It will take a lot to turn the massive ship of Big Agriculture around in Iowa, even if the benefits — from improved water quality to a more competitive food market — are many. It is important for those who […]
Iowans are taking notice of the environmental changes affecting not only the livability of the state, but the globe. Keith Summerville, a professor and the chair of Environmental Science and Sustainability at Drake University, started at Drake in 2002 and […]
In the face of bee population declines, local citizen scientists can help identify species in one of Iowa’s tallgrass prairies. The National Park Service is seeking volunteers to join “Plan Bee” on Saturday, August 18th at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch. Participants will assist park staff and scientists in catching, photographing, and releasing bees unharmed. […]
The good news concerns zucchini: There’s plenty of it. Arguably too much of it, although environmentalists Brenda Nations and Art Bettis (armed with an abundant CSA share and a very tasty summer squash galette recipe torn from the pages of […]
Over the past year and a half, I have grown to know and love the Iowa prairie as never before. I am in the final stages of a project with my co-author, Cindy Crosby, that involves writing about and photographing […]
Genetic engineering has long been the poster child of science fiction. Now, a team of University of Iowa undergraduates are synthesizing a “green plastic” for iGEM, an international science competition. […]
Deep in the belly of the Vermeer Science Center at Central College in Pella, Iowa, cardboard boxes are stacked against the wall in a dimly lit laboratory. The boxes contain thousands of bees — carefully preserved and meticulously categorized based on their Latin genus and species — each with a unique tale to tell. Some are as small as a gnat; others are the size of a cockroach. Their colors span the spectrum, too, from rich, reflective blues to the familiar striped yellow and black of the common honey bee. Paulina Mena, an associate professor of biology, is their veritable warden. […]
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Rec'd 2023
