Dr. Adam Janke
Adam Janke is the statewide Wildlife Extension Specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Adam is a trained wildlife biologist, having received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in wildlife conservation and ecology from three land-grant schools in the Midwest. He is also certified as an Associate Wildlife Biologist through The Wildlife Society and is active in regional and national efforts for wildlife conservation and education. Adam conducts research and education on finding opportunities for strengthening wildlife habitat conservation in working landscapes in Iowa and throughout the Midwest. He also coordinates and leads the Iowa Master Conservationist Program that partners with county extension offices and other regional educators to train local conservation leaders and champions throughout Iowa.
Everyone has learned a lot about the spread and control of infectious diseases in 2020. Although the important task at hand is to apply that knowledge in helping our neighbors and family avoid a Covid-19 infection, we would be wise to apply many of these lessons to help white-tailed deer fight a disease of their own.
Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, is a neurological disease affecting members of the deer family. The prion-based CWD that infects the central nervous system is a different type of disease from the virulent respiratory one we have become familiar with in 2020. But CWD and Covid-19 share many characteristics, including how they can be spread asymptomatically and the potential for high infection rates in the absence of intervention.
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa 4-H is partnering with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Agriculture and Natural Resources to bring a new youth program to the state.
New extension publication highlights the importance of forests for birds
August 26, 2020, 11:58 am | Adam Janke
AMES, Iowa – Forests provide critical habitat for Iowa’s wildlife, and that is especially true for birds.
Arguably, the most important innovation in agriculture technology for conservation and farmers in the last 30 years has been the growth and use of spatial data made possible by the Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Many different types of agricultural data can be captured with pinpoint accu
In my world, “diversity” often comes with a prefix. I remember learning the word early in my college days, having come to the wildlife ecology discipline not as a woke environmentalist but rather because of an obsession with ducks from a childhood spent hunting them.
No matter where you’re sheltered-in-place, nature is everywhere. A front row seat to the dramas of nature can pass the time in any season, but springtime is unrivaled.
Iowa’s Master Conservationist Program is working to “plant the seeds of conservation” through their recently redesigned educational curriculum on natural resource stewardship for adults learners.
This fall, over 100,000 Iowans will take refuge in the fields and forests of our state to participate in an annual ritual: deer season.
Over 80% of Iowa’s landscape was once tallgrass prairie – an ecosystem comprising over 300 species of flowering plants maintained through regular fires and grazing by herds of elk and bison.
In keeping with a theme from my last blog titled “What the heck is habitat”, this month I explore another critical question within the language of conservation. What’s a wetland?
Wild turkey. Ring-necked pheasant. Trumpeter swan. Turkey vulture. Northern bobwhite. These are the remarkable birds of Iowa’s rural landscapes. They’re large, conspicuous, and broadly recognized.
As I write this, in the waning days of February, many of the wildlife that grace Iowa’s cities and farms during the spring and summer, are far away.
I have seen a wide gamut of responses to the question posed in the title of this post. While preparing for my Ph.D. candidacy exams, I was asked a version of this question as it related to ducks and agonized over the response for months (you’ll see elements of my answer below).
Taking Iowa State University resources and personalizing them for a specific area of the state can be a challenge. Researchers in Ames have knowledge and experience dealing with big-picture issues, while local conservationists are plugged into opportunities and challenges in their home area.
For many of us, conservation is our way of life. Finding ways to connect with and improve the land, the soil, the water, and wildlife consumes our thoughts and free time.
Liberty is at the heart of the American experiment: that fundamental concept that says the will of the majority should not supersede the rights of individuals. Emerging from this pillar however is a fundamental question: to what extent can one actor infringe on the rights of another?
White-tailed deer are as synonymous with the ‘acreage living’ experience as fences and ragweed. We find them everywhere in Iowa, thriving in urban forests and remote sections of cropland with little more than a ditch for cover.
In February of 2018, wildlife biologists and veterinarians investigated the suspicious death of 32 trumpeter swans in a Clinton County wetland.
The 57 species of wild mammals routinely found in Iowa is the focus of a new Iowa State University Extension and Outreach publication titled “Mammals of Iowa” (WL 0006).
Perhaps the greatest reward for living in a place with four well-defined seasons is the marked return of spring. It’s now that the long, motionless days of winter are, seemingly overnight, replaced with the sights and sounds of species whose likeness we haven’t seen for months.
Despite what can feel like Arctic weather sweeping into Iowa during the winter, the state still finds itself a long way from the Arctic tundra. So it would be surprising to find Arctic tundra wildlife soaring over Iowa’s picked corn fields or perching on the state’s telephone poles.
One my favorite quotes from Iowa native and conservation icon Aldo Leopold goes like this: “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” I think about that quote often this time of year because every fall, after the grand finale of summer
It’s easy to forget they’re mammals just like us. They give live birth, they nurse their young, they feed and sleep and do otherwise mundane things to stay alive and stay healthy.
Conservation is ensuring the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This idea is credited to American forester Gifford Pinchot, but many have arrived at the same conclusion.
The title to this article is the answer to a question I get often.
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