The drone of cicadas has always been one of the sounds of summer in Iowa. Annual cicada populations are holding their own, but periodical cicadas — a species that emerges every 13 to 17 years — are in trouble. On this episode, we talk with University of Iowa biologist Andrew Forbes about a study that uses GIS technology to show how habitat loss has impacted cicada populations. We also hear from GIS experts Susan Meerdink and Adam Skibbe and discuss what the future holds for these cicadas.

Sam Taylor, Riley Pacer, and Dr. Meerdink headed to the 2026 Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) conference in St. Louis, where the theme was "Cartographer in the Loop: Balancing technological innovation with human expertise". We presented our posters and enjoyed the Geo-Resolution conference.

Sam Taylor brings home 1st place and $1000 for this poster titled "The Water is Getting Warmer: Spatiotemporal Water Quality Trends from the Multi-decadal Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project (CLAMP)" for the 2026 Geo-Resolution's Student Poster Competition. Hosted at Saint Louis University, the 2026 Geo-Resolution conference had the theme “Securing the Future with Geospatial.”