Small Grants: Spring 2026 Awards Announced

Laramie Audubon Spring 2026 Small Grants program was a great success with a totalof seven grant proposals being submitted. Our grants committee selected one research and one out research proposal for our present round of funding. Collin M. Porter was the recipient of the 2026 Spring Laramie Audubon research grant. Collin is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Zoology & Physiology, Program in Ecology and Evolution, at the University of Wyoming. His research topic is “Migration, seasonal movement, and climate adaptation of Intermountain West Graycrowned Rosy-Finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis tephrocotis)”. Collin states “Alpine ecosystems are sensitive to the effects of climate change and habitat loss, which threaten biodiversity and ecological stability. Warming temperatures and disturbances to mountaintop snowpack pose a particular challenge for high-elevation species. In response to climate warming, upward range shifts are predicted for many alpine bird species”. As the rosy-finch is the highest elevation nesting songbird with little known about its “migratory patterns and site fidelity among breeding and wintering populations”. “Uncovering the precise movement trajectories and elevational shifts undertaken by alpine breeders throughout the full annual cycle is critical for assessing how populations will respond to predicted climate change effects when paired with genomic divergence among distinct populations.” Collin will trap 42 individuals from three distinct wintering populations and after taking genomic samples from each bird a transmitter will be attached to track the birds during his multiyear research. He expects “data will reveal distinct migratory routes and stopover sites for each wintering population and link breeding and wintering sites. Specifically, we predict that populations will exhibit ‘chain migration associated with latitude, wherein the southernmost wintering populations (e.g., in the Sandia Mountains of NM) will migrate to the southernmost portion of the breeding range (e.g., the Northern Rocky Mountains of southern Canada) while more northern wintering populations (e.g., in the Bighorn Mountains of WY) will migrate to northern breeding sites (e.g., the Brooks Range of Alaska”. In addition, numerous other topics will be studied including elevational shift due to climate change.

The 2026 Spring Laramie Audubon outreach grant recipient was submitted by Michelle Weschler. The grant titled “Junior Entomologist Program: Understanding and challenging perceptions of insects to foster environmental stewardship in children”. Michelle is an Assistant Research Scientist, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD), University of Wyoming. The grant will continue the work of Nina Crawford, PhD student at the University of Wyoming, who is working at Jewel Cave east of New Castle, Wyoming, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Crawford has been studying how environmental and anthropogenic influences affect insect pollinators in the area of the Black Hills. The study also looks at how local bird populations interact with the insect populations. The outreach grant will help fund a workbook for the Junior Entomologist program that will “prompt participants to consider their perception of insects, teach them about various insects and their ‘jobs’ in the environment, and reinforce learning by asking them to draw an insect and answer questions about what they learned.” The booklet will accompany displays of pinned insects that can be found in the Black Hills ecosystems and a fact sheet about the insects on display. “With consent from participants, the drawings will then be incorporated into an art exhibition taking place within the Berry Biodiversity Center on the University of Wyoming campus this fall focused on invertebrate conservation.”

The Laramie Audubon Small Grants committee has previously awarded up to four grants per year divided between two (spring and fall) grant submission periods. As Laramie Audubon has added additional projects or opportunities to our members and the greater public, the limited funds of our organization have been under strain. Our Board of Directors has decided to reduce the number of grants dispersed by half. The Small Grants committee has awarded two grants during our Spring award period, and we will not be accepting grant additional grant submittals for the remainder of 2026.

Kids & Families Program: Saturday, April 25, 2026

Earth Day Returns!

LaPrele Park. Meet 9:00 am at the picnic shelter at 22nd Street and Spring Creek Drive. Nature bingo, cloud clay sculpting, seed planting in recycled pots, and snacks. Photo by Brad Andres.

Evening Program: Wednesday, April 22, 2026

The Mysterious and Vital World of Microfungi

Dr Dorothy Tuthill, former Associate Director and K-12 Coordinator at the University of Wyoming's Biodiversity Institute, will share her enthusiasm for role microfungi play in our world. The program will be at Trinity Lutheran Church, 107 South 7th St., Laramie. Social time and refreshments at 6:30 pm, program at 7:00 pm.

Field Trip Report: Spring Birding with Seniors on the Go

 A hardy group of 6 came out to Curt Gowdy State Park this morning for our quarterly birding hike with Eppson Center for Seniors Seniors on the Go. Despite bitter wind and snow, we hiked the Shoreline Trail to Granite Point and back, observing American crows, robins, Canada geese, mallard ducks, northern flickers, magpies, several pair of killdeer and a pair of common mergansers, along with spring flowers dusted in snow. Our next birding trek with SOTG will take place July 17.