Images

Biologists use a syringe pole to immobilize the captured grizzly bear.  It takes approximately 10 minutes for a bear to become immobilized.  

Biologists are very careful to keep the grizzly bear under shade and protected from the elements while they collect biological data.  Vital signs are monitored throughout the handling period. 

Biologists measure a grizzly bear’s paw width. 

When looking for a place to set up a capture location, biologists look for existing bear sign such as scratches on trees and bear scat.  Sometimes traps are set in areas that have no obvious bear sign to determine if indeed bears are present.

A Ptychopariid trilobite from Yellowstone National Park. Scale is in millimeters.  Specimen located at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A Ehmania walcotti trilobite from Yellowstone National Park. Scale is in millimeters.  Specimen located at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A USGS grizzly bear researcher snapped this picture of a mother grizzly bear and her cub in Yellowstone National Park. Recent research shows that fffspring of grizzly bear mothers with a history of human-bear conflicts are more likely to be involved in human-bear conflicts than offspring of mothers without a history of human-bear conflicts. 

A grizzly bear has cached an elk carcass in Grand Teton National Park. Scientists used DNA from hair samples collected from barbed wire to estimate whether the availability of carcasses associated with an elk hunting season resulted in temporary immigration of grizzly bears. 

Top: Thermographic mosaic of Yellowstone acquired by the NASA’s MODIS-ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER), a thermal infrared scanner, in September 2006.  Dark shades indicate cool temperatures and bright are warm; this reflects not only hydrothermal activity, but also types of ground cover.

Map of the Heart Mountain slide block. From Mitchell et al., 2015 ("Catastrophic emplacement of giant landslides aided by thermal decomposition: Heart Mountain, Wyoming." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 411: 199-207), modified from Anders et al. (2010).

Filtering water for eDNA sample collection in Yellowstone National Park between Lewis and Shoshone Lakes.

Using a portable flume to measure streamflow on a small stream

Preparing to measure water level at Groundwater Streamgage

New Fork River near Big Piney streamgage

Measuring streamflow of the Green River near LaBarge

Measuring streamflow of New Fork River

Measuring discharge at 06324970

Core from 2" well drilled into Wasatch Formation, Big Piney, WY

Over 30 organizations and agencies are testing a USGS-developed oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) at sites such as the Pitchfork Ranch in Wyoming, pictured here. If successful, the SPV could help protect endangered black-footed ferret populations in the western

Using a bridge crane to measure streamflow, Powder River at Arvada