Atlantic Sturgeon Were Fished Almost to Extinction
Ancient DNA reveals how the Chesapeake Bay population changed over centuries.
Tradition in Turmoil: Sugar Maple and Climate Change
With harvests dependent on the spring freeze-thaw cycle, the maple industry is seeking ways to mitigate damage wrought by a changing climate.
Caitlin D. Wylie on the Hidden Labor of STEM Research
An interview with Caitlin D. Wylie, a social scientist who analyzes “behind-the-science work” to understand how knowledge is produced and who produces it.
Popular Science—but Make It North Korean
In the 1950s, science in North Korea was presented in a way that fired children’s imaginations and encouraged youth to develop ideas that served the state.
Survival Strategies: The Next Chapter of Environmental Justice
The environmental justice movement may look to the past to determine how to move forward during times of austerity.
The Science of Sourdough: How Citizens Are Helping Shape the Future of Fermented Foods
Citizen scientists are drawing on personal experience to help researchers create new plant-based fermented foods and maximize their health benefits.
He Spoke for the Trees (and Also the Soil)
A champion of agroforestry, J. Russell Smith argued for the restoration of forests as key to sustainable agriculture in his seminal work Tree Crops.
Performing Forensics: Doctors Becoming Expert Witnesses
Doctors in skeptical Scotland had to persuade the courts to listen to them, in part because of the historical animosity between the professions of law and medicine.
Leviathan Resurrected: Illustration and Astronomy
In the 1840s, the Leviathan of Parsonstown, built by William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse, became the largest telescope in the world.
Natural History: A Reading List
This annotated bibliography samples scholarship on the rich—and difficult—history of natural history.