Mary Thompson

In mid-March, as longer days herald the onset of spring, an aquatic miracle unfolds. Small ponds, buried for months under ice and snow, begin to…

During the last ice age – 20,000 years ago give or take a few years – the ebb and flow of glaciers forever changed the…

As summer days slip away and goldenrod buds swell, birdsong is replaced by a six-legged symphony. The three tenors of the Driftless Area – cicadas,…

Fungi are among the most widely distributed organisms on earth. Despite their importance to people and the environment, they are also among the least understood.…

In 1940, as Walt Disney’s Pinocchio wobbled across the big screen, a lesser-known creative genius gave rise to another cinematic icon. Woody Woodpecker, an irascible…

As the sun covers itself with a starry blanket, a fluttering frenzy unfolds. Evening aviators emerge to navigate sweet-scented currents drifting through your yard. Mere…

Patience: We all bloom in our own time. I totally hated the phrase “late bloomer” when I was a kid. I had two cousins – both…

The announcement was ignored by mainstream media. In December 2023, a tiny spider, lost to the world for almost 100 years and feared extinct, had…

You may have passed them untold times without noticing, even during the dead of winter. They speckle tombstones, spatter rocks, and encrust screen door hinges.…

In 1984, as parachute pants landed in clothing outlets and floppy discs took the then nascent computer world by storm, the late, great Harvard biologist…

The largest of five owl species that breed in the Driftless Area, Great Horned Owls are also the most common. Found from Alaska to Argentina,…

They may be nature’s finest creation. Conspicuous, abundant, profoundly productive, leaves make life possible. A few cells thick, the typical leaf houses complex biological machinery…

During warm summer evenings, as the sun tumbles and stars rise from their daytime slumber, a lightshow below the horizon unfolds. A single spark, then…