NatureServe President & CEO Sean O’Brien is preparing to kick off the fifth leg of the NatureServe Network Van Tour! After visiting 14 natural heritage programs across 13 states in the eastern U.S., Sean and his trusty steed, the Van Humboldt, will be heading northward to parts of Canada and New England. Follow the Van Tour StoryMap Blog and NatureServe's social media accounts for the latest updates from the road.

We are excited to share that the new NatureServe website went live last month! This new site lives at the same address (www.natureserve.org) and is still a secure site, but we have greatly improved the design and enhanced the user experience. One of the biggest changes is the organization of information. Information about what we do and our data is thoughtfully organized so that new visitors can quickly get an overview of the breadth of our work, and dig deeper for more information if desired or search for specific items using the search function at the top of every page.

Earlier this month, the world's leading scientists, politicians, and change-makers came together at the the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action. NatureServe's own Sean O'Brien (President & CEO) and Healy Hamilton (Chief Scientist) were among those in attendance, and participated in critical discussions about the future of biodiversity.

NatureServe scientists recently updated the conservation status to Critically Imperiled (S1) for a rare crayfish species, the banded mudbug, found in a small range between Alabama and Mississippi. As a result, the Mississippi Natural Heritage Program has agreed to add this species to their tracking list in order to monitor changes in its population sizes and distribution. NatureServe and our Network assess the conservation status of species and ecosystems like the banded mudbug and make that information freely available through NatureServe Explorer

Do you have a species you really care about? You can adopt it today through NatureServe's Adopt-a-Species program! In addition to having your name listed on NatureServe Explorer, your gift will support the staff at NatureServe who maintain this priceless conservation resource.

Key Biodiversity Areas is the 28th edition of the CEMEX Nature and Conservation Book Series. The book’s authors highlight the critical role KBAs can play in shaping conservation strategies, including by guiding the expansion of protected areas, aligning with global biodiversity targets, informing safeguard policies and environmental risk assessments, and ultimately avoiding species extinction. NatureServe's own Dr. Healy Hamilton, a contributing author on the book, provided the closing remarks at the book's launch event at the World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France.