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Saving the Great Lakes, one laundry load at a time

Erika Engel

May 13, 2022 |

CollingwoodToday |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Parry Sound, Ontario

A pilot experiment in Canada shows that adding a filter on a washing machine can prevent microfibers from entering the wastewater system and ending up in marine ecosystems. After installing these filters on machines in a community, there was a 41 percent decrease of microfibers in the washing machine liquid waste. This will not keep all microfibers from ending up in the environment, but legislators are working on passing bills requiring manufacturers to get these filters installed on new machines.

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Lab-Grown Meat: Future Climate Solution or Icky Science Experiment?

Ethan Brown

March 18, 2022 |

The Sweaty Penguin |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Lab-grown meat is poised to become a safer alternative to conventional meat. There are 99 companies around the world that are developing lab-cultured meat products and that number is growing. The production process is still expensive and not completely scalable yet, but scientists are working to overcome these barriers to make it cheaper and more ethically produced.

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Catching Crabs in a Suffocating Sea

Julia Rosen

March 01, 2022 |

Hakai Magazine |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Newport, Oregon

Frances Chan, a researcher at Oregon State University first came across hypoxia or dangerously low-levels of oxygen in the ocean in Oregon back in 2002. To better understand the issue and empower crab fishers whose livelihoods suffered as a result, he helped develop "small, low-cost oxygen sensors" that fit into their crab pots and read the levels of oxygen in water in real time as they fish. This year, 38 instruments were sent out on eight boats, and with time, the information could help fishers adapt.

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The urine revolution: how recycling pee could help to save the world

Chelsea Wald

February 09, 2022 |

Nature |

Photojournalism |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Gotland

Companies and research initiatives around the world are developing and testing new toilets that can collect human urine and turn it into fertilizer. These urine diversion toilets have been implemented in places like South Africa with mixed results. However, researchers in Sweden are using portable toilets to gather the urine, dry it into fertilizer pellets that are then used to grow barley for beer. This work could show how to implement these kinds of toilets on a large scale.

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Off the coast of Italy, a radical approach to battling illegal fishing: a seafloor sculpture museum

Veronique Mistiaen

February 07, 2022 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy

An unlikely sculpture museum is helping to battle illegal fishing off the coast of Italy, but this one museum you'll have to dive to see. Over 39 sculptures make up this underwater exhibit and serve as a physical barrier to seafloor trawling.

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Rwanda Strives To Stamp Out Killer Malaria Using Drones

Aimable Twahirwa

September 14, 2021 |

Rwanda Dispatch |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Rwanda, Kigali

A pilot program is using drones to spray anti-Malaria pesticides in high-incidence regions. The spraying drones have a 10-liter on-board tank that holds a biological insecticide, which uses bacteria that impacts larval stages of certain insects, including mosquitoes. The operator flown drone has a battery powered spray pump that releases the spray and the downward thrust of the propellers pushes it to the ground. The fixed-wing drone takes off vertically and flies horizontally for 50 minutes and 80 miles. Estimates show a drastic decline of malaria cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the sprayed areas.

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The lost generation of ancient trees

Katherine Latham

September 08, 2021 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Ancient trees like the Big Belly Oak, which grows to be hundreds of years old, provide substance to thousands of invertebrate species, and hundreds of species of lichen and fungi. However, due to changes in forest management and agriculture, many of the ancient trees are not surviving long enough to age. It's crucial for them to age because that's when many species of fungi and insects begin to move into their core. In order to speed up the aging process scientists are trying two methods, veteranisation and inserting fungi into trees.

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Cases of missing trans people are rarely solved. A married pair of forensic genealogists is hoping to change that

Erica Lenti

September 01, 2021 |

Xtra |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Orange, Massachusetts

Trans Doe Task Force is a nonprofit project by two professional genetic genealogists that works to solve cold cases involving missing and murdered trans people. Trans people are at greater risk of violence. When their unidentified bodies are found, police are more likely to mishandle or neglect their cases. Using the tactics of genetic genealogy to turn a DNA sample into a link to known family members, and then narrowing the list of possible victims to the right one, TDTF has solved two cases out of 173 it has worked on. It also has worked with police agencies to change hearts and minds.

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A San Francisco Airport Site Is Crawling With Snakes—And That's a Good Thing

Ashley Stimpson

July 27, 2021 |

Atlas Obscura |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

The endangered San Francisco garter snake has made a comeback due to conservation efforts at the San Francisco International airport. They built ponds and wetlands to make the conditions ideal for the snake to thrive and as a result, approximately 1,300 snakes call the property home. While there are still issues with invasive plants and industrial runoff polluting the area, the ecological improvements have helped the snake population’s rebound.

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Many mangrove restorations fail. Is there a better way?

Katarina Zimmer

July 22, 2021 |

Knowable Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Guinea-Bissau

Mangrove forests are known to be excellent storers of carbon and hosts of biodiversity, but they are also able to protect communities on coastlines from storm surge. However, many of the projects to restore these forests fail because they are rushed or planted in the wrong places. Scientists argue that organizers should focus on natural regrowth or “ecological mangrove restoration,” a science-based approach, which has been used in Indonesia and Guinea-Bissau.

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