Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Can the forests of the world's oceans contribute to alleviating the climate crisis?

    June 24, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Australia, Tasmania

    A researcher in Tasmania is working to create climate-resilient “super-kelp” that could survive in its new climate along the coastline and help absorb carbon to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. Other conservationists around the world are using different techniques to revitalize its diminishing kelp forests. In California, they have hand-cleared 52 acres of invasive purple urchins from the seas to bring back its kelp forest. While kelp can be tricky to work with, rebuilding these forests is one way to combat climate change.

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  • Can social enterprise fix Pakistan's waste problem?

    May 26, 2020 |

    Pioneers Post |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Pakistan, Islamabad

    Two organizations in Pakistan are working to tackle the country’s waste problem. Saaf Suthra Sheher in Islamabad set up partnerships with offices and schools to process their dry waste like plastics and glass. TrashIt, a Karachi-based group, collects organic waste from vegetable sellers and restaurants and then processes and sells it as compost. Although the two organizations can only process so much of the waste produced in cities, they argue that until an effective municipal waste collection system is implemented, they can educate individuals and businesses about how to recycle properly.

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  • In the forests of New Zealand, indigenous Maori and Western scientists work through past injustices to save a threatened species together

    May 19, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: New Zealand

    A native tree species known as the kauri is being threatened by a deadly pathogen in New Zealand, so Western scientists, the government, and the Māori people are working together to stop it. Early tests suggest that chemical signals from other plants might be able to distract the pathogen and slow down the spread of it. However, collaboration between scientists and indigenous people was not easy, but they were able to build trust between each other.

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  • 'Cool pavement' experiments help urban planners find ways to ease rising temperatures

    May 15, 2020 |

    AZ Central (The Arizona Republic) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    To combat the effects of rising temperatures due to climate change, Los Angeles piloted an experiment called “cool pavements,” where they coat streets with a light-colored sealant to reflect heat. Researchers are studying how effective this method is at reducing the urban heat island effect. Using a mobile sensor station, they found mixed results: While the surface temperature of the road was cooler, a person could feel warmer on the reflective roads. Figuring out how to balance different heat-mitigating strategies could be helpful as cities like Phoenix figure out how to implement cooling infrastructure.

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  • The Business of Burps: Scientists Smell Profit in Cow Emissions

    May 01, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Lancaster, England

    A company called Mootral is studying whether changing a cattle’s diet could make the animals belch and flatulate less methane. They created a food supplement out of compounds from garlic, citrus, and other additives, that in early tests, has shown a decrease in a cow’s emission of the greenhouse gas. If they can get investors on board and scale it to different breeds of cows and in different climates, it could help the agricultural and farming industries to combat climate change.

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  • Working to recover the ocean ecosystems that sea urchins gobbled

    April 22, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    In partnership with the company Urchinomics, a lab in California is developing a type of feed that helps sea urchins captured in the wild grow so they can sell them for commercial purposes. Sea urchins have been ravaging bull kelp forests along the coasts and scientists are looking to sustainably control the urchin population. The algae-based feed that scientists produced helps the urchins grow and produce uni — the urchin’s edible gonads — which are sold to restaurants, and a test run of the product in Japan was well-received.

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  • Here comes the sun canoe, as Amazonians take on Big Oil

    March 13, 2020 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Ecuador, Kapawi

    The Kara Solar Foundation is looking to connect indigenous communities in Achuar territory in Ecuador to learn about solar power as an alternative to oil. By building solar-powered canoes, they can replace vessels that burn fossil fuels into the atmosphere. While the two boats in operation have run into technical problems, the intercultural training programs are instructing Achuar people on how to fix the technology. “Sustained and truly intercultural collaborations can create technological solutions that serve indigenous communities, rather than destroying them,” says Oliver Utne, the foundation's founder.

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  • In Kenya, herders turn an invasive cactus into biofuel

    March 12, 2020 |

    Deutsche Welle (DW) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Kenya, Laikipia County

    The invasive prickly pear cactus is spreading over grazing lands in Kenya and is harming herders’ livestock. So a local environmental science graduate is testing a system to turn the cacti into biogas. While the system can be expensive to install, the gas can be used for cooking and fertilizer, which can free up time for pastoralists and reduce the amount of firewood used. The graduate is training eight women’ groups to use the system.

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  • University of Notre Dame converts tons of dining hall leftovers into energy

    February 25, 2020 |

    National Catholic Reporter |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Notre Dame, Indiana

    The University of Notre Dame installed three Grind2Energy systems, which aims to reduce the amount of food waste from the campus’ dining halls. The systems process the waste and send it to a local dairy farm where they break down the material to produce biogas that is used to generate electrical power for 1,000 homes each day in Plymouth, Indiana. While not everyone at the university has committed to the sustainability efforts, these systems can be scaled to be used on other college campuses.

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  • Alaskan Roulette

    February 25, 2020 |

    Grist |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Old Harbor, Alaska

    An initiative called the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research is the state’s first coordinated testing effort to ensure that harvesters are not selling shellfish that contain paralytic shellfish poisoning. The program keeps track of data from 42 beaches in southern Alaska. However, the program only covers a small part of the active fishing sites in the state, so data is limited. But since the testing program was set up, no one at those sites have become sick.

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