Anna Funk🌻
@itsdrfunk.bsky.social
Science communicator | Strategic leadership for conservation orgs | Ph.D. prairie ecology | Kansas City, MO | Founder, Ampliflora | bio.link/itsdrfunk
“We say a lot that it feels like Lord of the Rings. Just these giant trees you can’t wrap your arms around,” Sarah Carrino-Kyker, who does a lot of work there, told me. So jealous!!
(Image: Thranduil’s Halls by John Howe)
(Image: Thranduil’s Halls by John Howe)
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“We say a lot that it feels like Lord of the Rings. Just these giant trees you can’t wrap your arms around,” Sarah Carrino-Kyker, who does a lot of work there, told me. So jealous!!
(Image: Thranduil’s Halls by John Howe)
(Image: Thranduil’s Halls by John Howe)
Besides being important to research, old growth forests are also just awesome to see.
(Bonus photo: Me in a cool forest that is not an old growth forest, as usual.)
(Bonus photo: Me in a cool forest that is not an old growth forest, as usual.)
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Besides being important to research, old growth forests are also just awesome to see.
(Bonus photo: Me in a cool forest that is not an old growth forest, as usual.)
(Bonus photo: Me in a cool forest that is not an old growth forest, as usual.)
There are two of them at the Holden Arboretum (in Ohio) — Stebbins Gulch and Bole Woods — and the science team at Holden has the great privilege of having them on-hand for their research.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
There are two of them at the Holden Arboretum (in Ohio) — Stebbins Gulch and Bole Woods — and the science team at Holden has the great privilege of having them on-hand for their research.
In the fall issue of Forests & Gardens magazine, I wrote about why old forests like this matter.
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
In the fall issue of Forests & Gardens magazine, I wrote about why old forests like this matter.
If you want to impress a small child, I highly recommend a headstand.
November 12, 2025 at 8:48 PM
If you want to impress a small child, I highly recommend a headstand.
A couple years ago, my colleague Rebecah Troutman found an aphid munching on garlic mustard that turned out to be the first documented sighting of the insect *ever* in the U.S. (I admit I'm a little jealous, that's so cool!!)
October 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
A couple years ago, my colleague Rebecah Troutman found an aphid munching on garlic mustard that turned out to be the first documented sighting of the insect *ever* in the U.S. (I admit I'm a little jealous, that's so cool!!)
And this fall, I encourage you to #LeaveTheLeaves! But, like, not on your grass. (Unless you're trying to #KillYourLawn but that's a project for another day.) Thanks!
October 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
And this fall, I encourage you to #LeaveTheLeaves! But, like, not on your grass. (Unless you're trying to #KillYourLawn but that's a project for another day.) Thanks!
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)
📷: Conservation staff control nonnative shrubs in Working Woods. (Credit: Jessica Miller Mecaskey/HF&G)
October 6, 2025 at 8:24 PM
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)
📷: Conservation staff control nonnative shrubs in Working Woods. (Credit: Jessica Miller Mecaskey/HF&G)
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)
📷: Interns and HF&G staff survey plants in the Working Woods. (Credit: Emily Hilpman/HF&G)
October 6, 2025 at 8:24 PM
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)
📷: Interns and HF&G staff survey plants in the Working Woods. (Credit: Emily Hilpman/HF&G)
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)
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)
October 6, 2025 at 8:24 PM
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)
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)
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
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.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
It’s just a webpage, a collection of information, including links to stories and scientific research, treatment recommendations, and FAQ.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
It’s just a webpage, a collection of information, including links to stories and scientific research, treatment recommendations, and FAQ.
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.
This project, the Beech Leaf Disease page at Holden Forests & Gardens, is one I'm particularly proud of.
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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.
This project, the Beech Leaf Disease page at Holden Forests & Gardens, is one I'm particularly proud of.
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. 🧵
July 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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. 🧵
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...
Read the full story here: www.naturalareas.org/docs/Collabo...
July 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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...
Read the full story here: www.naturalareas.org/docs/Collabo...
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.
July 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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.
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)
“If it’s good for the bird, it’s good for the herd,” was one rancher’s mantra.
(pictured: not a cow)
July 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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)
“If it’s good for the bird, it’s good for the herd,” was one rancher’s mantra.
(pictured: not a cow)
Here's a story for you about Americans doing GOOD things together #FourthOfJuly #TimelineCleanse
The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to some of the biggest and best prairie lands that still exist in the US. They’re also almost entirely privately owned by cattle ranchers.
The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to some of the biggest and best prairie lands that still exist in the US. They’re also almost entirely privately owned by cattle ranchers.
July 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Here's a story for you about Americans doing GOOD things together #FourthOfJuly #TimelineCleanse
The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to some of the biggest and best prairie lands that still exist in the US. They’re also almost entirely privately owned by cattle ranchers.
The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to some of the biggest and best prairie lands that still exist in the US. They’re also almost entirely privately owned by cattle ranchers.
Another day, another magazine for you!
One of my favorite publications to write for is the Marquette University Alumni Magazine.
(Pictured: Photos of the cover and inside pages of the magazine)
One of my favorite publications to write for is the Marquette University Alumni Magazine.
(Pictured: Photos of the cover and inside pages of the magazine)
June 24, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Another day, another magazine for you!
One of my favorite publications to write for is the Marquette University Alumni Magazine.
(Pictured: Photos of the cover and inside pages of the magazine)
One of my favorite publications to write for is the Marquette University Alumni Magazine.
(Pictured: Photos of the cover and inside pages of the magazine)
I got to write about some amazing work from Dr. Chelsea Miller (U of Akron) and @holdenrestoration.bsky.social, who led a multi-botanic-garden project on spring ephemerals [pictured for your viewing pleasure]. Volunteer #communityscientists tracked when wildflowers leaf out, bloom, and fruit.
June 10, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I got to write about some amazing work from Dr. Chelsea Miller (U of Akron) and @holdenrestoration.bsky.social, who led a multi-botanic-garden project on spring ephemerals [pictured for your viewing pleasure]. Volunteer #communityscientists tracked when wildflowers leaf out, bloom, and fruit.