Alice Boyle is an Associate Professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. She is both a scientist and a musician, and takes inspiration from her ecological studies of grassland birds to create and perform music relevant to the natural and cultural history of the Great Plains.

For years, Boyle kept the musical and research parts of her life separate, but has realized that both scientific and creative endeavors can fuel and enhance one another. Using skills borne of her training and background as a professional musician, and passion arising from the urgency of protecting tallgrass prairies, she developed a prairie-themed repertoire of songs and instrumental tunes. She and her husband perform concerts in Kansas and nearby regions as the duo Kaw Creek. Boyle uses the emotional power of music and the performance setting to convey her love of prairies, the plight of grassland systems, and how their loss affects the intertwined future of animals and humans who share this part of the world.  

Boyle conducts much of her research at The Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) and her current work focuses primarily on how climate variability and changing precipitation regimes influence bird populations. She and her students engage in a wide range of research and outreach activities. You can learn more about that work at www.aliceboyle.net. In addition to Kaw Creek, Boyle also performs nationally and records as a member of the band STEAM!