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Achoo! Snot-Collecting Drones Are Revolutionizing Whale Research

Ian Evans

August 25, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Traditionally, whales have been studied through research vessels, which are hard to maneuver, and costly to make. However, drones with the ability to capture a whale’s snot, are providing a much easier, and cheaper alternative to whale research.

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Coral Triage: Scientists Zero in on Reefs With Best Chance of Survival

Paul Tullis

August 24, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia

Coral reefs on the brink of near extinction, but the more we know about the reefs themselves, the better chance they have to survive - or so says a group of coral reef specialists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. This group has implemented a 3-D imaging mapping project at the University of Queensland in Australia with the goal of equipping communities with the knowledge needed to help coral reefs survive another major bleaching event.

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Tweet Streams: How Social Media Can Help Keep Tabs on Ocean Health

Bela Stantic Rod Connolly Susanne Becken

August 18, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Australia, Queensland

In an effort to collect data about the environmental health of high traffic destinations, researchers are examining the text and images of geotagged social media posts. Tweets about the Great Barrier Reef were analyzed for relevant information about specifically where people visited, common activities, and common complaints. While people passively provided data by geotagging posts, researchers are also proposing creating hashtags that allow for people to actively communicate data to researchers through social media posts.

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‘Upcycling' Ocean Plastic Trash Comes into Fashion

Erica Cirino

August 07, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Cape Porpoise, Maine

When global oil prices drop, so do incentives to recycle plastic materials, and even more plastic debris and trash ends up collecting in our oceans and ecosystem. An alternative solution in the form of "up-cycling" is helping to combat plastic pollution, as nonprofits and do-gooders who gather beach and ocean trash partner up with companies and retailers to produce desirable products crafted from materials collected out of the oceans.

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Robot Revolution: New Generation of Cheap Drones to Explore the Seas

Matthew O. Berger

July 31, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Half Moon Bay, California

There's a robot revolution happening in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it's all in the name of mapping our oceans. This boom of technological innovation is helping bring lower-cost tools to both researchers and citizens. These consumers in turn use the devices to take photos during their excursions that ultimately create a network of ocean data that helps map the realities of concerns such as ocean acidification, rising water temperatures and overfishing.

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New Hampshire goats act as poison ivy control

Julie Huss

July 30, 2017 |

The Salem News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Londonderry, New Hampshire

In Londonderry, New Hampshire, the Carriage Shack Farm hire out goats to eat unwanted plants like poison ivy or bittersweet. Contrary to humans, they aren’t harmed by the plant and actually enjoy eating it. Prior to being hired, the farm trains the goats so that their appetites and stomachs aren’t adversely affected.

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Ghost Gear Busters: Paying Fishers to Collect Derelict Nets, Traps

Erica Cirino

July 26, 2017 |

News Deeply |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

"Ghost gear" describes the nets, lines, and other debris lost off the back of commercial fishing boats in staggering amounts each year, and it spells death for hundreds of thousands of marine animals and birds who get tangled in it. Previously, there was little financial incentive to pull this litter back out of the water, but a new public-private partnership called Fishing For Energy is paying fishers to gather up ghost gear and help recycle it, as well as developing new technologies to prevent bycatch and educating communities about the issue.

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Mexico launches pioneering scheme to insure its coral reef

Fiona Harvey

July 20, 2017 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Cancún, Quintana Roo

Climate change is a mounting threat to coral reefs, which serve not just as critical habitats for ocean life and a draw for the tourism industry, but also as a buffer to the increasing storms caused by changing weather patterns. In the first scheme of its kind, private businesses, nonprofits, and the government in Mexico's Yucatán Penninsula are combining financial resources to take out an insurance policy on their coral reefs. The insurance will help rebuild the reefs after storms and man-made damage, and fund new ways to keep them healthy.

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A Cheap Fix for Climate Change? Pay People Not to Chop Down Trees

Brad Plumer

July 20, 2017 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Hoima, Kibaale, Western Region

In a randomized experiment in western Uganda, scientists demonstrated the effectiveness of paying rural farmers not to chop down trees since deforestation contributes to CO2 emissions worldwide. They studied for two years the declines in forest cover between a control group (no payment) and the participant group (paid). Building on a United Nations project in which wealthy nations pay poorer ones in an attempt to equalize the costs of responding to climate change, the outcome of the project proves the existence of a low-cost environmental policy solution to stemming rising global temperatures.

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Sustainability Report: High-Tech Coral Reef Monitoring

Margo Pierce

July 13, 2017 |

Paste Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Monterey Bay, California

Increasing coral reef resiliency has become a top priority for many marine scientists, leading to the creation of new tools that take advantage of new technology. Benthic Ecosystem and Acidification Measurements System (BEAMS) is one such creation that acts as an autonomous reef monitoring system, allowing researchers to collect data continuously and at a previously unparalleled rate.

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