A conservation biologist. I work to help people appreciate and protect the natural beauty and rare species of our diverse state.
When you do field work on public lands you need permits and there are all sorts of rules and regulations, blah, blah, blah… But when you work on private lands, the situation tends to be a little more relaxed and come with benefits. Private landowners often invite you to eat with them, offer you cold … More Field Work Perks
Here in central Oklahoma, we have had less than 0.1 inch of rain in 6 weeks. We have also had baking heat of 100º for a couple weeks. We would like to think this flash drought and heat wave are unusual, but climate trends are showing us otherwise. Therefore, I am watering my front yard … More You water your native meadow?!?
When I tell people that I work outdoors in the “wild” or “field,” I often get asked about all the snakes I MUST seed while bushwacking. “Actually,” I tell them, “I rarely see snakes and I feel lucky when I do.” “But what about dangerous snakes?” is their follow up question. Again, rarely I say. … More Snakes in the Field
Teaching a three credit field course in two weeks is an exhausting challenge, but I am so glad we were together again at the OU Biological Station again! After two years of trying to teach a field class over Zoom, it was refreshing to see students faces, chat with them over meals, and get our … More In-person again!
After a year of having no in-person contact with students, I am happy to say that I now have two enthusiastic women assisting in the lab. Abby and Ritu joined me a few weeks ago to help grow pollinator habitat plants, revitalize the milkweed research beds (that had mostly been abandoned during our COVID shutdown), … More Welcome New Assistants!
As part of our Oklahoma Invasive Plant Council monthly webinar series, we thought we would go for a fun and seasonal theme this month! To give away the answer – no mistletoe isn’t invasive, but I highly recommend that you join our webinar or watch the recorded webinar to better understand what invasive means and … More Is Mistletoe Invasive?
Given this virtual age we have entered with a lack of in-person outreach events, I have decided to start a podcast where I talk with our BioBlitz! experts. Honestly, I have never done anything like this before, but I thought, “What the heck? I will just dive right in and get this thing rolling!” I … More I started a Podcast!
1261 Species Recorded by 393 BioBlitzers! Watch our super nerdy Inventory Highlight video! You can check out all of the iNaturalist observations in the Check out the BioBlitz! OK 2020 project. Although we weren’t all together this year, we still had amazing participation from people across the state! We had BioBitz activities at several parks … More BioBlitz! OK 2020 is in the Books!
A few years ago, I decided that I was just going to jump in and start improving the biodiversity of the boring mowed spaces in our human habitats. I regularly limit myself by claiming that “I am not an expert” or “I don’t know enough” to tackle a project. However, as I get older (maybe … More Pollinator Meadows!
I am participating in #shutdownstem today. I will spend the day educating myself and beginning a plan to make BioBlitz! Oklahoma actively anti-racist. I want all citizen scientists to feel welcome and included at BioBlitz! Oklahoma! https://www.shutdownstem.com/
Priscilla H. C. Crawford 