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Along the mid-coast of California, amidst carefully protected ranches of Silicon Valley executives, one finds rolling hills of oak trees. A few years ago, with colleagues from Arizona State University, a group of us documented the mineral cycling in these woodlands, which are deciduous in winter.

As researchers around the world work to develop a viable stop to the spread of COVID-19, ecologists say it’s time they are heard – the pandemic was anticipated.

Every day, we hear about reducing our resource demand—driving fuel efficient vehicles, eating less meat, and not watering your lawn. Nevertheless, for citizens in the developed world, deciding to have one less child reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere about 20-fold compared to deciding not to own a car.

Large-scale environmental science proceeds by a very different pathway than other scientific fields.

The SAB is composed of environmental scientists and economists and charged to help the EPA with the application of the best, relevant science to its regulatory deliberations. Typically, the SAB is presented with problems that are before the Agency and upon which the higher EPA administration would like advice or an opinion on what to do.

Potassium is often overlooked as an essential plant nutrient that is in short supply on croplands, and globally farmers apply 32 Tg K each year as potash to satisfy crop demands.

There has always been a little bit of mercury, chromium and vanadium circulating in the environment. Some of these elements are useful to industrial processes, so human emissions of them have increased since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Last week, environmentalists celebrated President Obama’s veto of the Keystone XL pipeline. But we shouldn’t jump for joy too soon

A new discussion of carbon fees seems particularly germane at this moment. William Nordhaus, a Yale professor, has just won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on carbon pricing.

With every flush, the drugs we use go down the drain. Many are not filtered out by wastewater treatment, leaving streams and rivers awash in everything from painkillers and antidepressants to amphetamines and illicit drugs.

Toxic groundwater, massive fish-kills, and thinning ozone. What is the common link between these environmental problems?  The answer may be too much nitrogen in the environment–produced and distributed worldwide as fertilizer and by burning fossil fuels.

Rapidly curtailing the CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel use takes on greater urgency by the day. However, replacing fossil fuels with biomass for energy at large scales does not belong on the short list of actions for climate protection. Using bioenergy instead of fossil energy at significant scale is a cure worse than the disease.

As interest grows in methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—negative emissions—it is worth evaluating how effective various approaches might be, especially if we begin to offer payments and subsidies to those who do so.  

One of the puzzles of atmospheric chemistry is why the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) isn’t rising even faster than we observe in the atmosphere.

We have dramatically reduced illness and mortality from infectious disease through the miracles of modern medicine, vaccination, and public health education. Now environmental exposures challenge future health outcomes. 

Heat vulnerability in New York City has been linked to socioeconomic indicators, including household income and resident age, as well as access to air conditioning and green spaces.

Jeremy Jackson of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Smithsonian Institution discusses practical solutions to minimize the destruction caused by industrial agriculture, sea level rise, wildfires, water mismanagement, and extreme weather.

Creatively communicating data trends is the heart of the Family Data Jam Competition. How can you use visual art, music, dance, creative writing, or other art forms to tell the science stories of your local ecosystem?

Like many of us, Kevin Burgio, Undergraduate Program Leader and Research Specialist at Cary Institute, has spent the past few months working from home. Burgio was inspired to share tips on ways to make remote research positions viable.