If you have been enjoying all the North Country outdoors have to offer the last few weeks, you have probably noticed trees bursting out in their beautiful red, yellow, and orange fall colors. The change in the color of leaves is caused by the breakdown of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for photosynthesis, as the tree gets ready for winter. As…

Our fairy friends Thimble Hickory and Blossom Dewdrop wrote back and answered your questions about North Country nature and the lives of fairies. While they're settled into the warmth of the tropics for winter, they're already excited to return to the North Country next spring and they wanted us to say thank you for all your great questions!  1. Olivia, 21, Are magaritifera known to occur in…

Hello fellow adventurers! The North Country and the Adirondack region is full of hiking opportunities and mountainous beauty. You're certain to find beautiful and unique views on shorter hikes such as Mount Arab or Azure, mid-level mountains like Ampersand and Scarface, and all the way up to the most difficult, like Iroquois or Allen. Before jumping right into these hikes, it is important to note…

We have officially reached the season many of us living in the North Country spend all year looking forward to: fall! This is the time of year that we all start to watch a variety of red, orange, and yellow leaves fly from tree branches and chevron after chevron of Canada geese flap their way south. The geese, honking from up above, call attention to themselves, piquing our interest and forcing…

We are SO excited to share that the fairies are back! As the leaves begin changing color and the air starts to cool, Thimble and Blossom will be making the long trip south for the winter. Through all of their woodland travels they’ve become great naturalists, talking with toads, playing with opossums, and singing with cicadas. Now, they’re here to answer any questions you may have! …

Describing happiness attracts animals:  Apparently, we can have a whale of a time, be as pleased as a pig in a peach orchard, or feel as happy as a pup with two tails, a monkey with a peanut machine, and a clam at high tide. Given all this, it’s natural to wonder if non-human animals can feel happy. Many biologists caution against ascribing human-like emotions to animals. This is a hilarious…

Our names are Cole Weigartz and Kayla Edmunds, and we are undergraduate students enrolled in the Conservation Biology class at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. We are working under the direction of Dr. Erika Barthelmess, a faculty member at St. Lawrence University. We are conducting research for a case study on the trade-off between green energy infrastructure and wildlife conservation in…

Our names are Aliya Brown, Ryan Heuss and Kendrew Van Gorder, and we are undergraduate students at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. We are working under the direction of Dr. Erika Barthelmess, a faculty member at St. Lawrence University. We are conducting research as part of a case study project for our Conservation Biology class. Our case study is focused on the A2A trail, a proposed…

Elyssa Twedt is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department where she teaches Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Sensation and Perception, and a seminar on Cognitive Science. She has spent the majority of her life in the south including Florida, Tennessee, and most recently, Virginia, so moving to the North Country in 2015 was a big change. Elyssa gave us some insight…

One of my favorite snowy day activities is building snow sculptures, whether that be the classic snow family or something a bit more outside of the box. And with all this fresh snow from our most recent winter storm, now is the perfect time! Matthew Morris, of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, has taken the snow sculpting game up a notch. See his most recent sculpture, a rendition of the Tower of Pisa,…