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Anna Funk🌻

@itsdrfunk.bsky.social

3.9K followers 380 following 240 posts

writer & consultant | founder, ampliflora | phd prairie ecology | KCMO writing · editing · strategy · websites · messaging tell your story, amplify your impact | bio.link/itsdrfunk

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Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 5d

If you're more the science type (fiiiine) here's @holdenrestoration.bsky.social and team's latest publication in Ecological Solutions & Evidence >>

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Restoration at the intersection of science and outreach—The Working Woods Learning Forest

Botanical gardens and arboreta can increase understanding of restoration as a predictive science while simultaneously serving as platforms to promote restoration. With publicly accessible natural are...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 5d

It's a win-win-win and you can read all about it in my latest for Holden Forests & Gardens >>

holdenfg.org/blog/restori...

Restoring Forests, Engaging Landowners, Advancing Science—All in One Place » Land management, Trees » HF&G

A version of this article originally appeared on The Applied Ecologist. What would it look like to combine scientific research, public education, and

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 5d

And all along the way, the woods are being restored, meaning they support more native species and will be more healthy and resilient in the future.

📷: Conservation staff control nonnative shrubs in Working Woods. (Credit: Jessica Miller Mecaskey/HF&G)

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 5d

It's a laboratory: a study site where ecologists ask questions about invasive species and more.

📷: Interns and HF&G staff survey plants in the Working Woods. (Credit: Emily Hilpman/HF&G)

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 5d

Short 🧵:

The Working Woods Hub has it all. It's a place: a woodland where they demonstrate different forestry management practices and landowners can come see the results.

📷: Forest management plots with (R) and without (L) non-native shrub removal. (Cred: Jessica Miller Mecaskey)

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 15d

Sooo fun! Thank you for roping me into your SPN adventures 😘

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · 15d

Sometimes I'm in the mood to (attempt to) write something deep and meaningful. But sometimes I want to be like "look I found this movie house I've been obsessed with since age 5 on Zillow LOOK AT IT"

thefunkyard.substack.com/p/its-big-wh...

🌻 It’s big white Victorian mansion season!

An ode to my favorite movie houses

thefunkyard.substack.com

Reposted by Anna Funk🌻

Sadie Witkowski, PhD @sadiewit.bsky.social · Aug 6

To celebrate the end of In Defense of Fandom S3, @itsdrfunk.bsky.social & I answered some of your parasocial questions!
m.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ap...

You can also find the audio here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Sadie and Anna answer your parasocial questions (In Defense of Fandom S3 Bonus)

YouTube video by GeekscapeTV

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

If you want to learn more, check out holdenfg.org/beech-leaf-d...

Beech Leaf Disease » HF&G

Learn about what causes beech leaf disease, available treatments, what you can do to limit the disease's spread and how to identify resistant trees.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

It’s really hard to describe “canopy loss” in words, and it doesn’t really show well in pictures. But walking through an Ohio beech forest is surreal. Its prevalence is shocking.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

It’s not unusual for me to cover a topic that I’ve never actually encountered in person, it’s part of the job. But during a visit to the Holden Arboretum in June 2023, I got to see BLD first-hand.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

Recent reports from Holden show 30% of trees have died, almost all of them saplings. And it’s ALL the saplings. So even if mature beech make it, if BLD prevents young trees from growing up, we’re still one tree-generation away from losing all the beech. Trees still die of old age.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

BLD was first spotted in 2012, not far from Holden Arboretum in Lake County, OH. It took a few years before researchers figured out the cause (nematodes) and later the mechanisms (nematodes wrecking havoc inside leaf buds). Biologically speaking, it’s all very new.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

I update it whenever there’s a new development, and folks reach out to me with questions every now and again. I love being able to help in this small way — I’m no expert, but I have read all the research papers, which I suppose counts for something.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

But as far as I know, it’s the only reference out there of its kind — the only comprehensive reference practitioners and members of the public can rely on for the latest updates on the disease’s spread and recommendations for control.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

It’s just a webpage, a collection of information, including links to stories and scientific research, treatment recommendations, and FAQ.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

The pest of the new millennium is BLD, and it’s sweeping through the northeastern U.S. and into Canada faster than you can say “nematode.”

This project, the Beech Leaf Disease page at Holden Forests & Gardens, is one I'm particularly proud of.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 16

If you live in the U.S. west (or south, for that matter) of Ohio, you may not have heard of beech leaf disease. You’re more likely to have heard of — or lost trees to — Dutch elm disease, or emerald ash borer, or if you’re collecting social security, chestnut blight. 🧵

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 8

She’s quirky. She’s chaotic. She’s unfiltered. She’s taking you on an adventure. She’s changing your life. Is she a manic pixie dream girl? Yes. She is also Anne of Green Gables.

Discuss.

thefunkyard.substack.com/p/anne-of-gr...

🌻Anne of Green Gables was the first, and best, Manic Pixie Dream Girl

I'm sorry in advance for this post

thefunkyard.substack.com

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

Ultimately, the whole situation is terribly inspiring, and a perfect example of people coming together over shared values to accomplish something that benefits everyone.

Read the full story here: www.naturalareas.org/docs/Collabo...

Screenshot of the story featured at the link in the post.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

Everyone talked highly of the strong spirit of volunteerism among Kansans. As strongly as some folks don’t want to be told what to do, they feel equally compelled to do what is right — for their land, for their families, and for future generations.

One of those sunset photos that seemed absolutely irresistible to take at the time, but turned out slightly blurry and shows off way too much of the grime on the car window. But trust me, this sunset over the Flint Hills was amazing.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

Realizing that conservation and economic gains are not mutually exclusive has been huge, as has knowing when and how landowners might go about building trustworthy relationships with agencies who can help — an extra challenge in a community wary of “government” “help.”

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

Today, the Flint Hills have some of the best examples of lands that are serving people *and* nature — cattle *and* prairie chickens.

“If it’s good for the bird, it’s good for the herd,” was one rancher’s mantra.

(pictured: not a cow)

A bison at Konza Prairie in the Flint Hills.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

At the Natural Areas Association conference last fall, NAA convened a panel of those responsible — private ranchers as well as representatives from federal and state agencies and NGOs — to talk about their challenges and how they’ve overcome them.

Anna Funk🌻 @itsdrfunk.bsky.social · Jul 4

But what might sound like a recipe for some seriously conflicting interests is actually one of the best American conservation success stories I’ve ever heard.