Browsing: Environment

Each fall, Research Associate Scott Langlois and his crew harvest a small sugarcane crop growing at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station’s South Mississippi Branch, honoring a 40-year-old agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell seed cane to new or current growers, and it always sells out.

On Monday, November 17, 2025, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) invites Mississippians of all ages to celebrate the natural beauty of our state by participating in National Take a Hike Day on November 17, 2025. It’s the perfect opportunity for everyone to visit one of Mississippi’s State Parks and hike some of the most scenic trails in the southeastern portion of the United States. In fact, all across our state, MDWFP has the perfect spot for families and friends to come and celebrate this yearly national event that focuses on healthy exercise and the great outdoors.

Scientists often get carried away with using what I call “fifty-cent” words and phrases when we talk about our favorite subjects. I try not to do that without defining the terms when I use them, but I occasionally forget. I recently described a common tree as part of the understory of a forest, assuming that everyone would know what I was talking about. Well, a kind friend called me out by asking a simple question – what is the understory? I offer this explanation as penance for my sin of omission.

Mississippi State’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and Astronomy Club are hosting a special Halloween public viewing Friday [Oct. 24] at the university’s Howell Observatory.

If you happen to see what looks like a dust bunny moving across the leaf of your favorite plant, look again. Underneath what looks like a pile of trash is a vicious predator – the larvae of a Green Lacewing. Everything about this common group of insects is focused on eating other bugs, especially those we often view as pests on the plants we like to care for. The adults and the larvae of lacewings are commonly referred to as beneficial insects because of this diet.

Shakiya Ingram and Vandell McGill, undergraduate students in The University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Ocean Science and Engineering (SOSE) Oceanography and Ocean Mapping program, recently returned from a life-changing ocean-mapping research cruise aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s vessel, Nancy Foster, in Charleston, S.C.

GAUTIER—Coastal Mississippi offers a wide variety of experiences on many different stages, but only Eco-Tours of South Mississippi can offer an up close and personal tour of the beauty and serenity of the wild and undeveloped waterways of Jackson County.

The world lost one of the most influential conservationists of the past century with the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall. Her love of the natural world and subsequent call for us to champion a balance in the way we view nature began with her ground-breaking research on chimpanzees in the forest of Tanzania, Africa. She was a household name, right up there with Mr. Rodgers, and Big Bird. She carried herself with dignity and was a forceful voice for the creatures and places she loved.

Bird enthusiasts are migrating to Moss Point for the 7th Annual Hummingbird Festival hosted by the Pascagoula River Audubon Center.

Sadly, slugs are hard to love. Between the slime, their odd shapes, and for some species, a taste for flowers and vegetables, they are unwelcomed. But as with all creatures, they are just trying to survive and mind their own business.

Of all the owls in the eastern U.S., the prize for cutest goes to the Eastern Screech Owl. As with all owls, these small birds are well camouflaged, helping them blend into the woods where they live. But once you spot one, it is hard not to say Wow! And they come in two colors – the more prominent gray phase and my favorite, red phase birds, accounting for about one third of the population.

Over the last couple of weeks, anyone who has stepped foot outdoors in Mississippi for more than a few moments has surely seen them: The hummingbirds are everywhere, and these beautiful creatures are busy, very busy.

Southern Miss marine science professor Dr. Kristina Mojica and Ph.D. student Rachel Lancaster participated in the largest marine debris removal effort in Southeast Alaska earlier this summer. Their work supported the NOAA-funded Ocean Plastics Recovery Project, which removed an estimated 3,600 pounds of marine debris per day from the region’s shorelines aboard the R/V Steadfast.

Of the many common small mammals that we encounter in our lives, Red Foxes always seem to invoke the most excitement. People are quick to report sightings, especially in urban settings, where most of us think they must be lost. But foxes are smart and cunning and have long found refuge and comfort living next door to us.

Next to biting flies, love bugs can be the disdain of our existence. Anyone that drives highways in the early fall cringe as mating pairs spatter across the windshield, hood, and grill of the car, adding anxiety about the scrubbing to come – to save the paint job! In years when they are most numerous, they can also clog the air spaces in radiators, causing engine overheating.

Loving, or at least appreciating, Lubber Grasshoppers is hard for many folks. Gardeners are not fans. In some years, it appears that they show up as small armies, chewing up everything in sight. So, where are their predators? Can we get more of those? The short answer is no.