Lakeside Weekly – July 28th, 2025

Lakeside

Weekly

TONIGHT –

Monday, July 28th at 7 PM in Mahan Hall

Whose Poop is in the Water?

Hear from Dr. Claire Hruby about her research on source tracking of fecal matter in our waterways & the water quality of the Little Sioux River.

This summer, we’re proud to partner with the Iowa Cancer Consortium to promote sun safety and skin cancer awareness! Through their Sun-Safety Community Project, we were able to receive 3 GALLONS of sunscreen for community use!

Sunscreen is available at the entrance to Waitt Lab, the Dining Hall, & in our Environmental Education Classroom!

“Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. Many types of skin cancer cannot spread (metastasize) to other organs, but some types of skin cancer are deadly. The deadliest form of skin cancer is called melanoma. Iowa has the 5th highest incidence rate of melanoma in the country, and our rates are growing faster than other states” (Iowa Cancer Registry, 2024)

• Visit the Consortium website for more information & resources on Cancer in Iowa: Iowa Cancer Consortium

• Learn more about melanoma & how to protect yourself from the sun’s rays: Sunblock Uncovered

This program is made possible by the Iowa Cancer Consortium, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and the Melanoma Program at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.

TUESDAY NIGHT LECTURE

Please note the schedule changes, tomorrow (7/29) we’ll be hearing from Laura Hubbard from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) about her research on the transport of Avian Influenza in aquatic environments.

To learn more, check out the project on the USGS Environmental Health website

Wings of Change:

The Environment’s Influence on Bird Flu

with Laura Hubbard of the USGS

WILD WEDNESDAY

X Marks the Spot!

5 PM

Mahan Hall

UPCOMING Little Sioux River Events

• Whose Poop is in the Water? with Dr. Claire Hruby (Drake)
• Monday, July 28^th at 7 PM at Iowa Lakeside Lab in Mahan Hall

• Kirchner Cabin Archaeology with Dr. Mark Anderson (Sanford Museum)
• Monday, July 28^th at 6:30 PM at Sanford Museum

• Paddling the Little Sioux River with Dan Cohen (former Director of Buchanan Co. Conservation)
• Saturday, August 2^nd at 11 AM at Sanford Museum

• Riverside Chat with Dr. Kevin Mason (UNI) & Cody Seaboy (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate)
• Monday, August 4^th at 6:30 PM at Prairie Heritage Center

• The Dakota in Iowa with Dr. Kevin Mason (UNI)
• Tuesday, August 5^th at 6:30 PM at Prairie Heritage Center

Field Notes

Arrival at Lakeside

by MF Charles (2025 Writer-in-Residence)

Erasures in the robin’s egg skys

ragged voids where the sun’s bright

could not pass, cast grey spotlights

sweeping along

on all below

slow raindrops nail the sky to the tin roof

dripping over the eaves

onto the porch of long rough boards

oily wetness collecting in the crevasses

at my door

an empty eye of a knot-hole marks

nonjudgmentally

my comings and goings

The sun pokes through from the west

eager and sharp

around the corner of the Brown Motel

onto the greensward

two youngling maples like a henge

lead shadows pointing

into the west.

The Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat

SPECIAL RATE FOR FRIENDS OF LAKESIDE!

The event will take place from September 28th to October 1st, 2025, at the historic Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on the shores of West Lake Okoboji, offering writers and songwriters a unique blend of education, creativity, and community.

Check out the 2025 Speaker List!

To register & receive the reduced rate, visit:

Friends of Lakeside Registration

For more information, visit www.okobojiwritersretreat.com.

Scholarships are also available to assist writers from all backgrounds.

COFFEE & GROUNDS

Join our facilities manager, Matt Fairchild, on Tuesdays at 8:30 AM at the Waitt Lab to help manage our 147 acres of land! Work hard, make friends, & learn about native ecosystems while helping to restore Lakeside to its original prairie & oak savanna landscape. No experience required!

Coffee, snacks, & conversation to take place afterwards, around 9:30-10 AM, on the Waitt Lab deck.

Questions? More information? Call Matt at 712-260-1474

CLAMP

Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project

Summer is almost here and CLAMP will be starting to sample in June!

Since 1999 this citizen science program has relied on the help of volunteers like YOU to collect samples for testing at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory’s water quality lab. This information is used to monitor the health of all the different lakes in the area & to inform decision makers like those at the Department of Natural Resources.

Boat not needed to join!

Contact megan-vigdal@uiowa.edu or ashley-scheve@uiowa.edu for more information!

Doing some spring cleaning?

We’re always accepting donations of:

• Gently used furniture
• Appliances
• Cold weather children’s clothing
• Recreation equipment

Text or call 712-759-4227 to arrange a donation!

LAKESIDE LAB TREASURE HIKE

Looking for a fun way to spend time in nature? Try our Treasure Hike! For all ages. Follow the map around campus to put the pieces together! Maps are available beginning Memorial Day weekend and can be found by the map in the parking lot, or in Waitt Lab.

712-759-4227

friendsoflakesidelab@gmail.com

Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is located on the homelands of several Indigenous nations including the Báxoǰe (Iowa), Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), Póⁿka (Ponca), Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda, and Sahnish/Nuxbaaga/Nuweta (Three Affiliated Tribes) and acknowledges the sovereignty and traditional territories of these people, the treaties that were used to remove them, and the histories of dispossession.

Mitakuye Oyasin – We are all related.