Politics & Policy

pine needles that turn to brown along the tips with small growths along the needles

How climate change makes trees sicker

         We are heavily entwined with forests. The structure of your house is likely southern pine. The package you ordered in the mail is encased in wood pulp. The stuff that makes your toothpaste thick is cellulose from wood. We rely on trees as a renewable resource for our daily activities and well-being. However, our

A Tale Of Two Shelterbelts

For decades, climate scientists have highlighted concerns about climate change caused by greenhouse gasses emitted by humans (through fossil fuel use as well as refrigerants). While reducing greenhouse gas emissions would solve the crisis, there is a lack of political will, particularly in the United States, which prevents significant progress towards meeting goals set by

Getting SAFER with Space Waste

When the International Space Station (ISS) reaches the end of its lifespan in 2031, where will it go?  No options for major recycling exist in outer space, so when a spacecraft is decommissioned, there are only three “trash cans” available. The first is a so-called “graveyard orbit,” where spacecraft are blasted away from Earth into

Our Water, Our Health in Rural Appalachia

West Virginia is home to the newest national park, New River Gorge, known for its world class white water rafting. It is also home to some of the worst drinking water in the United States. The juxtaposition of the two could not be more clear. Old habits die hard, and in a state where an

Long term ecological research is our crystal ball

How might climate change affect the environment in 50 or 100 years? To even begin to answer this pressing question, we need work that can accurately describe changes in the environment to predict the future. Long term ecological research (abbreviated as LTER), describes studies interested in environmental processes that last for at least one year

The Injustice of Texas Senate Bill 8

On September 1st, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott passed Senate Bill 8 (SB8) which bans abortion after the first signs of fetal heartbeat. There are no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape, sexual abuse, or incest. Texas legislators claim that 6 weeks is plenty of time to get an abortion. However, this is not accurate

Addressing bullying in STEM: a call for UGA to empower trainees

Bullying in academia Bullying continues to be a problem in academia. A recent global survey showed that 59% and 84% of participants either witnessed or experienced abusive supervision behaviors, respectively. Bullying in academia is difficult to address because a power differential exists within the mentor-mentee relationship. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers (both referred to as

Starve not the goose that lays the golden egg: The importance of federally funded research

What do frog skin, horseshoe crab blood, and a llama named Winter all have in common? All three were part of studies that have been awarded Golden Goose awards, a designation given to strange sounding but ground-breaking federally funded research. Frog skin was used in experiments to determine the mechanism underlying cholera and directly led

Biases in STEM: Gender Discrimination Affects UGA Faculty

“I think my career was negatively impacted by being a woman,” said Ellen Neidle, professor of microbiology at the University of Georgia (UGA), who has a doctorate in molecular, developmental, and cellular biology. “I always thought that women could do everything. It was a pretty big shock to me when I first realized that wasn't

How private companies light up our night sky

In late 2019, astronomers across the U.S. began to notice mysterious streaks of light passing through their images—clusters of the private company SpaceX's Starlink satellites. With 955 of these satellites launched so far, founder Elon Musk aims to create a “mega-constellation” of satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO), designed to provide global broadband Internet

In defense of trees and those who cut them

Trees have received a lot of press lately. As wildfires tore through forests worldwide, President Donald Trump blamed the devastation on poor forest management. Meanwhile, the United States formalized a commitment to planting trees to restore our climate. The world's governments and scientists are grappling with how we both protect and manage forests. What should

To be genetically illiterate in the genomic age

What if I told you that the source code, or genomes, for many living organisms is available for free online? Would it surprise you? As of today, all genomes created by public funds are accessible to anyone in the world. Anyone with internet access, and a little bit of curiosity, can access tomes of genetic

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