Mike Niziolek spent thirty years transforming his 150-acre property into a wetland, now the former AP biology teacher is creating ‘bio supermarkets’ for wildlife

Mike Niziolek, a former AP biology teacher decided that he did not want to limit his impact in the world to his classrooms and wanted to do something for the planet he loves so much. This is why he has spent the past thirty years, returning his 150-acre property Elk River, Sherburne County, Minnesota to…

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In 2026, a Florida wildlife centre brought in critically endangered red-ruffed lemurs; the project is now helping restore their disappearing Madagascar rainforest

A wildlife centre in North Florida has welcomed two red-ruffed lemurs, turning encounters with the critically endangered animals into a way to support rainforest restoration thousands of miles away in Madagascar. The North Florida Wildlife Center in Lloyd, Jefferson County, is now home to four ruffed lemurs. Two of them, newly arrived red-ruffed lemur males,…

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Nearly 4,000 New York City students planted more than 100,000 beachgrass stalks across 2.25 acres at Coney Island Creek Park to rebuild protective dunes and help protect 50,000+ people from flooding

Nearly 4,000 public school students, more than 200 teachers and hundreds of community members have worked with NWF Nearly 4,000 New York City public school students have taken part in an effort to restore protective dunes at Coney Island Creek Park in Brooklyn. Since 2022, students, teachers and community members have planted more than 100,000…

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Georgia O’Keeffe bought a small Ghost Ranch home in 1940 and spent decades painting the surrounding desert; a conservation plan is now protecting 6,000 acres from development

For the unversed, Ghost Ranch sits amid the dramatic red and yellow cliffs of the Piedra Lumbre, about 65 miles northwest of Santa Fe along U.S. 84. The region became closely associated with O’Keeffe, whose paintings transformed its cliffs, mesas, bones and expansive skies into some of the most recognizable images in American art. Long…

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A Napa art center is giving up development rights on 162 of its 217 acres; the deal protects 75% of the estate while directing up to $1.85 million back to the arts

A major conservation agreement in California’s Napa Valley is set to permanently protect much of the sprawling landscape surrounding the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, while potentially providing the institution with up to $1.85 million to support its cultural operations. Announced August 25 by the Land Trust of Napa County, the deal brings together…

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A North Florida family permanently protected 816.46 acres with a $2.665 million easement; farming can continue while the land stays undeveloped inside a 1.6-million-acre wildlife corridor

In the rolling pine forests and pasturelands of Putnam County, a North Florida family has made a decision that will change the landscape for generations to come. They have placed a permanent conservation easement on 816.46 acres of their working farm, locking in protection for a sprawling tract of forests, wetlands and agricultural fields. Valued…

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Cox Enterprises gave up development rights on nearly 4,400 South Carolina acres worth hundreds of millions; the land is now protected forever, including 40 miles of river and marsh frontage

In the low country of South Carolina, where blackwater rivers wind through cypress swamps and marshes give way to the Atlantic, a quiet but monumental act of conservation has just reshaped the landscape. Cox Enterprises, a major media and communications company, has donated development rights on nearly 4,400 acres of its Clarendon Farms property, locking…

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She bought a Maine island to stop clear-cutting; 90 years after Audubon opened its first camp there, the 330-acre sanctuary still trains conservationists

Deep in Maine’s Muscongus Bay, a 330-acre island covered in spruce trees has survived a threat of clear-cut logging and, 90 years later, continues to serve as an international training centre for environmentalists and bird researchers. Hog Island Audubon Camp, near the coastal community of Bremen, marked its 90th anniversary in late August 2026. According…

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In 1973, Montana released a gall fly to control spotted knapweed; decades later, the biocontrol program was linked to over 3 times more hantavirus-positive deer mice

A biological control project started half a century ago to destroy a stubborn invasive weed accidentally set off an ecological chain reaction that increased human exposure to a deadly virus. In 1973, wildlife officials and agricultural scientists in Montana released two species of European gall flies, Urophora affinis and Urophora quadrifasciata, to control the spread…

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Meet Rachel Chen, the 18-year-old Los Angeles student who expanded a 1997 quantum-math idea to describe entire particle systems with simple diagrams; she won $100,000

Rachel Chen, 18, won $100,000 for her innovative quantum mathematics research. (Photo: Society for Science) At just 18, Rachel Chen has taken a decades-old mathematical idea and expanded it into a visual framework for understanding complex quantum systems, earning her a $100,000 award in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search.Chen, a student at Marlborough School…

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