December 11, 2020
Brian Mealor, right, director of IMAGINE and director of UW’s Sheridan Research and Extension Center, speaks with Jim Heitholt, director of UW’s Powell Research and Extension Center, during a summer field research day. (UW Photo)
Partners that span governmental boundaries and jump private-public borders hope to throw a tight noose around invasive grasses degrading Wyoming lands and halt establishment of other invasives.
A public and private funding mix would drive the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE) based in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. The effort casts a broad net to confront invasive grasses, such as cheatgrass, ventenata and medusahead, through fundamental research, community science and creating what its originators call next generation partnerships.