Images

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 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.

Butterflies and moths are submitted to the KS WSC for the Lepidoptera Research Collection Citizen Science Project. Julie Dietze holds a sphinx moth received from Texas. 

A Project ROAM (Rapid and Other Methods for Assessment and Monitoring) crew collecting vegetation data at a complex plot with over 40 unique species. 

A still image taken from a USGS Flow Photo Explorer camera (Pl_06.5) shows isolated pools in a small stream in Shenandoah 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. 

This site south of Rock Springs in Wyoming represents an intact sagebrush ecosystem. It has not been burned or invaded by exotic annual grasses. Undisturbed sagebrush steppe has bare ground between shrubs which helps to limit the spread of wildfire. When cheatgrass invades fires can grow larger.

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. 

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.

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 bumblebee on a Geranium viscosissimum (sticky purple geranium) flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. 

The grizzly bear distribution represents the estimated geographic extent of occupied range of the Yellowstone grizzly bear population. The images show a comparison of their estimated geographic extent, with a 3-fold increase from 1990 (23,361 km² or 9,020 mi²) to 2022 (70,101 km² or 27,066 mi²).

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.

Bats roosting in a bat box during NABat Fieldwork in 2023. 

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.

Andrea Schuhmann examines an acoustic bat recording using a software for bat call analysis during NA Bat Fieldwork in 2023.

Ben Lohre and Andrea Schuhmann test acoustic microphones prior to bat surveys, as part of the 2023 NABat field season.

An adult female Pacific walrus slides into the water as she assesses her surroundings.  The female is 15 years or older based on the length of the tusks.  USGS and the U.S.