Conservation Science

The nonprofit Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education has received a $2 million grant that will be used to expand the institute’s facility on Great Wass Island.

Paying attention to the twinned threats of climate change and species extinction requires ingenuity, cash, and nimble legal mechanisms. Two novel solutions—REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and Biodiversity Offsetting—comprise potentially win-win solutions.

SoundWaters, headquartered in Stamford, is expecting delivery Wednesday of 25 diamondback terrapin hatchlings seized when U.S. customs inspectors in Alaska intercepted an illegal shipment reportedly destined for China.

Every year, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) sends out a survey to PV solar manufacturers. Though companies do not have to respond, this does not stop the SVTC from evaluating them. It simply means there is less information and, consequently, they receive lower marks. The “Industry Leaders” on SVTC’s 5th annual 2014 scorecard are: Trina Solar (92), SunPower (88), Yingli Green Energy (81), SolarWorld (73) and REC (71).

In October 2013 Fellows Melissa Nelson and Susannah McCandless convened an event called the North American Community Environmental Leadership Exchange. The event focused on indigenous engagement in efforts to protect and restore biological and cultural resources of Native American lands. Watch a video report about the event, which Switzer helped fund with a $15,000 Network Innovation Grant.

Amanda Subalusky, who studies water quality, wanted to know if hippo poop kills fish when Kenya's Mara River floods. Getting good water samples is risky, however, because of the danger from charging hippos. Read on National Geographic how her team solved the problem

LSU ecologist James Cronin and colleague Laura Meyerson from the University of Rhode Island conducted an ambitious large-scale study on the native and invasive species of reed, Phragmites australis, in North America and Europe funded by the National Science Foundation. They found that the intensity of plant invasions by non-native species can vary considerably with changes in latitude.