To save the reefs, save the trees and the soil they grow in
Read now →Soil from the surface can smother reefs. A new study creates a map of corals most susceptible to runoff from land
I am a tropical forest ecologist and PhD student at Wake Forest University. I currently study the disturbance ecology of tropical montane forests, which means I spend a lot of time scrambling up landslides in the Peruvian Andes! My work is important for understanding the structure, composition, and functioning of these dynamic forest ecosystems.
Biodiversity loss is the very real end of the world and no one is acting like it
Read now →Radical, wholesale change is needed right this second and cannot be delayed
4 peer comments
A human-elephant conflict video game may bolster conservation efforts
Read now →The multiplayer game tests conservation strategies for farmers interacting with elephants in Gabon, but its lessons reveal a need for human equity
Watching Earth change from space: an interview with Africa Flores-Anderson
Read now →The National Geographic Explorer and NASA scientist spoke with Massive on how imaging environmental change can change minds
How one invasive plant can change a rainforest
Read now →The mountain apple's entry into Indonesia a century ago still threatens biodiversity there
1 peer comment
Elon Musk's climate change prize is empty and worthless
Read now →Those who control vast sums of money could easily fund real changes and simply choose not to
1 peer comment
Four facts about Marie Tharp, the woman whose art mapped the bottom of the sea
Read now →She discovered the Earth's 'backbone' even though men wouldn't let her on a ship for 17 years
Animals feel a 'landscape of fear' – just like humans
Read now →Afraid of lions by moonlight and raptors by day, animals will behave in dramatic ways
"Poached" takes you into the trenches of wildlife crime
Read now →Rachel Love Nuwer explains how and why illegal trade threatens to wipe some of our planet's most charismatic animals off the map forever
Climate change is almost too big a problem to study. The solution? Volcanoes.
Read now →Volcanoes blanketed by tropical rainforests are a natural laboratory to study climate change
1 peer comment
How shadowy tax havens skirt conservation efforts
Read now →Dark money foreign investments may bankroll deforestation and overfishing
1 peer comment
Meet Merit-Ptah, the ancient Egyptian doctor who didn't exist
Read now →Though created by accident, her story fit neatly with burgeoning 20th century feminism
A new kind of climate change book brings emotions to the table
Read now →"All We Can Save" doesn't shy away from doom or hope, encompassing the enormity of climate change
Meet Alice Wilson, the Canadian geologist who did the work of five people
Read now →She wasn't allowed to work at remote field sites, so she became the expert in her local rocks and fossils
'Being Ecological' is a book with admirable aims and a tangled execution
Read now →Prioritizing data over action can be counterproductive – but so is a muddled message
Scientists recreated a key step for the origin of life at hydrothermal vents
Read now →Simulating alkaline environments from 3 billion years ago showed formation of precursor cells is possible
1 peer comment
A gold rush in the Peruvian Amazon threatens to fill a vital and diverse ecosystem with mercury
Read now →Bats are the canaries in the Amazonian goldmine
What modern conservationists can learn from humanity's long history with rainforests
Read now →There's a growing body of evidence that humans have been modifying tropical forests for over 40,000 years
There's a straight line from Trump's trade war with China to the destruction of the Amazon
Read now →U.S. exports of soybeans to China have dropped dramatically. Brazil is stepping up to meet Chinese demand — and burning vast areas of the Amazon along the way.
1 peer comment
.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=800&q=70&w=1200)
The hidden costs of fieldwork are making science less diverse
Read now →Here are five practical ways to start fixing the problem
.jpg.webp?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=faces&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=800&q=70&w=1200)
Floods in Germany are the latest wake-up call in the climate crisis
Read now →Germany has experienced nine flood-rich periods in the past 500 years, but this one is different
Attention, birders! A new tool can help you automatically identify birds you spot, no field guide needed
Read now →This "digital guide" is the product of a collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Swarovski Optik
Forget baby shark: grandma whale, the real hero of the ocean, is looking after her grandkids
Read now →New research shows that grandmother orcas greatly improve the survival of their grand-offspring, advancing our understanding of the evolutionary role of menopause
Your salad might bring an unwanted guest to the dinner table
Read now →A new study finds that bagged and canned produce can occasionally (but rarely) come with a side of frog, lizard, bird, or rodent
The best science stories from around the web, hand-curated and eye-read by science writers
Read now →The week's not over yet but it's been pretty good so far
How to stay calm during a pandemic
Read now →We all have very valid reasons to be anxious right now. Here's how to keep your anxiety in check
Captive sea otters (adorably) raise orphaned pups as their own until they are ready to be released back into the wild
Read now →New research from Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists finds that the pups and their own wild babies account for 55% of the growth of a California sea otter population
Science games and challenges to pass the time while you are stuck at home
Read now →Here are some ways to kill boredom – and contribute to scientific research – while you're doing your part to flatten the curve
One person's techno trash is a scientist's research tool
Read now →It's hard to study plant roots, but a plastic CD case makes it easier to observe a plant's underground activities
Biologists find the world’s southernmost tree on a wind-battered island in Chile
Read now →Wind, and not temperature, is the biggest determinant of where it lives (and where it does not)
I want a new smartphone, but the human and environmental cost is giving me doubts
Read now →New gadgets are fun. They're also abysmally destructive
Black scientists are exposing the racist side of academia on Twitter
Read now →#BlackintheIvory is yet another illustration that academia is rife with racism. It's long past time for change
Here are some of the first snowflakes ever photographed
Read now →Photographer Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley took the first picture of a snowflake in 1885
A catastrophic power outage darkens California while horny spiders invade
Read now →Tarantulas, fire-inducing weather, and failing infrastructure make for a spooky October story
Stones from porcupine guts are a hot commodity on Instagram
Read now →The wildlife trade has moved online, and porcupines are under threat
A real world version of Pokémon Go lets you track orangutans in the jungle
Read now →A new augmented reality smartphone game takes you into Borneo's jungles in search of great apes (and more!)