Daily Inter Lake reporter Hailey Smalley talks with host Taylor Inman about the first of her two stories in her Outdoor Lab series - snow algae at Logan Pass and a bumble bee survey in an alpine meadow.

Hailey spent time this summer with Carroll College researcher Ashley Beck, sampling snow algae at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park - the organism behind the pink red "watermelon snow" hikers spot on late-season snowfields, and a species researchers are only beginning to understand.

Hailey and Taylor also joined USGS researcher Tabitha Graves for a bumble bee survey in an alpine meadow, learning how scientists net, chill, photograph and release bees to track species that are in decline nationwide. Montana ties for second in the country for bumble bee species diversity, and Graves' work - including a Western bumble bee species of concern and a nest-parasite called the cuckoo bumble bee - is helping researchers understand what's actually out there.

You can read Hailey's full reporting on all three stories - snow algae, bumble bees and bats - in the Daily Inter Lake, in print and online. Learn more about Montana Bumble Bee Atlas at bumblebeeatlas.org and more about USGS bumble bee projects: here and here.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Outdoor Lab Series
00:56 - Meet Ashley Buck (Carroll College): Studying Snow Algae
02:06 - Choosing Which Species to Follow
03:12 - What Is Watermelon Snow?
05:55 - Ashley's Public Presentation in Glacier
08:10 - Why This Research Matters
10:26 - A Day in the Field at Logan Pass
13:29 - Meet Tabitha Graves (USGS): Studying Bumble Bees
15:22 - Catching Bumble Bees by Hand
21:52 - Montana's Bumble Bee Species Count
25:50 - What's next

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