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  • Tree-lined bike path

    Note from the author: A few months ago, I wrote a blog post focused on communicating about and acting upon climate change, given its inherent, scientific uncertainties.  Though a strong consensus that climate change is real and largely driven by anthropogenic sources has been reached by the scientific community, the public remains unwilling to engage and act on this consensus.   This is problematic; scientists must be more effective at communicating controversial and often uncertain science, such as climate change, to the public.  This blog post follows up with insights on encouraging the critical behavioral changes needed to slow humanity’s contributions to climate change.  These insights were adapted from the book Switch: How to Change Thi

  • Cabin in the snowy woods

    By Louis Hilgemann

    After parking our car where the Forest Service road is no longer plowed, I step outside to be greeted by the howling of a nearby wolf pack. We load up our gear, put on our skis, and glide into the woods under the illumination of the Milky Way. An hour later the moon is peaking over the pines, outshining the stars and pouring light into the Northwoods, which I have grown to love. Approaching the glowing cabin window in the distance I am greeted by my friend Thistle, a massive polar husky retired sled dog. I open the cabin door, wipe the fog off my glasses, and warm up next to the wood burning stove. It’s good to be back.

  • Family of four pose while wading in a creek
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    Content Author
    Lisa Schulte Moore

    "What's the action of greatest impact?"

    This is the question I have taped to the top of my computer screen. As a scientist, educator, and mom concerned with the fate of our planet, it’s something I contemplate on a daily basis. I recently had the opportunity to plumb the depths of my mind regarding this question while on a 500 mile solo road trip through arguably one of the planet’s most altered regions: the U.S. Corn Belt. One of the answers I came up with was to teach my children well, especially regarding the laws of nature and human interactions with them. I try to do so through our everyday activities—some spontaneous, and some planned—in the great outdoors of our local community.

  • Risk communication worksheet

    By Emily Zimmerman

    How many times a day does someone ask you if you’re certain: are you certain you want to cancel your reservation? Stay home rather than going out with friends? Bring your laptop with you?  Or how many times a day do you internally second guess yourself: do really want to order another beer? Should I have turned left back there? Will I or won’t I need my umbrella? Uncertainty and incomplete information are hallmark characteristics of our daily lives. Though the questions above are seemingly trivial, take a moment and consider how many times you have needed think about a choice.

  • Todd holding a root core sample

    By Todd Ontl

    What do National Beer Day (April 7) and National Tortilla Chip Day (my personal favorite, Feb. 24) have in common? Neither would be possible without soil. Good thing Dec. 5 was World Soils Day!

    I was recently reading an article in celebration of World Soils Day highlighting the numerous and awesome benefits of organic matter for healthy soils. Having spent the better part of the last five years thinking deeply about soil organic matter, I wasn’t surprised to read many of these amazing benefits. But I was a bit surprised to read this:

    For each 1% increase in soil organic matter, soil can store an additional 20,000 gallons of water.”

  • Lisa giving a talk in a pub
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    Content Author
    Lisa Schulte Moore

    Being a native of Wisconsin -- land of beer, brats, and polkas -- I've always dreamed of delivering a science presentation with a drink in my hand. I'd like to tell you that the realization of that dream was the whole reason I volunteered for a Science Café, but that wouldn't be entirely true. The real reason has more to do with a serendipity: the email announcing the Ecological Society of America's sponsorship of a Science Café in conjunction with the 2013 Annual Meeting showed up in my in-box just as I was embarking on a new journey as a Leopold Leadership Fellow.

  • Three people fiercely eating peaches at a market

    By Rayma Cooley

    Hi, my name is Rayma Cooley and I am fiercely passionate about where my food comes from.  I have been an on-again, off-again vegan for the last ten years.  I wish I could say that my initial decision to eat this way came from some kind of virtuous awakening I had over schmoozing with a cute cow, but in all honesty, I had a fervent hot dog addiction.  I was, what I will call, a monochromatic food addict.  In my mind, the only way to get off this slippery slope was to give up all meat and everything associated with it.  That’s just how my crazy mind works sometimes- go all in.

  • Can and Lisa posing for a picture

    By Can Chen

    As a Chinese person who came to USA the first time, I am impressed by so many differences between the two cultures and environments. Here are a few of them:

    1 - People are so sweet. Almost every person I meet in the lanes in downtown Ames or the campus will say "Hello, how are you doing?" to me with big smiles. I am flattered, but am not used to it because I do not get the sweet greetings from people walking in my hometown. This is maybe because there are so many people you can meet in streets that it is impossible for us to greet each other in China. However, the kind atmosphere really makes me feel warm in my heart, especially after I just arrived.

  • Combine harvesting a field

    By Emily Zimmerman

    During the past month, millions of Americans disappointedly watched as our government failed to pass a spending plan for our Nation.  As a result, over 800,000 Americans were placed on immediate and indefinite furlough without pay.  Critical departments such as the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services furloughed over half of their employees.  Other departments, such as the Department of the Interior, and programs, such as the National Science Foundation, were slashed more severely and rendered fundamentally ineffective.  Thankfully, after 16 days, a spending plan was approved and the government re-opened. 

  • Members of the LESEM Lab posing by the lake

    By the LESEM Lab

    Hello world!  Collectively, the Landscape Ecology and Sustainable Ecosystem Management Lab has decided to start a lab blog.  In this, our first post, we outline a few reasons why we have elected to embark on this new adventure and form of communication.

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