Images

University of Idaho Doris Duke Scholars at the USFWS National Conservation Training Center. From left to right, standing: Orion Cardenas-Ritzert, Abigain Cano Perez, Dr. Kerri Vierling (faculty co-advisor), Zander Zuniga; in front, Emily Cook. Photograph by co-advisor Courtney Conway.

Photographs from a colony of boulder brain coral (Colpophyllia natans) found losing tissue in Biscayne Bay, Miami, FL, US. (A). In situ photograph. An area of prior tissue loss is covered in algal overgrowth (O), new loss is evidenced by white, bare skeleton not yet overgrown by algae (S), and intact healthy-appearing tissue is greenish brown (H).

USGS field technician photographing bumble bees captured during monitoring surveys at Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed on Lake Erie at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed in the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed on Lake Erie at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer in the harbor being towed out onto Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys on July 14, 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer in the harbor before its launch on Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed through the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer in the harbor being towed out onto Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys on July 14, 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed through the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

Austin Waag performing radio-telemetry at Glacier Point with Half Dome in the background, as part of a project tracking bats in Yosemite National Park.

Biologists set up a triple-high mist net to capture bats with El Capitan, one of Yosemite's most iconic rock formations, in the background, as part of a study to track bats in Yosemite.

The USGS provides science to understand, protect, restore, and solve problems in the world around us, and that includes interconnected communities of living things called ecosystems. 

A long-term fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing monitoring array installed along Cement Creek near Silverton CO to track acid mine influenced groundwater discharge to the creek over time. 

RAMPS and NPS host South African National Park scientist, Dr. Mmoto Masubelele, for field visits to exchange information on restoration and climate adaptation strategies. From left to right: Seth Munson, Dr. Mmoto Masubelele, park biologist Mark Szydlo. Photo by Seth Munson (USGS).

Western bumble bee on a common yarrow flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo taken by USGS field crew in July 2023. 

Western bumble bee on a Geranium viscossium (sticky purple geranium) flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo taken by USGS field crew in July 2023.

Pacific walrus group hauled-out on sea ice in the Chukchi Sea. The photo was captured during a survey of the age structure of the population to evaluate population status. Observers assign each animal in a group to an age/sex category according to published criteria.  USFWS Permit No. 33776D.

A Citizen Science Flyer requesting people to mail in deceased butterflies, moths, and skippers to help begin a USGS Scientific Collection to further research related to the decline of insect populations.

Pottery by Kaili Gregory, Georgia and Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units. Western pond turtles were recently split into two species the southwestern pond turtle and the northwestern pond turtles. Both species have exhibited substantial population declines and range contractions in recent decades.