Post by Kelsey Barnett-Fischels

I am so very excited to share my latest for Audubon Magazine, covering prairie restoration and bird research in the Black Belt of Alabama. I discovered the ghosts of the Black Belt prairie just a couple years ago and have since been hooked. On this nearly lost landscape that most don't even know about. On the characters trying to restore these prairies before it's too late. On the abundance of life this crescent-shaped ecosystem once harbored. This soil influenced so much of human history, the tightly bound coccoliths forming a barrier that upheld so many wrongs over the past 200 years. But now I find people trying to make things right. I hope this is not my last Black Belt story. For now, enjoy this bird-abundant read: https://lnkd.in/ec2RyBpN Many thanks to R. Scot Duncan, Lianne Koczur, Elise Smith, Mitchell Bell, and others for sharing their stories! And to the amazing Maddie Burakoff for her brilliant edits to shape this piece!