Images

The spectacular Mojave Desert landscapes within Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area draw millions of visitors each year. 

View of the Pacific Ocean from the Cotoni-Coast Dairies unit of the California Coast National Monument.

A researcher demonstrates the extraction of a ponderosa pine tree core from an increment borer, the tool used to core trees. Tree coring allows scientists to learn about tree growth, age, and more without harming the tree. Photo by Carolina May (USGS)

Hillside of the Cotoni Coast Dairies onshore unit of the California Coastal National Monument. Prior to becoming a monument, parts of the landscape like those seen here degraded as a result of human development and invasive species. Monument managers are now looking to incorporate the best available science into their restoration plans.

FORT scientist Chris Holmquist-Johnson leverages uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), such as the one shown here, to advance hydrological research through innovative aerial data collection. As a certified UAS Instructor for the Department of the Interior (DOI), he also leads training programs to expand UAS capabilities among DOI scientists.

Researchers attach lightweight radio transmitters to bumble bees to track their movements and determine where they spend most of their time. Photo by Ian Pearse (USGS).

Lake Abert, Oregon is one of the 20 terminal lakes identified by USGS partners as priority ecosystems for study by the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA.

USGS researchers and collaborators stand in front of the future site of a wildlife overpass in Colorado. Photo by Sarah Carter (USGS).

USGS researchers with the Colorado Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration visit a newly constructed wildlife underpass on I-25, south of Castle Rock, CO. Photo by Sarah Carter (USGS).

USGS researchers with the Colorado Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration visit a newly constructed wildlife underpass on I-25, south of Castle Rock, CO. Photo by Sarah Carter (USGS)

USGS researchers and collaborators view wildlife fencing adjacent to an wildlife underpass on I-25 in Colorado. Photo by Sarah Carter (USGS).

A small tube of Gunnison sage-grouse DNA, collected by the Fort Collins Molecular Ecology Lab. Photo: Shawna Zimmerman (USGS).

Goose Lake, on the Oregon-California border, is one of the 20 terminal lakes identified by USGS partners as priority ecosystems for study by the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA. 

Researchers swab a bat for the presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes deadly white-nose syndrome.

A herd of bison graze alongside the road in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

Summer Lake, Oregon is one of the 20 terminal lakes identified by USGS partners as priority ecosystems for study by the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA.

An animated heat map of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) annual peak male counts from 1990 to 2023 using the standardized sage-grouse lek database. The color ramp uses light blue (fewest number of males counted on leks) to purple (greatest number of males counted on leks), reflecting local minimum and maximum counts of males.

Field station staff use microscopes to date fire scars in wood samples from Aztec Springs, NM. Photo by Ellis Margolis (USGS).

Paul Cryan shows off some of his 3D-printed bat tools.

FORT Geneticist Jennifer Fike teaches 6th graders from Compass Community Collaborative School about extracting DNA from strawberries. Photo by Emma Dietrich (USGS).

Sagebrush and conifers in the Frisco Herd Management Area, Utah. Photo by L. Prevot (USGS).