Stories

Learn about the relationships between people, place, and birds in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Photography | Heartfelt

Teagan reflects on the time she has spent as a camper and counselor at Camp Kitaki.

Personal Narrative | Reflective

Learn about how a nursery in Nebraska is growing tree seedlings for forest restoration projects in the Rocky Mountains.

Photography | Artistic

Join Carlee on a multi-media story exploring the pathways that exist between wild spaces around Lincoln, Nebraska.

Exploration | Narrative

A story about the Santee Sioux Nation and their resilience after the flood of 2019.

Cultural | Emotive

A story and film about the wetlands found in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Film | Educational

Within every county of Nebraska there lies a wetland. Peel back the curtain to reveal their beauty and wonder.

Mixed Media | Beautiful

Urban Wetlands are an ecosystem often underappreciated yet they are connected to our everyday lives. Explore a story and film about the wetlands found in Nebraska’s Urban centers.

Film | Intriguing

A behind-the-scenes look into the Wetlands of Nebraska project featuring saline wetlands.
Engaging | Behind-the-Scenes

A behind-the-scenes look into the Wetlands of Nebraska project featuring riverine wetlands.
Discovery | Behind-the-Scenes

A behind-the-scenes look into the Wetlands of Nebraska project featuring playa wetlands.
Enlightening | Behind-the-Scenes

Welcome to a soundscape of water, sky, sun, and soil. This is the Platte Basin Podcast.

Audio + Written | Educational

Get to know Frank Shoemaker, a photographer and naturalist from the early 1900s.

Mixed Media | Artistic

Kara connects with Nebraska’s wildlife from Omaha to Lincoln.

Personal Narrative | Rediscovering

The night sky is more important than you think.

Mixed Media | Narrative | Educational | Impactful

Follow along as biologist Andy Caven counts Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River.

Mixed Media | Exciting

Visit one of Nebraska’s remnant tallgrass prairies – Nine-Mile Prairie through a short teaser trailer.

Short Film | Inspirational

Discover one of PBT’s most iconic timelapse locations.

Personal Narrative | Insightful

Get to know Loren Eiseley, an anthropologist and author with a deep connection to the Platte.

Biographical | Reconnection

Seeing nature through the eyes of an artist during their time spent at Cedar Point Biological Station.

Mixed Media | Vibrant

Remnants of a once vast grassland ecosystem are still a source of diversity, connection to place, and a source for research.

Short Film | Impactful

Explore publicly accessible places in the Platte Basin with Sarah.

Descriptive | Personal Narrative

Katelyn weaves together people, water, and corridors to create a new infrastructure project for Lincoln.

Engaging | Explorative

This Naturalist made a Guide to the Outside with the hope to connect urban dwellers to the nature in their own backyard.

Mixed Media | Inspirational

The use of photgraphy to dive into the little world all around us, the worlds most people pass by.

Photo | Intriguing

The great Sandhills Crane migration reconnects a man with his soul and his late grandpa.

Personal Narrative | Reconnection

Finding solace and reconnecting with nature in an abnormal place.

Personal Narrative | Heartfelt

A brief history of the Umoⁿhoⁿ people and their connection to the Lincoln area.

History | Culture

When times get hard, it doesn’t retreat; it tirelessly heals and nurtures us. We should be revering it, protecting it, and creating more of it.

Personal Narrative | Introspective

Benjamin Vogt writes about his connection to nature during the Covid-19 pandemic

Personal Narrative | Encouraging

A father dives into his connection with nature and how he has shared that place with his daughters.

Personal Narrative | Heartfelt

Dave Showalter describes his reconnection with nature through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal Narrative | Serenity

Burk Knowlton writes about his experience with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal Narrative | Heartfelt

Emily Levine writes poetry about her experience with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Poem | Somber

Dat Ha writes about his experience with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal Narrative | Reconnection

Ashley reflects on the ways photography has connected her with the outdoors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Personal Narrative | Peaceful

Elsie Stormberg writes about her experience with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal Narrative | Family

Ella Bishop-Heil writes about her connection with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal Narrative | Emotional

Personal narrative of connection with the outdoors and things that have helped forge this bond.

Personal Narrative | Peaceful

Learn what it means to truly be outside, falling into the rhythm of nature and being mindful of the world around.

Personal Narrative | Adventurous

Read how person relied on nature to keep pace and remind them of the resiliency of the world during the times on COVID-19.

Narrative | Thoughtprovoking

Wildcat Hills: unlike anywhere else in Nebraska.
Discovery | Educational

A personal exploration of Nine-Mile Prairie.
Thoughtful | Transformative

There are still wild places left in Lancaster County.
Beautiful | Engaging

Sarah Sortum recaps a day of grassland management on her families ranch.

Personal Narrative | Intriguing

Aaron Beckman shares the various aspects of his life in Nebraska.

Personal Narrative | Awe-inspiring

An interpretive, personal boots-on-the-ground observational study of the state of Nebraska and its biologically unique landscapes.

Personal Narrative | Adventurous

A natural history story about trumpeter swans in the Nebraska Sandhills.

Mixed Media | Hopeful

Relive the past and present narrative of the Bohemian Alps landscape through large format photography and written word.

Personal Narrative | Evocative

Take a look into the annual crane season in Lewellen and Garden County, Nebraska.
Thoughtful | Educational

Time and the River is a commissioned multimedia chamber music piece composed by Kurt Knecht, and image design by Platte Basin Timelapse.

Artful | Inspiring

Learn about the benefits that low intensity fire has on the landscape of western Nebraska.

Short Film | Surprising

When flooding occurs across a state, how does the landscape react, and how do the people and wildlife persevere? Learn about the devasting flood of 2019 in Nebraska.

Mixed Media | Heartbreaking

A giant aquatic virus, an unusual environment, and the journey of discovery.
Mixed Media | Surprising

Learn about current water conservation efforts in the Platte Basin environments and community.

Mixed Media | Informative

This project places musicians in the elements of nature and gives them freedom to translate whatever they are encompassed by into song.

Melodic | Poetic

An attempt to engender an elusive place not readily known – at once both heartfelt & heartbroken

Personal Narrative | Sensual
 

Dina Barta, a conservation officer, shares her life and experience in her field.

Audio + Written | Inspiring

A short lyrical video about greater sage-grouse.

Thought-Provoking | Short Film

Listen along to Homer’s story about ranching and what it means to him.

Audio + Written | Heartfelt

This project places musicians in the elements of nature and gives them freedom to translate whatever they are encompassed by into song.

Melodic | Poetic

An experience in high school with planting a prairie garden turned Evan into a lifelong steward of prairies.

Personal Narrative | Reflective

Ranchers are reintroducing fire to the Nebraska Sandhills.

Photography | Suprising

A story and film about the American dipper.

Short Film | Educational | Inspiring

Nicole Pauley reflects on her research in the Central Platte River Valley and the effect of borrow pits on the ecosystem

Data Visualization | Informative

Learn about how PBT is using timelapse photography to show changes in the weather.

Mixed Media | Thrilling

This project places musicians in the elements of nature and gives them freedom to translate whatever they are encompassed by into song.

Melodic | Poetic

Michaela reflects on her time at Platte Basin Timelapse.

Personal Narrative | Heartfelt

Listen along as Martha Shulski describes why climate science is important.

Personal | Informative

Morgan creates personal and generational connections with the Platte Basin through narrative work.

Personal Narrative | Moving

Research on grassland birds in the Central Platte River Valley.

Photography | Heartfelt

Open prairie gives rise to creativity. It has inspired many to write poetic pieces to describe their feelings. Listen as a Willa Cather poem is reborn through video and music.

Poetry | Heartfelt

Morgan speaks about her first time witnessing the Sandhill Crane Migration.

Encouraging | Personal Narrative

Learn if the eclipse had an influence on wildlife.

Research | Surprising

Grant Reiner attempts to capture scavengers in action at Marsh Wren Management Area.

Personal Narrative | Surprising

A short film about UNL Outdoor Adventure students leadership training backpacking trip.

Short Film | Adventure

Explore how a student at UNL defined a sense of place while looking through thousands of timelapse camera imagery.

Personal Narrative | Heartfelt

Saline wetlands are one of most endangered ecosystems and a small beetle is at the heart of its conservation. Yet these places are more than just one species.

Mixed Media | Informative

Urban agriculture has become an increasingly popular hobby and necessity for some individuals.

Mixed Media | Rejuvenating

The pairing of audio to time-lapse can give a more informative aspect to life in the Platte Basin.

Mixed Media | Informative

If only each of us could strive to find our place within the circle, to honor and respect each other as creatures made mostly of water, as are “all of our relations.”
Photography | Heartfelt

See how water changes over time in the Sandhills of Nebraska through the use of historical aerial imagery and GIS programs.

Mixed Media | Illuminating

The use of time-lapse camera reveals never-before-seen swan behavior.

Timelapse | Enlightening

Check out the entertaining adventures of some PBTers as they attempt to reach Grays Peak.

Video | Humorous

Our timelapse cameras captured the solar eclipse!

Timelapse | Magical

Stream flow gauges and timelapse technology tell the visual story of flow rates.
Timelapse | Creative

Learn how sandhill crane migration is impacted by climate change.

Personal Narrative | Urgent

A swath of freezing rain was coming to glaze the central United States in a sheet of ice. The storm even earned itself a name- Jupiter.
Personal Narrative | Somber

Learn to appreciate nature in a new way.

Personal Narrative | Thoughtful

A slow motion video of prairie chickens on a lek.

Personal Narrative | Insightful

Ethan talks about his first experience in a blind he made himself.

Personal Narrative | Descriptive

Sarah Sortum runs a family-operated cattle ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska while preserving the beauty of the prairie.

Hard Journalism | Thoughtful

Ted LeGrange reflects on his passion for wetlands, conservation, and the challenges of balancing development with preservation.

Audio | Inspiring

Investigate the meaning of life using science and art.

Personal Narrative | Research

Have you ever stopped and really looked at the nature that surrounds you?

Intimate | Intricate | Reflective

Conservationists in Nebraska are actively restoring prairie ecosystems that have been lost to agriculture, using diverse local seeds.

Mixed Media | Inspiring

Learn of what Nebraska was before highways and straight lines.

Historical | Traditions

The Wind River Reservation depends on snowpack as a water supply. What happens if drought hits?

Hard Journalism | Inspiring

Read about how one man uses his free time researching animals that are often overlooked

Photography | Comforting

A story about a cattle drive in the Nebraska Sandhills.

Melancholic | Appreciative

A new program for sharing Nebraska’s groundwater may help both farmers and endangered species.

Hard Journalism | Innovative

Reverend Kim Morrow follows her passion — facilitating the faith community’s response to climate change.

Hard Journalism | Heartfelt

Chad Gideon and his family bought property on the Platte River to ensure their continued access to hunting and fishing.

Hard Journalism | Heartfelt

Travel through the Rocky Mountains in the fall.

Illuminating | Reflective

Travel across several water basins in North America with Cristina!

Gratitude | Unity

Carlee describes her first field outing on the job.

Gratitude | Excitement

Navigating recreation while having fun but remaining mindful of conservation.

Hard Journalism | Conflicting

A video showing a timelapse camera being installed.

Timelapse | Informative

Unusually high water levels in the Platte River have scoured vegetation, created habitat, and demonstrated the power of nature.

Hard Journalism | Moving

Don Welsch shares how the Platte River has influenced his poetry.

Poetry | Insightful

Personal narrative about the significance of water and Dan Snow’s their personal connection to it.

Personal Narrative | Reflective

Dive into the history of two different dams with a very similar story.

Thought Provoking | Technical

Navigating distribution of water resources across three states using adaptive management.

Personal Narrative | Reflection

Learn about Renee Sans Souci’s connection to water through teachings she gained from her family’s Omaha traditions.

Personal Narrative | Inspiring

Learn about the conservation efforts for the greenback cutthroat trout in the Colorado River Basin.

Mixed Media | Encouraging

Sierra recounts her eventful summer with the sandhill cranes.

Personal Narrative | Adventurous

Emma Brinley Buckley writes about what it takes to manage our water resources in the Platte Basin.

Invaluable | Educational

Early morning light in Colorado reveals the subtle beauty of a place and its interconnect history.

Personal Narrative | Descriptive

See how much rain levels can effect the city of Lincoln, NE.

Thought Provoking | Unexpected

Learn about an excursion along the Platte River in the late 1800s.

Personal Narrative | Artistic

Learn about crane viewing tourism along the Central Platte River.

Journalism | Hopeful

A first hand account of bird observations in the Sandhills.

Descriptive | Personal Narrative

Learn about prairie restoration along the Central Platte River.

Journalism | Engaging

Sarah Sortum writes about prescribed burning on their ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Rewarding | Insightful

Few modern species can lay claim to older origins than the sandhill crane.

Photography | Surprising

Learn about efforts to conserve habitat for endangered Whooping Cranes along the Platte River.

Mixed Media | Hopeful

Learn about the impact that bridges have had on the Platte River.

Mixed Media | Surprising

Learn about the history of Fort Kearney.

Historical | Informative

A community works to conserve wildlife habitat along the central Platte River in Nebraska.
Mixed Media | Discovering

Learn about the history of irrigation in western Nebraska.

Historical | Intriguing

Learn about groundwater irrigation along the central Platte River.

Personal Narrative | Artistic

Discover the biodiversity of wet meadows along the Platte River.

Mixed Media | Hopeful

Learn about the ecological impact of ice jams on the Platte River.

Journalism | Intriguing

Learn about different methods of irrigation along the North Platte River.

Journalism | Surprising

Follow along with a group of researchers as they search for the elusive river otter along the Elkhorn River of Nebraska.

Photography | Hopeful

Explore the Platte River by sorting and searching flow rates recorded throughout the state.
Interactive | Data Visualization

Learn about how communities along the Platte River obtain their water.

Journalism | Enlightening

Phantom Canyon, a small preserve nestled into the land where the mountains meet the plains, in the Laramie Foothills of northern Colorado.
Insightful | Beautiful

Journey alonside Emma on her trip to Central Platte and checking the sondes.

Disheartening | Hopeful

Learn about the history of Lake McConaughy.

Historical | Impactful

Michael Farrell shows the epic beauty of the Platte Basin through an older lens.

Thought provoking | Beautiful

Mariah takes us on a walk through Wilderness Park.

Personal Narrative | Thoughtful

Harvesting sugar beets in Nebraska is everything but dry.

Video | Lively

Journey with Mike as he photographs Interior Least Terns.

Beautiful | Reflective

Follow a snowflake from the Colorado Rockies through Wyoming dams and reservoirs to fields in the Nebraska panhandle.
Informative | Thought-provoking

Learn about a partnership between industry and biologist to protect endangered birds.

Journalism | Hopeful

A reflection upon a trip through the Sandhills.

Behind the Scenes | Water

Macroinvertebrates are a diverse and important part of the Platte River supporting hundreds of wildlife.

Educational | Insightful

Explore Nine Mile Prairie through the lens of Michael Farrell.

Peaceful | Thought Provoking

Earlier this summer I drove a 1,756 mile loop up, down and around the edges of a tilted tabletop in the heart of North America. For me, this geography is home.

Personal Narrative | Reflective

Learn about the conservation efforts by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to restore native Greenback Trout to thier historic watershed.

Narrative | Thoughtprovoking

This study relates to the relationship between invasive plants and sandhill crane roosting habitat in south-central Nebraska during spring migration.

Mixed Media | Stirring

Follow Ariana on a road trip through the northern Great Plains while learning about the history of the land.

Personal Narrative | Adventurous

Why it is important to preserve our natural landscapes in a world that is constantly changing?

Mixed Media | Intriguing

Every year in late spring and early summer, Rocky Mountain snowmelt travels downstream where it intercepts a series of dams, reservoirs, and diversions.

Mixed-Media | Exploratory

Follow the PBT Team as they service our timelapse cameras in the mountains.

Personal Narrative | Adventurous

Peter Stegen shares some beautiful moments in Nebraska’s Sandhills.

Photography | Adventurous

Take a behind the scenes look into the first three years of timelapse technology and ideas.

Behind the Scenes | Inspiring

Lake Agnes is the location for PBT’s highest elevation time-lapse camera. It is also the beginning of the Platte River’s story.

Video | Inspiring

Emma talks about her experience here in Nebraska and with PBT.

Personal Narrative | Surprising

Matan Gill shares his experience and passion concerning water conservation.

Narrative | Inspiring

The PBT team explored nature’s greatest engineers’ creation up in the North Platte River of Wyoming.

Mixed Media | Dynamic

Follow along as we see the South Platte River change over time do to flooding.

Personal Narrative | Informative

A timelapse camera captures the dynamic nature of a braided river and almost falls headfirst into the water.

Mixed Media | Dynamic

Watch a short film about conservation efforts along the Central Platte River.

Film | Informative

Rushing out of Kortes Dam, fluctuating currents run through the rugged Seminoe Mountains and out into the arid Wyoming plains until the North Platte River’s waters reach Pathfinder Reservoir.

Photography | Impactful

Follow along with researchers from the University of Nebraska as they study archaelogy in the Sandhills.

Journalism | Adventurous

Along Little Salt Creek below Interstate I-80 there is a diversity of wildlife that goes unnoticed.

Photography | Surprising

A precise amount of water flowing out of Wyoming is allocated for irrigation in Nebraska. How is it monitored?

Mixed media | Urgent

See how the changing seasons through the eyes of a windmill.

Mixed Media | Stoic

Learn about the Sandhill Crane Migration and view them foraging in a wet meadow.

Photography | Vibrant

Travel to the Central Platte to see the magnificent 2013 Sandhill Crane migration.

Mixed Media | Artful