian highway going 120 (don’t worry, we’re talking kilometers) in our newly rented diesel, stick shift Fiat Talento. After three years of complications from flooding in Europe, COVID preventing travel, and a difficult dance to ensure that all […]
Read More… from Traveling to Belgium for the Love of Science
The last article about specialization used the example of a caddisfly called Fattigia pele, a species associated with sandy-bottomed streams. Here, we continue this discussion with a second sand-bottom insect—a mayfly within the genus Pseudiron. Specialization allows certain little beasties that are poor competitors to colonize areas that are difficult for most other invertebrates. To […]
This month’s Featured Fish is one of our favorite forage fish—the Sand Lance! Forage fish (or “bait fish,” as they’re called by fishermen) are small pelagic fish that play a crucial role in marine ecosystems, and in the Gulf of Maine, the Sand Lance is one of the most important forage fish. Sometimes called sand […]
In late July, my husband and I, along with our son Jamie and friend and butterfly expert Jason Hall, left for our first trip together out of the USA since Covid started, to continue a long-term research project on the butterflies of Ecuador. Despite the many Covid-related uncertainties of travel, all went smoothly, and our […]
The eastern small-footed bat (Myotis leibii) is unique among the bats of New England and the mid-Atlantic as it is the only species that uses talus slopes, cliffs, and rock fields to roost during the spring and summer seasons. Other bat species commonly use trees for roosting during this period. The relatively rare habitat of […]
Read More… from Unique Habitats of the Eastern Small-Footed Bat