Tag Archives: invasive species

June 1, 2012 · 7:46 pm

Record Sightings of Invasives and Attend the Next Invasive Species Eradication Workshop

Reported locations of the Giant Reed (Arundo donax) around Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas.

You too can join the fight against invasive species by attending the next Invasive Species Eradication workshop. This workshop helps you become a more active citizen scientist by teaching you about invasive species and how to report them.

I recorded my first invasive species, my nemesis the Giant Reed (Arundo donax), early last year with my GPS, pencil and paper, and digital camera, and I reported my information on the Texas Invasives website for other scientists to understand how invasive species were spreading.

Many other citizen scientists across Texas have reported their invasive sightings too. For example, View a map of the reported Giant Reed locations in Texas.

We won’t always need pencil and paper. The May 2012 iWire newsletter talks about a new Invaders of Texas mobile app to report invasive species. The Invaders of Texas program received an empowerment grant from the Motorola Foundation to develop a mobile application for Android devices.

Attend the next invasive species workshop in Austin

These invasive species workshops are held around the state throughout the year, and the next workshop in Austin will be on Saturday, June 16th, at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

I look forward to attending this upcoming workshop to learn about the latest techniques for identifying and reporting invasives and meeting other citizen scientists. I want to learn more about how to use an iPhone to easily report invasives when I see them. The workshop will also cover the new Eradication Calculator, which will help to organize and coordinate removal efforts.

Learn more about this invasive species workshop and others around Texas at Texas Invasives workshops or contact Ms. Jessica Strickland, the Wildflower Center’s invasive species manager.

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Android, Eradication Calculator, Giant Reed, Invaders of Texas, Invaders of Texas Citizen Science Program, Invasive Species, iPhone, Jessica Strickland, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Motorola Foundation

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May 28, 2012 · 6:35 pm

Invasive Hunter Academy joins Nature Nights at the Wildflower Center to Teach Kids about Invasive Species

Since I was very young, I’ve always enjoyed Nature Nights at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.

Nature Nights are a great way for families, especially younger kids, to learn about wildlife, plants, and the ecology and ecosystem of Central Texas. On the following Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. this summer, you can listen to presentations, go on hikes, and take part in nature activities and crafts.

2012 Summer Nature Nights Schedule

  • June 21: Butterflies
  • June 28: Hummingbirds
  • July 5: Power of Plants
  • July 12: Birds of Prey
  • July 19: Bats
  • July 26: Snakes

Admission to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is free during Nature Nights. It’s a ton of fun for kids and adults too, and kids under 12 can also get a cool free gift from the center’s store.

Become an Invasive Hunter

I’m bringing the Invasive Hunter Academy to Nature Nights on Thursday, July 5, during the Power of Plants event.

I created the Invasive Hunter Academy as part of Kids’ Day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. earlier this year.

As part of the academy, I’ll teach you how to spot invasive plants, how to defeat your enemies with your invasive hunter moves, and how to create an action scene to capture your battle with invasives.

Learn more about the Invasive Hunter Academy:

Thank you Ms. Alice Nance, Wildflower Center Education Manager, for inviting me to be part of your wonderful Nature Nights event!

I hope to see you during Nature Nights, and be sure to join me on July 5th to learn how to become an Invasive Hunter!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Ms. Alice Nance, National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Nature Nights

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May 6, 2012 · 8:11 pm

Commander Ben Joins Earth Week Activities at St. Edward’s University


At last year’s Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Mitch Robinson, Education and Land Management Coordinator for Wild Basin Preserve.

He talked with me about how Wild Basin Preserve fends off invasive species, and I was very impressed by his passion for protecting the preserve’s native ecosystem.

We’ve kept in touch since then, and he was so nice to invite me to be part of the Earth Week activities at St. Edward’s University, which were also broadcast on Google+ Hangouts. He was giving a presentation about invasive species on April 19, and he asked me to join him to talk about my experiences battling invasives and teaching others about them.

On the guard against invasives

Mr. Robinson started the event by giving an excellent presentation about invasives including several examples and how they affect our environment. I was especially intrigued by the Giant African Land Snail. Why? Because it’s giant and eats houses!

Actually, it eats the stucco off houses, but that’s close enough. They can grow up to 8 inches, and eat other snails and over 500 species of plants. They were brought into Florida as pets, but were released in the late 1960s, and Florida State University had to spend millions of dollars to battle them back.

It’s a menace to Western Civilization!

Native Plant Avengers movie trailer shown at St. Edwards

Afterwards, Mr. Robertson introduced me by first playing my latest video, Native Plant Avengers. When I saw my video played on a big screen in front of an audience, I had a great feeling of happiness because that’s why I make the videos–to help educate people about invasives and for my audience to have fun at the same time.


After my video, I talked about how I got started learning about invasives and teaching others. I also took questions from the audience and talked about my Invasive Hunter Academy as part of Kid’s Day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week at the US Botanic Garden.

Thank you so much Mr. Robinson and St. Edwards for inviting me to be part of your Earth Day events! It was a lot of fun! Down with invasives!


Your friend,
Ben

Update: Invasive Hunter Academy Returns to St. Edward’s University for Earth Day 2013

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Filed under 2011 Texas Invasive Plant Conference, Earth Day, Environmental, Giant African Land Snail, Googe+ Hangouts, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Species, Mitch Robinson, National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Native Plant Avengers, St Edward's University, U.S. Botanic Garden, Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

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May 5, 2012 · 7:08 pm

Behind the Scenes of the Native Plant Avengers Movie Trailer

The Avenger’s movie opened this weekend, and it was great! I saw it in IMAX 3D and can’t wait to see it again!

I’ve been looking forward to this movie for many months. I like action movies, and this movie had plenty of action, as do my Battles with Invasive Species video series.

After I watched their second movie trailer earlier this year, I thought, why don’t I bring together a group of native plants to fight the battles that we never could against invasives. And thus was born the Native Plant Avengers.

Here’s my movie cast and how they relate to Marvel’s Avengers movie trailer:

  • Texas bluebonnet as Captain America. Both Texas’ state flower and our great American hero wear blue.
  • Bitterweed as the Hulk. The Hulk was a challenge to me. He’s green, but I couldn’t find native plants in my area that have green flowers. I picked Bitterweed because I thought the plant name suited the Hulk so well.
  • Indian Paintbrush as Thor. Both this colorful plant and this Norse god don themselves in red.
  • Bastard Cabbage as Loki (and the alien army invading Texas roadsides and fields). I picked this invasive plant because it was causing a lot of problems with native Texas wildflowers this spring. Bastard Cabbage also has yellow flowers like Loki’s headgear.

Originally, I wanted to include a native plant for Iron Man, but I was already using a red flowering plant for Thor, and I wanted to adapt some of Iron Man’s (and Nick Fury’s) lines from their trailer.

If you haven’t seen my Native Plant Avengers video yet, I hope you enjoy it. And if you’re a Star Wars fan too, don’t miss my In an Ecesis Far, Far Away… video.

Your friend,
Commander Ben

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Filed under Avengers, Bastard Cabbage, Battles with Invasive Species, Bitterweed, Indian Paintbrush, Texas Bluebonnets, Texas Invasives, Texas Wildflowers

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April 16, 2012 · 9:02 pm

Native Plant Avengers – Ecosystem’s Mightiest Heroes

Although hopelessly outnumbered by the invasive species Bastard Cabbage, Texas wildflowers assemble their combined strength to battle against the choking monoculture invading their ecosystem.

The loyal heroics of Texas Bluebonnet, the hulking presence of Bitterweed, and the lighting power of Indian Paintbrush bring their native plant diversity together in a desperate fight against their invasive foe.

Learn more about the vile invader Bastard Cabbage with these recent blog posts:

Your friend,
Commander Ben

P.S. Looking for more Avengers action? Don’t miss Marvel’s Avengers movie coming out in May!

Update: Learn more about the Texas wildflowers cast in Behind the Scenes of the Native Plant Avengers Movie Trailer

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Filed under Avengers, Bastard Cabbage, Battles with Invasive Species, Bitterweed, Indian Paintbrush, Monoculture, Texas Bluebonnets, Texas Invasives, Texas Wildflowers

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