FNR Shares Most Read Stories of 2025

As a new year begins, Forestry and Natural Resources is taking a look back at our most-read stories and most popular videos from 2025. Check back next week to catch up on the videos. 

Our 10 most popular stories in terms of views in 2025 actually came from previous years with the exception of one story. Eight of our most read stories came from the Intro to Trees of Indiana series, which helps with tree identification and uses of native and non-native trees found in the state. Links to all posts related to the Intro to Trees series are available online on the Fifty Common Trees of Indiana page. 

1. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Flowering Dogwood
2. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Osage Orange 
3. Managing Conservation Series Provides Science-Based Recommendations for Landowners, Managers - The Managing Conservation Plantings series provides landowners and managers with science-based recommendations to combat many of the common issues that arise in native warm-season grass and wildflower conservation plantings. From battling problematic plants like sericea lespedeza to reducing dense native grass, each publication focuses on a specific challenge and aims to provide practical guidance and best practices to improve native plantings for wildlife.
4. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Tulip Tree
5. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Red Cedar
6. Intro to Trees of Indiana: American Basswood
7. Intro to Trees of Indiana: American Elm
8. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Northern Red Oak
9. Intro to Trees of Indiana: Redbud
10. Researchers Study Deer-Vehicle Collision Reduction Method - It is in the vested interest of both humans and wildlife to reduce potential traffic collisions. Researchers in the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources looked at one possible option to do so in a five-year study involving the development and use of deer-reduction zones, areas where targeted recreational hunting was utilized to reduce animal-vehicle collisions.

2025 Top News Stories From the FNR Website

While some archival stories from prior to 2025 remain popular, here’s a look at the top 10 stories published in 2025 on the FNR website as well as 10 bonus stories about FNR personnel and research from other sources.

1. Managing Conservation Series Provides Science-Based Recommendations for Landowners, Managers
2. FNR Remembers Professor Emeritus Walt Beineke - Walt Beineke, a 1960 forestry alumnus and a faculty member for more than 30 years, passed away on Jan. 13. Beineke came to Purdue in 1956 and earned his bachelor’s degree, before going on to receive his master’s degree in silviculture from Duke University and a PhD in forest genetics from North Carolina State University. In 1964, Beineke returned to West Lafayette and joined the faculty in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, specializing in forest genetics. He received many awards including outstanding teacher (7 times; 1972, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1997, 1998) and outstanding advisor (twice; 1990, 1997) in Purdue FNR. Beineke taught dendrology, applied forest tree improvement, and world forestry and society. He retired in 1998 and was named professor emeritus.
3. Joe Robb Earns Chase S. Osborn Award for Wildlife Conservation - The Chase S. Osborn Award in Wildlife Conservation is presented by Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources to an individual who, by writing, research, teaching or other personal accomplishments has made distinctive contributions to wildlife conservation in the state of Indiana. Dr. Joe Robb, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from Purdue in 1982, is the 2024 recipient. Robb has spent the last 26 years serving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Big Oaks and Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuges.
4. Researchers Study Competitive Behaviors Between Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures - Aristotle Onassis once said I have no friends and no enemies – only competitors. A well-known proverb also says that birds of a feather flock together. So, which is it? Just how true are those statements in the natural world where competition determines who gets to eat, and possibly even survive? Researchers answer those questions in a new article “Competitive Behaviors Between Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures During Scavenging” in the Journal of Raptor Research, co-authored by Amanda Herbert (B.S. Wildlife 2023) as well as  Pat Zollner, Landon Jones, Marian L. Wahl and Brandon Quinby (PhD 2022) from Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources.
5. Help the Hellbender Research Program Honored with Friends of Conservation Award - The Help the Hellbender research program, based in Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources, was honored with the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD)’s Friends of Conservation Award at the organization's annual meeting in Salt Lake City on Feb. 11.
6. New Faculty, Staff Members Join FNR - The Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources has added a number of new faces to its faculty and staff ranks since August 2024. Five new faculty members and 13 staff members have joined FNR in a variety of roles.
7. FNR Celebrates Awards, Scholarship Recipients at Annual Ceremony - Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources recognized the department’s student award and scholarship recipients at a ceremony on April 15, 2025. A full photo gallery of all of the scholarship and award winners is available on the FNR Facebook page. 
8. Meet Outstanding Transfer Student Emma Johnson - Emma Johnson transferred to Purdue after earning her associate’s degree and graduating with honors from Ivy Tech Community College. Since then, she has made Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources her home through student organization involvement and undergraduate research. For her efforts, Emma has been selected as FNR’s Outstanding Transfer Student for 2024-25. She also has been named as the Purdue College of Agriculture’s Outstanding Transfer Student.
9. FNR Alumni Assist During Wildfire Season - Wildfire season can extend from five to more than seven months in length, occurring mostly in the summer and fall in the Western United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each year hundreds of individuals from across the nation assist with fighting wildfires, including many from the Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources alumni ranks.
10. Moran Receives Fishery Science Scholarship for Great Lakes Research - Graduate student Max Moran, a master’s degree student in the labs of Drs. Tomas Höökand Peter Euclide, received the Norman S. Baldwin Fishery Science Scholarship at the International Association for Great Lakes Research conference in early June.

Top 10 FNR-Related Stories From Other Sources

Stories about FNR personnel and research and featuring the expertise of FNR faculty and staff were written by several other entities across the university and country. Here are the top stories written outside the department:

1. New i-Forester Application Puts Tree Knowledge in the Public’s Pockets - What if, before you start working with the forester, you could gain preliminary information about your trees’ value and other features with your phone?
2. College of Agriculture Introduces 14 New Faculty Members – FNR’s Rubab Saher, Carolyn Burt, Clement Bataille and Kyle Horton are among the new Purdue College of Agriculture faculty members featured in this article.
3. College of Agriculture Welcomes Seven New Faculty Members for Spring 2025 – Dr. Insu Jo is among the faculty featured in this article from January of 2025.
4. 3D Tree Reconstruction Algorithm Contributes to a New Era of Urban Planning - Trees compete for space as they grow. A tree with branches close to a wall will develop differently from one growing on open ground. Now everyone from urban planners and environmental scientists to homeowners may access a new algorithm for tree reconstruction developed at Purdue University to see how the trees will shade an area or learn what a tree will look like in 20 years. 
5. Working Together to Mitigate Forever: Managing Persistent PFAS in Our Environment - Purdue University’s Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) has designated a strategic research team (SRT) for PFAS. And the recent launch of the university’s One Health strategic initiative focuses on solving just this type of complex challenge at the intersection of human, animal and plant health.
6. Purdue Agriculture Announces New Department Leaders - Bernie Engel, Purdue University’s Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, has appointed new leaders for the departments of Agricultural Economics and Forestry and Natural Resources. Dr. Tomas Höök transitioned from Director of Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant to the FNR department head role.
7. Purdue’s Institute for a Sustainable Future Publishes First Look at ‘Forever Chemicals’ Statewide - Purdue University’s Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) has released the first Indiana Statewide PFAS Assessment report summarizing the uses of, exposures to and sources of contamination from PFAS across the state. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are commonly known as “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment. 
8. Unexpected Plants and Animals of Indiana: The Nine-Banded Armadillo - An armored mammal, once limited to the swamps and forests of the Deep South, is now burrowing its way through the backyards and woodlands of Indiana. The nine-banded armadillo—a 10 to 15 pound mammal often associated with Texas or Louisiana—has become an increasingly common sight in the Hoosier state.
9. Kyle Horton Lands at Purdue to Advance Bird Migration Research - Purdue University’s College of Agriculture is proud to welcome Kyle Horton, a nationally recognized expert in ornithology and aeroecology, as an associate professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
10. New Research Determines Soil-Dwelling Fungi Affect Global Tree Species – A team co-led by a FNR's Jingjing Liang has found that groups of fungi influence global tree species in distinct ways, depending on latitude and aridity. The team’s data underscores the importance of mutually beneficial, belowground interactions between mycorrhizal fungi and trees.