Conservation on EARTH Magazine

Down to Earth With: Paleobiologist Rowan Lockwood

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 10:39:57 -0400

Rowan Lockwood, a professor of paleobiology in the Department of Geology at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, studies ecological changes through geologic time to inform modern conservation approaches. Credit: Stephen Salpukas.

In 1608, Captain John Smith noted that oysters “lay as thick as stones” on the floor of the Chesapeake Bay. The shell reefs — built up by hundreds of years of oyster generations — were so large, ships wrecked against them. And each oyster was so massive, to eat one, you had to cut it into pieces — like a steak.

Down to Earth With: Conservation engineer Emily Pidgeon

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:29:28 -0400

Emily Pidgeon, senior director of the oceans and climate program at Conservation International, led the formation of the Blue Carbon Initiative, an international nonprofit organization that works to mitigate climate change by protecting coastal ecosystems. Credit: Sarah Derouin.

“I can be a very blunt object,” says Emily Pidgeon, describing how she moves through the world and how she approaches her work. Her Australian accent, drawling yet punctuated, rises above the din of the lunch crowd at a café. She pauses a moment, and declares herself a larrikin. “Do you know that word, larrikin?” She explains that Australians have a larrikin culture — they’re troublemakers, but in a good way. “We have a healthy disrespect for authority,” she says, sipping her tea.

Celebrity climb

Tue, 27 Sep 2016 09:40:58 -0400

Located along the path to Mawenzi peak is Zebra Rock, a dark lava outcrop with white streaks of varying width formed from the leaching of overlying white calcium carbonate rocks. Credit: Zahra Hirji.

One billion people are without access to clean water today. When glacial deposits like the one atop Kilimanjaro melt away, that number will increase, some researchers say. To raise awareness about what some people are calling the global clean water crisis, a team of celebrities climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January in the “Summit On The Summit.”

Benchmarks: January 10, 2013: Pinnacles National Park is founded

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 08:51:27 -0500

Pinnacles National Park is famous for its volcanic rock spires. Credit: Lucas Joel.

The new entrance sign on Pinnacles National Park's eastern side. Credit: Lucas Joel.

On Jan. 10, 2013, when President Barack Obama signed legislation granting national park status to the former Pinnacles National Monument — designated as such by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 — the land became the country’s 59th national park. Tucked away in California’s Coast Ranges about an hour’s drive inland from Big Sur, Pinnacles covers almost 11,000 hectares of wilderness near Paicines, Calif., and is one of the main refuges for the critically endangered California condor, which nearly went extinct in the 1980s. Recently, with conservation programs like the one that exists at Pinnacles, the birds are on their way toward recovery.

Methane be dammed!

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 11:08:51 -0400

Ponds and wetlands created by beaver dams, like this one in Rhode Island, may produce significant amounts of methane. Credit: Mary Caperton Morton.

Beavers were nearly killed off in the 19th century as trappers hunted them for their soft pelts. A successful conservation effort over the past 100 years brought the dam-builders back from the brink, but a new study published in the journal AMBIO has found that all those beaver-built ponds may be producing significant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas.

Protecting the mineral treasures of Antarctica's Larsemann Hills

Mon, 29 Dec 2014 12:38:44 -0500

It was late November 2003 and not quite summer in Antarctica. As the Squirrel helicopter lifted off after delivering its last load, we set about putting up our two tents and making camp on Stornes Peninsula. The peninsula, which would serve as our home and base for fieldwork for the next two months, is part of the Larsemann Hills, a 40-square-kilometer region of rocky islands and promontories on the eastern shore of Prydz Bay, some 120 kilometers southwest of one of Australia’s Antarctic bases, Davis Station. Our only contacts with the outside world were twice-daily radio calls and an occasional helicopter flight to refurbish our larder and take out our samples. No telephone, no Internet.

Travels in Geology: Peru's petrified forest: The struggle to study and preserve one of the world's most remarkable fossil sites

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 10:53:18 -0400

Located approximately 2,800 meters high on a plateau in the Andes, Peru's petrified forest is exposed around the rim of a caldera-like basin. To the east and south of the basin, the Rio Chancay has sliced a deep canyon. Credit: Jean Schnell.

This log was lithified — preserving the rings and details of the tree's anatomy — 39 million years ago. Credit: Jean Schnell.

Tucked high in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru is a remarkable fossil locality: a 39-million-year-old petrified forest preserved in nearly pristine condition. With its existence unknown to scientists until the early 1990s — and its significance unbeknownst to villagers — this ancient forest hosts the remains of more than 40 types of trees, some still rooted, that flourished in a lowland tropical forest until they were suddenly buried by a volcanic eruption and a series of roiling torrents of mud and debris known as lahars.

Thirsty Cities: Water management in a changing environment

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The lush green backyard of a Beaufort, S.C., manor. Water is not usually a big concern in the southeastern United States. Nate Burgess, AGI

A member of SWAT (Save Water Atlanta Team) conducts a water meter investigation. City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management

A 1930s advertisement on a streetcar in Denver, Colo. Water has been a concern in Denver since the town was founded. Denver Water

A Denver Water employee conducts an irrigation audit. Denver Water

Filled recharge basin in Tucson in January 2009. Lisa Song

A dry recharge basin in Tucson, Ariz., in March 2009. Tucson collects water in these basins for future use. Lisa Song

On a clear day in November 2007, the governor of Georgia held an unusual public vigil. Before the doors of his state capitol, Gov. Sonny Perdue bowed his head, took his wife’s hand and prayed for rain.