Can Cities Feed Us?

Conservation, July-September 2010, pages 16-21.

For every acre of land cultivated in a high-rise urban farm, 10 to 20 acres of current cropland could go wild.

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Local Food: The Economics

WorldWatch, Vol. 22, No. 4, July/August 2009.

In the second article in my two-part series on local food, I take a closer look at the argument that local food benefits local economies.

Read an excerpt here.

Is Local Food Better?

World Watch, Vol. 22, No. 3, May/June 2009. (Cover article.)

Yes, but not in the way most people think. This article digs into the complexities of life-cycle analysis in an effort to move the conversation beyond food miles to a broader understanding of the carbon footprint of what we eat.

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Pollination Panic

World Watch, November/December 2008.

Honeybees are disappearing. Can native pollinators rebound to fill in the gap?

Read an excerpt here.

War and the Environment

World Watch, Vol. 21, No. 1, January/February 2008. (Cover article.)

How human conflict shapes the landscape, from the jungles of Vietnam to the marshes of Iraq.

Read the full text here.

Climate Change, Coming Home

World Watch, Vol. 20, No. 3, July/August 2007. (Cover article.)

Global warming's effects on populations.

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Bye, Bye, Birdie

World Watch, July/August 2006.

How many of the world's species are humans driving out of existence? And how do we know? A detailed look at the extinction crisis.

Read the full text here.

Discovery Island

Columns, December 2005. Vol. 25, No. 4, pages 36-39.

Environmental science took a decisive turn on an obscure island off the northwest corner of Washington. The way we look at—and try to save—our world has never been the same.

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Dark Secret of the Lake

New Scientist, Vol. 181 No. 2436, 28 February 2004, pages 40-43.

Lake Victoria’s cichlid fish have suffered a terrible decline in the past 20 years, but the prime culprit is not what scientists initially suspected.

Read an excerpt here.

Reflections on the Pond

Conservation in Practice, Vol. 5 No. 1, Winter 2004, pages 20-27.

The pond is the universal icon for wetlands. But to Joy Zedler, ponds are the ecological equivalent of fast-food chains, an emblem of the homogenization of the contemporary landscape.

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Lost and Found

Conservation in Practice, Vol. 4 No. 3, Summer 2003, pages 32-38.

In Lake Victoria, researchers have rediscovered an “extinct” cichlid. Capitalizing on this serendipitous conservation opportunity, they have found a way to reconcile species recovery and fisheries.

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The World’s Toughest Bacterium

Genome News Network, July 5, 2002.

Deinococcus radiodurans may be a tool for cleaning up toxic waste and more.

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Old Science, New Science

Conservation in Practice, Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 2002, pages 20-27.

Incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into contemporary management.

(With Chuck Striplen.)

Read the full text here.

The First Sequenced Extremophile

Genome News Network, February 1, 2002.

What scientists have learned from the M. jannaschii genome.

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What Really is an Evolutionarily Significant Unit?

Conservation Biology in Practice, Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 2002, pages 10-17. (Cover article.)

The debate over integrating genetics and ecology in conservation biology.

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Resurrection

New Scientist, Vol. 170 No. 2293, 2 June 2001, pages 38-41.

Even in the built-up San Francisco Bay Area, vestiges of the pristine past linger on ready to spring back to life. But first, you have to find them.

Read an excerpt here.

Streams of Data

Genome News Network, May 28, 2001.

Scientists are using DNA sequencers in efforts to conserve species of Pacific salmon.

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Salmon and Suburbs Struggle Over a Washington River

High Country News, August 30, 1999.

Part of a special issue on the Endangered Species Act and Habitat Conservation Plans, my first freelance feature article tackled the HCP for the Cedar River, source of Seattle's drinking water.

Read the full text here.