Environment

A Bad Year for Bugs – The Importance of Cold Winters for Insect Control

“It's going to be a bad year for bugs.” Last month, I was frequently reminded of this expression as a seemingly endless supply of caterpillars feasted happily on the sunflowers from our most recent study. We were in a month-long, losing battle against these numerous and voracious critters! For the past year and a half,

Of Perils and Pearls: The Raw Scoop on Oysters

Here is my confession: I have a weakness for raw oysters. Cooked they're tasty, but raw they're sublime. There's just something about that briny, gooey goodness (with just a hint of lemon juice and cocktail sauce, thankyouverymuch) that I can't get enough of. You may have heard the old adage that says never to eat

Help the Earth: Let Lawns be Free

On every flight, there is a point when you sink below the clouds and a miniature version of the world unfurls before you. This is my favorite part about flying. Right before you land, the plane glides lower and lower and you get to see the world you experience every day from a different angle.

Adaptation: a much longer version of Acclimatization

As my avid followers will recall, I ended my previous blog post with a brief discussion on the important distinction between acclimatization and adaptation. That blog post featured an in-depth look at acclimatization using my recent trip to Nepal as an example. For this blog post, I will focus on adaptation. Adaptation has quite a

There’s a Mastodon in My Pond

Large, mysterious bones began to emerge amongst the backhoes and mud caked boots. Construction workers were told to continue digging the reservoir. The development finally halted when a massive, warped tusk confirmed that this was no rancher's bovine cemetery. Reputable scientists flocked to the scene, eager to get their hands dirty. Time was of the

All-You-Can-Eat Activism

Sustainable eating has been working its way into the mainstream for decades now, but what does it actually mean to eat sustainably? Wikipedia defines a sustainable diet as “one that promotes food sustainability and ecological well-being.” With that vague of a definition, it's no surprise that people are implementing sustainability in their lives in very

The Science of Acclimatization (aka How to Survive at 17,000 feet)

This past November two friends and I embarked on the Three Passes Trek, a hiking trail through Nepal that crosses, you guessed it, three mountain passes. The trail experiences drastic elevation changes, ranging anywhere from 9,000 to 17,500 feet. On Day 12 of our travels, I was struggling to fall asleep in Gorakshep, a small

Monarch Winter Numbers Released: Reinforcing a Historically Disappointing Trend

Banner photo credit: Hayley Schroeder As visitors wander through the Georgia State Botanical Garden, a flurry of life swells up to say “Welcome!” Daffodils greet you by the hundreds, insects buzz around your head and cherry blossoms come blushing into bloom. One might call this the perfect spring day…if it wasn't February. While we box

Tiny Microbes with a Titanic Impact

Whether you heard about it in your third grade history class or watched the iconic 1997 James Cameron film, almost everyone knows the story of the doomed luxury liner, Titanic. Trapped in a Murphy's Law situation, the ship sank on the night of April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the middle of the

Backyard Birds and Their Turds

Just when you thought the biggest philosophical debate about poultry was whether the chicken or the egg came first, a new urban and suburban trend of raising backyard chickens has exploded in popularity over the past few years. After all, who doesn't want an animal that makes your breakfast? However, the rise in popularity of

For the Love of Meat

To Be or Not To Be a Vegetarian: That is the Question. Or is it? Most people see a documentary about the meat industry and then they become a vegetarian for a week. – Jason Reitman Guilty. as. charged. After seeing Food, Inc. in college, I gave up meat for idealistic reasons. A week later,

The Ocean: A new frontier of exploration

Space! It is an amazing place to study and explore, but the ocean is equally fascinating. They are both vast realms of mystery that call out for us to explore the unimaginable. Throughout history we find ourselves seeking adventure, whether it is shooting into the black space above the clouds or sailing around the world,

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