Home / Media / Article View

News Stories

  • October

    A group of women in red shirts pose, smiling with a grey background.

    Connecting the dots: Annual event educates girls about STEM opportunities

    The U.S. has a long history of promoting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, in public education going back to the late 19th century. While there have been major pushes for STEM in education since then, during the space race of the 1950s for example, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that STEM became part of the American vernacular. The early 2000s saw legislation boosting STEM educators, jobs and programs, alongside efforts to encourage more women and girls to pursue STEM and STEM-related occupations. According to the Society of Women Engineers, in 1980, women made up just 5% of architecture and engineering occupations, 20% of chemistry occupations, 26% of computer and mathematical occupations and 33% of biological scientists. In 2023, those numbers were 16.7%, 26.9%, 36% and 55%, respectively. While women have come a long way in STEM fields over the last few decades, there is still room for improvement.

  • September

    A man in a grey shirt walks through waist high grass with blue sky in the background.

    ‘We have the responsibility’: Missouri River fish and wildlife mitigation project a vital undertaking

    After Lewis and Clark ended their journey westward in 1806, an expedition known as the Corps of Discovery, the Missouri River would prove to be a vital link between the east and west. Flowing right through the heartland, the Missouri River is the longest river in the U.S. and is an important economic resource to the region, the nation and the world. Before the Missouri River became the navigation hub it is today, it was an untamed, wild body of water prone to flooding, known for changing paths, with a floodplain as wide as a mile in some places. By the late 19th century, the government realized the value the river could have on westward expansion and began the process of taming the river.
  • Two large rock formations stand with water to the right and grass to the left.

    A trip through geological time: Wilson Lake’s unique topography makes it a must-see destination

    Standing over 20 feet in the air, the red, striped sandstone formations tower over the surrounding landscape, casting long shadows into the water they sit next to. Where can these majestic rock formations be found? It’s not Utah or New Mexico, but Kansas. That’s right – Kansas. Known for its agriculture (cows outnumber people, after all) and its flat prairies, it might be surprising to learn there are areas of the state with large geological formations like those found in Utah, New Mexico and other areas of the American Southwest. Wilson Lake, located in central Kansas, is home to some of the most unique topography in the state.

  • August

    A man in a grey shirt and green pants touches the keypad of an orange machine with greenery in the background.

    Ranger leads the way: Kansas City District park ranger a proponent of cashless fee system

    In the U.S. Army, they say “Rangers lead the way.” In the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it’s often park rangers leading the way at our nation’s lake projects. At Rathbun Lake, located in southern Iowa, one park ranger is leading the way by being a proponent of the cashless fee system at the lake’s campgrounds and boat ramps. Since 2020, Ryan Vogt, natural resource specialist and park ranger at Rathbun Lake, has led the way in the Kansas City District for adopting a cashless fee system at both the lake project’s campgrounds and boat ramps. While many lake projects in the district’s area of responsibility have automated fee machines from which recreators can purchase recreation passes, Rathbun Lake is one of the first to have a cashless reservation system at its over 400 campsites.

  • July

    A digital drawing of a long building with a red roof, a large black parking lot in the front, grass and trees in the background.

    ‘Someplace they can feel at home and happy’: Kansas City District completes design for new Fort Leavenworth child development center

    One of the biggest challenges our nation’s servicemembers and their families face is moving from installation to installation across the country, sometimes across the world, every couple of years. To help reduce the stress and uncertainty that servicemembers and their families can experience during a permanent change of station, the Army uses standard designs when constructing facilities on their installations. This helps to instill a sense of familiarity across installations.