Earth and Environment
Explore Earth and Environment
Dr Gita Kolluru | Dylan Lanser | Dr Larisa Vredevoe – Reproductive Consequences for Tick-Infested Lizards
The genetic secrets to extraordinary longevity, superhero-like healing and regeneration, and resistance to feeding disorders could be found hidden within the Earth. In underground caves in Dinaric Karst along the Adriatic Sea in the Western Balkans lives a cave salamander, the olm, whose remarkable adaptations mean its genome holds great promise for biomedical research. Dr Rok Kostanjšek and an international team of scientists at the Proteus Genome Research Consortium are tackling the challenge of sequencing the huge olm genome, to provide the basis for studying its unique genetic characteristics.
Dr Rok Kostanjšek | Revealing the Olm Salamander’s Secrets to Advance Biomedical Research
The genetic secrets to extraordinary longevity, superhero-like healing and regeneration, and resistance to feeding disorders could be found hidden within the Earth. In underground caves in Dinaric Karst along the Adriatic Sea in the Western Balkans lives a cave salamander, the olm, whose remarkable adaptations mean its genome holds great promise for biomedical research. Dr Rok Kostanjšek and an international team of scientists at the Proteus Genome Research Consortium are tackling the challenge of sequencing the huge olm genome, to provide the basis for studying its unique genetic characteristics.
Dr Daniel Suiter – Dr Brian Forschler | Identifying and Preventing Arthropod Encounters in South-eastern USA Homes
Arthropods – a group of invertebrates that includes insects, spiders, centipedes and woodlice – are everywhere, and have inhabited this planet for millions of years. They are found in most habitats on Earth – including our gardens and homes. It is in these built environments that a small number are considered a nuisance when sharing our ‘sacred space’. An even smaller number damage buildings or belongings, eat our food – even feed on us – so we label them… pests! Successful management of pest populations requires an understanding of their specific lifestyles and their requirements for food, water, shelter, breeding sites, and favourable temperatures. A team of entomologists at the University of Georgia recently published a guidebook of more than 100 arthropods found in and around homes in the South-eastern USA.
Dr Daisuke Minakata | Sunshine and Organic Molecules in Water
Organic molecules dissolved in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans are essential to plant and animal life. Some of these molecules are also degraded and enter a complex cycle of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur containing compounds. Surprisingly, scientists currently have a limited understanding of the fate of these molecules. Dr Daisuke Minakata and his colleagues from Michigan Technological University are involved in an ambitious programme to overcome this critical knowledge gap.
Dr Talicia Pillay | Machine Learning Meets Marine Conservation
Our planet’s oceans are undergoing significant challenges. Overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, and the effects of climate change are devastating some of the world’s most spectacular and diverse habitats. To inform conservation efforts for fragile marine ecosystems, we need to properly characterise the habitats and sea-life in shallow water areas. Collecting data underwater poses its own unique challenges though, so Dr Talicia Pillay and her team at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa focus on developing powerful remote sensing and computing technologies to aid ocean research.
Professor Avril Horne – Dr Andrew John | Re-evaluating How We Assess and Manage Rivers in Response to Climate Change
Understanding and successfully managing river flows is vital for sustaining human communities, the river environment, and its ecosystems. However, the methods currently used to assess river flow needs are limited in the face of increasing pressures from an uncertain and changing climate. Academics at the University of Melbourne are rethinking the approach to these assessments. This includes work by Professor Avril Horne, Dr Andrew John and their collaborators to present a more integrated and holistic method, which provides much-needed room for learning over time, and to understand the vulnerability, robustness, and adaptability of river flow regimes.
Dr Kahiu Ngugi | Developing Drought and Weed Resistant Super-Sorghum
Future food security is one of the key global challenges facing society. Climate change presents significant threats to our ability to produce staple food crops – particularly in regions already vulnerable to droughts. Dr Kahiu Ngugi and his research team from the University of Nairobi and other institutions in Kenya investigated numerous varieties of sorghum – one of the world’s most important cereal crops. Their aim was to find new genes that would allow the crop to withstand both drought and a common parasitic weed.
Dr Carlos Rodriguez-Franco | Dr Deborah Page-Dumroese – Healing Abandoned Mine Ecosystems with Biochar
The Gold Rush of the 1800s is inextricably tied to USA history. Mining towns popped up wherever precious metals could be extracted, with many of these towns and mines now lying abandoned as ghostly reminders of the old wild west. Abandoned mine land poses a threat to environmental and human health, and methods to rehabilitate this land has gathered much interest over the past few years. Dr Carlos Rodriguez-Franco and Dr Deborah Page-Dumroese from the US Department of Agriculture have been evaluating the use of biochar as a sustainable method to remediate abandoned mine lands.
Dr Joji Muramoto | Healthy Soils, Healthy Planet, Healthy Humans!
The earth beneath our feet is far more than just dirt. Soil is a living ecosystem filled with microbes, worms and insects, and vast networks of underground fungi filaments. Healthy soils are critical to healthy ecosystems and productive agricultural systems. Dr Joji Muramoto and researchers from the University of California have created a framework for Integrated Soil Health Management that could help suppress plant diseases without the use of harmful chemicals.
Dr Abera Habte et al. | Climate Change in Ethiopia: Exploring Farmers’ Attitudes and Adaptation Strategies
Around the world, climate change is impacting the availability of food and water, affecting people’s health and livelihoods. Unfortunately, these damaging effects are more pronounced in developing countries. In a recent study, Dr Abera Habte of Wolaita Sodo University and his collaborators investigated the impacts of climate change in Southwestern Ethiopia. His team incorporated the perceptions and knowledge of local farmers into their analysis, in order to develop more effective climate adaptation strategies.
Dr Robert Bryant – Dr Langdon Martin | Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Cattle Farming with Leftover Brewer’s Yeast
Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases that contributes to the global climate crisis. As this gas is produced in the digestive systems of cattle, methane represents one of the greatest problems faced by the farming industry. Dr Robert Bryant, Dr Langdon Martin and their team at Warren Wilson College, North Carolina, propose an innovative feed supplement for cattle that helps to significantly reduce methane emissions: waste yeast from craft breweries. If used on a large scale, this new supplement could significantly decrease emissions associated with cattle farming, while also creating a new use for a waste product of the craft beer industry.
Dr Anthony Swemmer – Exploring How Trees in Savannas Respond to Drought
Savannas are characterised by the co-existence of two very different types of plants – trees and grasses. They may be open, with large swathes of grass and an occasional tree dotting the landscape, or closed with a near complete cover of trees and a sparse grass layer beneath. In drier parts of the world, drought may play an important role in determining the balance between the trees and grasses in savannas. Extreme droughts, which are likely to become more common with climate change, could permanently shift a closed savanna to an open one. Such changes would have significant consequences for the functioning of these ecosystems and the animals they support. Dr Anthony Swemmer of the South African Environmental Observation Network explored the impact of an unusually severe drought on trees in South Africa. His team’s research shows that the response of trees to drought depends on a suite of local factors.
Dr Selina Våge | Modelling Microbes to Understand Ecosystem Dynamics and Infectious Diseases
Our brain’s network structure consists of many interconnected regions, each containing billions of neurons. Many neurons within one region fire electrical signals at the same time, in synchrony, and even neurons across different regions may synchronise. These are known as synchronous clusters. The collective firing of neurons in synchronous clusters is believed to create brainwaves. Brainwave measurements of patients with epilepsy have shown that during seizures, there can be episodes of excessive synchrony. The mechanisms behind these episodes are not well understood.
Robin Davidson-Arnott | Bernard Bauer – Predicting the Impacts of Rising Sea Levels on Sandy Coasts
For coastal communities, one of the most worrying effects of climate warming is rising sea levels. Even if we halt all greenhouse gas emissions today, the oceans are predicted to rise by more than half a metre by the end of the century, threatening coastal cities, including Manhattan, Vancouver, Lagos, Shanghai and Tokyo. In addition to displacing millions of humans, rising seas will alter natural coastal environments and ecosystems.
Fritjof Basan | Exploring How Underwater Noise Dropped During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Human activity slowed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental researchers have taken this opportunity to investigate how ecosystems respond to a decrease in human-related stressors. One human-related stressor is shipping, which can impact ocean ecosystems by creating intense underwater sounds. Fritjof Basan and his colleagues at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany set out to determine whether reduced shipping activity in 2020 significantly affected the underwater soundscape.
Dr Ana Elisa Rato – Dr Adélia Sousa | Harnessing Satellite Technology to Improve the Sustainability of Walnut Orchards
Walnuts are one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet, and could play a large role in achieving global food security. However, in non-organic walnut orchards, chemical fertilisers are typically applied to boost nut yields. When excessive amounts of these chemicals are applied, they can leach into the surrounding environment, damaging local ecosystems. To ensure that correct amounts of fertilisers are applied to walnut orchards, leaf samples are often analysed beforehand, but analysing enough leaf samples is time consuming and expensive. Now, Dr Ana Elisa Rato, Dr Adélia Sousa and their colleagues at MED Institute in the University of Évora have developed an inexpensive approach to assess nutrient levels in walnut orchards, by harnessing the power of satellite technology.
Dr Alvin Orbaek White | Chemically Recycling Discarded Face Masks into Carbon Nanotubes
Dr Alvin Orbaek White and his colleagues at the Energy Safety Research Institute, based at Swansea University, have shown that chemically recycling discarded face masks to create carbon nanotubes may provide a valuable resource as well as tackle the environmental issue of waste.
Dr Thomas Arciuolo | Dr Miad Faezipour – Yellowstone Caldera Supervolcano
Researchers Dr Thomas Arciuolo and Dr Miad Faezipour propose harnessing the mighty energy reserve within the Yellowstone Supervolcano to generate clean, emission-free power – turning the Yellowstone curse into an immense blessing.
Dr Thomas Arciuolo | Dr Miad Faezipour – Yellowstone Caldera Supervolcano – A Solution to the Climate and Energy Crisis
The global climate crisis poses a major threat to human civilisation. The combustion of fossil fuels to generate energy is the primary cause of this crisis, due to the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. At the same time, the Earth faces another great crisis. Underneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, lies one of Earth’s most powerful volcanoes, which has the potential for an eruption that would be catastrophic to the entire world. Researchers Dr Thomas Arciuolo and Dr Miad Faezipour propose a solution to both of these problems, by harnessing the mighty energy reserve within the Yellowstone Supervolcano to generate clean, emission-free power – turning the Yellowstone curse into an immense blessing.
Dr Martín Medina-Elizalde | Collapse of the Ancient Maya Civilisation: Aligning History with Geological Analysis
Between 800 and 1000 CE, one of the world’s most advanced ancient civilisations underwent a devastating decline. The collapse of ancient Maya society has widely been attributed to a century-long drought; but so far, there have been few efforts to quantify this event, or to equate scientific findings with historical sources. Through new geological and paleoclimatological analyses, Dr Martín Medina-Elizalde at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst has revealed that the climate changes experienced during the drought followed more complex patterns than previously thought. His team’s discoveries could have important implications for predicting our own society’s future.
Krti Tallam | The Importance of Estuaries for Predicting Climate Change Impacts in the Oceans
Climate change is threatening the world’s marine ecosystems in myriad ways, due to rising temperatures, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise. Another often-overlooked effect is that warmer temperatures and changing weather patterns can alter the transmission of many marine parasites and infectious diseases. Such diseases don’t just impact their host populations, as cascading effects can disrupt entire ocean food webs. Krti Tallam at Stanford University studies the evolution of marine parasites and diseases, along with the broader implications for marine ecology. In a recent review paper, Tallam focuses on critically important ecosystems within intertidal zones.
Dr Alexandra (Sasha) Pavlova – Professor Paul Sunnucks | Genetic Rescue Saves Species from Extinction
When a species’ habitat shrinks, its populations decline. Individuals that persist in remaining islands of habitat have no choice but to breed with their relatives, reducing the health and fertility of their offspring. Researchers at Monash University seek to increase genetic diversity in small populations, helping them rebound. They have established ‘genetic rescue’ methods to save many endangered species from extinction, collaborating with wildlife agencies to test solutions.
Dr Candice M. Duncan – Dr Evelyn E. Cooper | Improving Agriculture and Geoscience through Educational Initiatives
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland College Park provides exciting student experiences through three innovative programs: AgDiscovery, Summer Opportunities in Agricultural Research and the Environment (SOARE), and SOARE: Strategic Work in Applied Geosciences (SOARE:SWAG). These educational initiatives aim to build a stronger scientific workforce by inspiring young people from underserved communities to pursue science careers.
Dr Conrad Labandeira | Which Came First: Pollinating Insects or Flowers?
Historically, controlled forest burning in western North America created a forest patchwork that limited the size and severity of wildfires. Over the last 200 years, however, fire suppression created large areas of dense tree stands. As droughts and temperatures increase due to climate change, these dense forests are now at increasing risk from extremely severe wildfires.
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