Focus: Hidden - South Dakota

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When it comes to potential for wind energy, the Midwest has it. However, to harness that power communities will have to come to terms with a landscape dotted with wind towers. That’s a reality people are willing to accept, according assistant professor of sociology and rural studies Jeffrey Jacquet. He and graduate student Josh Fergen have done research in South Dakota and Minnesota to gauge attitudes about wind farms and their impact on the community and the environment.

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Catching the fall foliage at its peak in the United States just became a little easier, thanks to the work of senior scientist Xiaoyang Zhang in the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence at South Dakota State University. He and research scientist Yunyue “Bob” Yu of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed a method to monitor and predict changes in leaf coloration using satellite imagery. Maps are available at http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/news2014_201410_FallFoliage.php.