Saturday, June 6, 2026

Welcome to Envirobites

We want to make cutting edge research in the environmental sciences accessible to all by highlighting recent studies and explaining how these advances shape the understanding of our world.

Interested? Subscribe below:

Animal behavior
Brandi Pessman

Stop Copying Me! – Spiders that buzz like wasps

Buzzzzzz. It’s a wasp. It’s a bee. No, it’s a spider! Did you know that some spiders can make a sound? Palpimanus spiders can produce a wasp-like buzz by rubbing their front appendages against their mouthparts. Many animals have learned not to eat anything that buzzes for fear of being stung. To avoid being eaten, Palpimanus spiders have copied this sound even though they are entirely harmless. Stop by to find out what all of the spider buzz is about!

Read More
CitiesClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jessica Wright

Blue and green make grey work better: how blue and green infrastructure can improve equity of ecosystem services in urban areas

Andersson, E. J. Langemeyer, S. Borgström, T. McPhearson, D. Haase, J. Kronenberg, D.N. Barton, M. Davis, S. Naumann, L. Röschel,

Read More
Case StudiesEnvironmental Science
Rohini Shivamoggi

Where Categorizing Hurricanes Falls Short

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating hurricanes in history, leading to over 1800 fatalities and tying Hurricane Harvey as the costliest hurricane on record. But at the time Katrina made landfall, it was “only” ranked as Category 3 by the Saffir-Simpson scale, which goes up to Category 5. So why did Katrina, at only Category 3, cause so much more destruction than most Category 5 storms? And what does that tell us about what the Saffir-Simpson scale is missing?

Read More
Animal behaviorEcosystems
Lucila Bloemendaal

Lending a helping hand (or fin)

In the wild we often think organisms compete with each other in the struggle for survival, but many species, including the unassuming oyster, actually help each other out. Helping organisms from the same and different species can lead to healthier ecosystems where more than just one group benefits.

Read More
Environmental Science
Jenna Zukswert

What All the Buzz is About: Comparing Citizen Scientist and Professional Data Quality in Mosquito Monitoring

Executive summary: Citizen science efforts are on the rise for monitoring mosquitoes, but are these methods as good as professional data collection by scientists? Nadja Pernat and her colleagues evaluate data collected by scientists and citizens in Germany and find that both types of data collection have their strengths and weaknesses, but they complement each other well. Together, data collected by scientists and citizens create a strong mosquito monitoring program.

Read More
Case StudiesEnvironmental Science
Connor Rosenblatt

Will climate change bring cultural change?

Sometimes science isn’t enough to protect a species. Sometimes, culture is necessary. People are likely to care most about protecting species they find culturally important. But are these culturally important species the most threatened due to climate change? A case study from Costa Rica offers some insights into this question.

Read More
EcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceRemediation
Brianne Palmer

What does the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration mean for you?

The Decade of Ecological Restoration is nearly here! The process of helping ecosystems regain function and biodiversity is a new and complex field. It requires collaboration across academic disciplines and requires connecting the needs of humans and ecosystems. So, what can restoration ecologists learn from sociologists to bridge the gap between humans and nature and help make the coming decade a success?

Read More
Animal behaviorScience through time
Brandi Pessman

Clues to the Past – What fossils tell us about ancient animal behavior

Hundreds of millions of years ago, Earth was teeming with life. Since humans weren’t around back then, we have to rely on fossils for snapshots into that world. Fossils give clues on how animals and their behaviors have evolved throughout geological time and can help with today’s conservation efforts. But what can fossils tell us about animal behavior, and when were some of the earliest behaviors? That’s a mystery worth digging into!

Read More
Ecosystems
Munim Deen

New GIS-based Methods Allow More Accurate Estimation of Conservation Costs

The total costs of land conservation includes costs of acquisition, maintenance, preservation, logistics, and sometimes litigation. Many time, these costs have been far above what was budgeted for them, partly due to flawed methods of estimating those costs in the first place. New mapping techniques show first, the flaws in these methods, and second, the potential to estimate the actual costs far more accurately. This will allow for more efficient planning, and a lower likelihood of conservation projects encountering unexpected costs.

Read More