A man scrambles up a gully on the Crestone Needle in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado.

How Science Might Help Keep Wild Places Wild

Recreation researchers are studying how to minimize human impact on public lands while maximizing accessibility.
Red-lined Sea Cucumber Thelenota rubralineata in the shallow water near Moyo Island, Sumbawa, Indonesia.

Weird and Wondrous Sea Cucumbers

These spiny or slimy ocean creatures display an astonishing diversity of appearances, behaviors and lifestyles. Many are increasingly threatened.
Close up hand of voter placing ballot in ballot box

Voting as a Tool for Environmental Justice

Casting a vote at your local polling place helps elect candidates who can enact environmental policies while in office. But is voting enough to bring change?
Dewdrops hang suspended from switchgrass at Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota.

Switchgrass: An Old Grass Gets a New Use

The perennial prairie grass used to cover large swaths of the American Midwest, creating vibrant ecosystems where birds, butterflies, and bison roamed.
Marshall Islands stick chart, Meddo type

Marshall Islands Wave Charts

Charts constructed of carefully bound sticks served as memory aids, allowing sailors of the Marshall Islands to navigate between the islands by feel.
Ella Tyree in Ebony, February 1949

Women in Science Textbooks

A team of scholars examined the seven most popular ecology textbooks. Guess what they didn't find?
A teacher is standing next to a young student examining her findings from the pond.

How to Increase Diversity in Community Science Projects

There's often a disconnect between the ambitions of scientists engaging the public and the potential participants themselves.
Plain illuminated partially covered by fog, soft lights

Shedding Light on the Cost of Light Pollution

Artificial light has a huge variety of harmful effects on ecosystems. Scientists are exploring ways to mitigate the damage.
Two people gathering seeds

Can Crops’ Wild Relatives Save Troubled Agriculture?

Cultivating a limited number of crops reduced the genetic diversity of plants, endangering harvests. Seed collectors hope to fix it by finding the plants’ wild cousins.
A solar-panel equipped ship moves down the Amazon River

Can Sustainable Travel in the Amazon Help Reduce Forest Fires?

A rainforest evangelist hopes that Brazil’s 55-million year old jungle can survive 21st century human impact.