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  • The Farmer Trying to Save Italy's Ancient Olive Trees

    April 29, 2021 |

    Atlas Obscura |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Italy, Gagliano del Capo, Puglia

    An imported strain of bacteria is threatening to destroy olive trees in Italy that produce about 12 percent of the world’s olive oil. An agronomist is working with other scientists to graft trees — taking a different kind of tree that could be resistant to the bacteria and inserting it into the trunk of an older tree. After years of trial and error, they’ve found some success. On one farm, 70 percent of the grafts used have survived. But conspiracy theories and financial difficulties have made it a challenge to have a coordinated response to the problem.

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  • The fight to save India's most elusive cat

    April 18, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: India, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

    After a fishing cat was first documented in an Indian coastal city, state authorities, scientists, and conservationists sought to understand how many felines called the wetland home. Using camera traps, they observed 10 individual fishing cats among the mangrove forests, though this method of estimating the population is tricky. Another survey is underway as researchers study how the health of these habitats are linked to the health of the fishing cats, and how to effectively educate locals about the importance of protecting this species.

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  • Is Seaweed The Key To Carbon Offsets?

    April 17, 2021 |

    Freethink |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Maine

    Running Tide Technologies, a shellfish hatchery in Maine, is betting on kelp forests as a way to store carbon deep in the ocean and sell that carbon to corporations looking to combat climate change and offset their own emissions. The startup is growing mini-farms of kelp on biodegradable floats and after a few months, they sink to the seafloor. More research is needed to see if it works, but they already have about 1,600 floats adrift in the ocean and the e-commerce company Shopify is the first to buy carbon offsets from them.

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  • Having Your Desalination and Eating It, Too

    April 09, 2021 |

    Hakai Magazine |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: Spain, Canary Islands

    A pilot experiment in the Canary Islands seeks to recycle brine waste from desalination plants to grow hydroponic tomatoes. The leftover brine can be harmful for seagrass along the coast, so researchers looked into ways to create a nutrient solution that could be used to raise tomatoes. Though the yield of the tomatoes using the brine solution was lower, they did have a sweeter taste.

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  • Seaweed Diet for Cows Lowers How Much Methane They Produce: Study

    April 07, 2021 |

    KNTV-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Under 3 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Davis, California

    Researchers at University of California, Davis found that cows that were fed a small amount of seaweed in their diet drastically reduced the amount of methane they emitted, which could be a low-cost climate solution for farmers. They saw an 82 percent reduction in methane in beef cows and there was also no detectable difference in the taste of the beef. More research is needed to be done to see how these results apply in other settings.

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  • Helping animals cross the road and other obstacles

    April 06, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: Indonesia, Java

    As human infrastructure continues to threaten animal habitats, researchers are coming up with ways to use artificial structures as bridges for these creatures to get where they need to go. In Indonesia, irrigation pipes help farmers water their crops, but they’re also used by slow lorises to cross over the farmlands. In Brazil, a bridge crossing a major highway will be used by golden lion tamarins to avoid the busy traffic.

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  • Simple hand-built structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

    March 26, 2021 |

    Science News |

    Multi-Media |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Idaho

    Conservationists, government agencies, scientists, and landowners are working together to restore streams using low-cost solutions from sticks, stones, and even beavers. Restoring these floodplains is important to help communities combat drought and wildfires. In Idaho, scientists relocated nine beavers to Birch Creek so they could help repair the dried-up stream. In three years, the beavers built dams, which helped the creek flow for longer in the summer. This method might not work everywhere, so scientists have also tested stone structures, which also proved effective at improving the ecosystem.

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  • ‘Our biggest challenge? Lack of imagination': the scientists turning the desert green

    March 20, 2021 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Netherlands, s’-Hertogenbosch

    A Dutch group of engineers known as the Weather Makers has an ambitious plan to regreen the Sinai Peninsula — the stretch of desert connecting Egypt to the rest of Asia. Their efforts would restore forests, wetlands, and even adjust the weather for the region. This form of ecosystems regeneration could help with food security and mitigate the effects of climate change. Their process of changing an entire ecosystem can be controversial, but initial tests have shown how this could work on a large scale.

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  • How Do You Kill an Invasive Species? Bring in a Bigger, Meaner Species to Eat It

    March 16, 2021 |

    The Walrus |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Canada, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

    An insect that makes its home on eastern hemlocks in Nova Scotia has the power to wipe out the tree species if left unchecked. Scientists are looking to a strategy called biological control — a historically controversial approach — that would introduce a new predatory species to kill the insect. After rigorous lab testing showed a small black beetle only attacked their targets and didn’t disrupt other ecosystems, they released them in 2003 at an orchard on Vancouver Island. Results show they have been somewhat effective, but it’s unclear if it will completely solve the problem.

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  • How Jersey City Middle Schoolers Stopped a Flood

    March 12, 2021 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Jersey City, New Jersey

    In a science class in a local New Jersey school, students came up with a green solution to a storm water management and flooding problem in their parking lot when it rained. With help from the Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program out of Rutgers University and funding from city agencies, they were able to build planters and install concrete to absorb the runoff. The project galvanized the community, encouraging the school to expand their STEM curriculum.

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