Earth & Environmental Sciences
Dr Michael Stout | Dr Blake Wilson – Protecting United States Rice with Integrated Pest Management Strategies
US rice production is threatened by the expansion of the Mexican rice borer, and a host of other pests. Dr Michael Stout, Dr Blake Wilson and their colleagues at Louisiana State University are investigating integrated pest management strategies to reduce the...
Dr Chang-Won Lee – Global Health is for the Birds: Studying Avian Diseases to Protect Human Health
Every year, outbreaks of diseases that affect livestock cause massive economic losses, and occasionally these diseases also threaten human health. The dynamics that influence the emergence and transmission of these diseases are complex, and studying them effectively...
Professor Jeffrey Forbes – Exploring How the Lower Atmosphere Influences Space Weather
Professor Jeffrey Forbes and his team at the University of Colorado use data from multiple satellites and global modelling to determine how terrestrial weather affects the near-Earth space environment. When we think of the weather, we think of the wind and rain and...
Mark Hoddle – Biological Control: Protecting Agriculture and Wilderness Areas from Invasive Insect Pests
Invasive organisms become pests, in part, because they escape control of their natural enemies that regulate population growth in areas where the invader is native. Biological control attempts to re-associate host specific natural enemies with target pest populations...
Professor David Sugden, Dr Andrew Hein and Professor John Woodward – How Stable is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet?
Professor David Sugden, Dr Andrew Hein and Professor John Woodward have combined their complementary expertise to shed light on the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during previous interglacial periods. Knowing how ice sheets have behaved in the past enables...
Professor David Holland | Denise Holland – Observing and Projecting Global Sea-Level Change
Professor David Holland, Denise Holland and their colleagues at New York University in New York and Abu Dhabi combine field measurements in the polar regions with climate models, in order to better understand how disappearing ice sheets will influence sea level...
Dr Guihua Bai – Genotyping our Daily Bread: Genetic Markers in Modern Wheat Breeding
Wheat is a staple crop, and is of utmost importance for global food supply. Dr Guihua Bai and his group at USDA-ARS conduct wheat genomics research to analyse wheat DNA markers, and assist in the breeding of new cultivars, to ensure high grain yields and quality, as...
Professor Thomas Fleischner and colleagues – Why Field Studies Matter for Teaching Biology
Professor Thomas Fleischner and his colleagues at the Natural History Institute at Prescott College, and across the United States, are working to highlight the importance of field studies for teaching biology. Here, we discuss why the decline of field studies should...
Professor René Germain – Strategies for Sustainable Forest Management
Forested land improves urban water quality, but needs to be appropriately managed and protected from the impacts of land use changes. Professor René Germain at SUNY ESF is passionate about improving the sustainability of forest management, and carries out research and...
Dr Yukitoshi Nishimura & Dr Ying Zou – Studying the Auroras and What Makes Them Shine
Space physicists Dr Yukitoshi (Toshi) Nishimura and Dr Ying Zou, along with their colleagues at Boston University and at UCLA, study the interactions between Earth’s atmosphere and energy that flows from the solar wind to determine how the Northern Lights – and the...
The British Ecological Society
Since 1913, the British Ecological Society (BES) has been fostering the development of ecology and ecologists, with the vision of creating a world inspired, informed and influenced by ecology. With over 5000 members across the globe, the Society’s mission is to...
Professor Urs Kreuter – Cooperation, Conservation and Fire: Engaging People in Ecosystem Management
In the worldwide effort to protect the resilience of diverse ecosystems, privately owned lands are becoming of increasing importance for conservation efforts. Effective management of these lands for wildlife and the continued delivery of critical ecosystem services...
Professor Darryn W. Waugh – The Polar Vortex: Meshing and Stripping the Gears of the Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere is composed of multiple interlocked rotating parcels of air. At the poles, rotating vortices form an important part of this system. Climate scientist Professor Darryn Waugh of Johns Hopkins University investigates how polar vortices interact with...
Professor Peggy Petrzelka – Solutions to Modern Challenges in Gender, Agriculture and Conservation
In recent decades, farmland in the United States is increasingly cultivated by operators that rent the land, rather than the land owner. This shift holds major implications for land use dynamics, particularly in conservation practices used in farming, and this...
Professor Costantino Vetriani | Professor Frank T. Robb – Uncovering the Relationship Between Aquatic Thermophiles and Human Bacterial Pathogens
Thermophiles thriving on hydrothermal vents are opening new avenues towards understanding the chemical mechanisms of human diseases. Here we discuss the work of Professors Costantino Vetriani and Frank Robb, who isolate these extreme microorganisms and study their...
Dr Branwen Williams – Coralline Algae as a Climate Archive
The unique structure and anatomy of a coralline red algae found in the Arctic-Subarctic makes them useful markers, or ‘proxies’ of past climate and environment. Known as Clathromorphum, these encrusting algae can live up to 850 years and form thick crusts of layers....
Dr Andrew G. Conly – Mining Carbon to Decrease the Carbon Footprint
Mineralogist and geologist Dr Andrew Conly and his colleagues at the Lakehead University Mineralogy and Experimental Laboratory at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, help to keep high tech companies environmentally friendly and ‘green’ by identifying minable sources of, of...
Professor Vassilis Angelopoulos – From THEMIS to ELFIN: Exploring Near Earth Space
Dr Vassilis Angelopoulos and his colleagues at the UCLA Earth Planetary and Space Sciences Department in California study the interaction of solar radiation with the Earth’s magnetosphere using multiple NASA research satellites. Their aim is to protect our...
Professor Robert Mason – Uncovering the Mysteries of Marine Mercury
Mercury levels, primarily as methylmercury, in fish and seafood are a global concern. Marine scientist, Professor Robert Mason of the University of Connecticut in the USA, studies how mercury levels in the biosphere are changing due to climate change. He has...
Dr David Pollard | Dr Robert DeConto – The Birth and Death of Ice Sheets: Understanding the Past and Predicting the Future
Drs David Pollard and Rob DeConto have developed computer models that simulate how the world’s ice sheets have grown and retreated in response to climatic change over past epochs. Their models are now being used to predict Antarctic ice sheet melt and sea level rise...
Dr Mollie Manier – How Female Flies Choose the Right Partner After Mating with Multiple Males
Research led by Dr Mollie Manier at The George Washington University has revealed how female fruit flies choose the right sperm to fertilise their eggs after mating with multiple males. Secondary sexual male ornaments are advantageous in acquiring mates and can...
Dr Kristin M Aquilino | Professor Gary Cherr – Bringing White Abalone Back from the Brink
The white abalone snail has been overfished to the verge of extinction, but Dr Kristin Aquilino and Professor Gary Cherr at UC Davis hope to save the species by reintroducing their captive-bred population back into the wild. Threatened by Overfishing Although trying...
Dr Wade H Elmer – Improving Plant Disease Resistance: Can Nanoparticles Deliver?
Crop disease can have an enormous impact on farming productivity and profits. A plant’s resistance to disease has been previously linked to micronutrients, which control key biochemical processes. Dr Wade Elmer of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has...
The Galapagos Conservation Trust
Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) is the only UK registered charity to focus exclusively on the conservation and sustainability of the Galapagos Archipelago. Launched in 1995 at the Royal Society, GCT has supported a vast array of projects in Galapagos...
Dr. Deanna L. Wilkinson – Growing Opportunity in the Inner City
Dr. Deanna Wilkinson founded the Urban GEMS – Gardening Entrepreneurs Motivating Sustainability – to give disadvantaged adolescents an alternative to violence and an opportunity to explore new skills and opportunities while contributing to the health of their...
Dr Albert A. Presto – Taking a Hard Look at Air Pollution so We Can All Breathe Easier
Research engineer Dr Albert Presto and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies use modern chemical analysis and computer modelling methods to try and understand pollution from our modern technology. Oh, For a Breath of...
Dr Scott Carver – Conservation, Connections of Humans and Nature, and Unravelling a World of Infectious Diseases
Dr Scott Carver and his team at the University of Tasmania use a multidisciplinary approach to study the spread of disease within and among wild animals, their domestic counterparts, and humans. ‘No man is an island,’ says the poem, ‘entire of himself.’ It was...
Dr Neelke Doorn – A Fair Approach To Flooding
The number of floods has increased significantly over the past decade, with catastrophic consequences, both in terms of loss of human lives and damage to the environment. As on-going climate change is likely to increase the risk of flooding further, managing risks in...
Dr Leonard Bryan Coop – Cloudy, With A Chance Of Insects
The Integrated Plant Protection Center at Oregon State University is both a hub for research into agricultural pest management and the host of widelyused pest forecasting tools. Dr Leonard Coop and his co-workers plan to improve those tools even further. Should I...
Dr Jian Du-Caines – Protecting the Earth by Predicting Space Weather
Atmospheric physicist Dr Jian Du-Caines at the University of Louisville and her colleagues explore the interactions between Earth’s atmosphere and near Earth space to better predict space weather that can adversely affect life on Earth. Everyone Talks About the...
Professor William Lau – More Water, More Fire? The Surprising Link Between Increasing Global Humidity and Severe Wildfires
Increasing global temperatures have led to a worldwide increase in atmospheric water vapour. Paradoxically, this is correlated with an increase in the severity of wildfires and droughts. Research by Professor William Lau and his colleagues at the Earth System Science...
Trees for Cities: Boosting Public Health
Trees for Cities – Scientia’s charity partner – has been working on an international scale to create greener cities, engaging over 70,000 people to plant almost 700,000 trees to date. Here, we have had the pleasure of speaking with Kate Sheldon, Development Director...