Sunday, June 7, 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:

Environmental Science
John Foster

Can a newly invasive tick spread Lyme disease?

As spring arrives, animals of all shapes and sizes, native or invasive, come out from sheltering over winter. Unfortunately, this also includes pests that we might not be so excited to see again, including those that spread disease such as mosquitoes and ticks. Lyme disease is the most prevalent tick-borne disease in the United States, and spread by native black-legged ticks. However, since 2017 there has been an invasive tick expanding into Lyme disease territory, but the question of whether these invasive ticks can spread Lyme disease remains unanswered.

Read More
ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Laura Schifman

Turtle Hatch Rates Skyrocket after Incubation

Sea turtles are often seen as a “poster-child” animal for conservation efforts in coastal areas. Beaches are covered with signs, and local groups search every night for mothers’ nests so they can put up protective barriers and increase the hatching success. However, for other species of turtles, like the freshwater spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinifera), simple protection of the nests are not currently an effective way to increase hatching success. Instead, researchers have found incubating the eggs of spiny softshell turtles more than doubled the hatching success rate, which may help save this endangered population in Québec, Canada.

Read More
Environmental Science
Lauren Bonatakis

The use of albatrosses as a conservation tool

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses an imminent threat to biodiversity in our oceans. Notoriously difficult to track, fishing vessels are able to elude traditional tracking measures. Authors H. Weimerskirch et. al. introduce the concept of the “ocean sentinel”, where sea birds that are naturally attracted to fishing vessels are equipped with bio-loggers. Data from these loggers help locate where, when, and how frequently IUU is occuring.

Read More
CitiesEnvironmental Science
Jessica Wright

Energy Transition in Paradise: Hawaiian case study on how to approach wide-scale renewable energy transitions

Imagine yourself lounging on a beautiful beach in Hawaii. Picture an ice cold drink in your hand, the warm breeze on your face, and the ocean tides churning in front of you. Relaxing and picture-perfect, right? One question you may not have asked yourself is where and how does Hawaii get its energy? In the age of sustainability and the growing importance of renewable energy sources, an investigation of Hawaii’s energy dilemma proves an exciting read.

Read More
CitiesHuman Exposure and Public Health
Connor Rosenblatt

A Walk in the Park is Better with Birds

Green spaces in cities do wonders for our health, but what types of green spaces are best? A recent study found that people tend to experience greater happiness in parks with a high diversity of bird species. This helps inform city planners that when designing parks, trying to maximize bird life should be a high priority.

Read More
EcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceHuman Exposure and Public Health
Andrew Barton

COVID-19: Bats are Not the Problem, The Wildlife Market Is

“The need for public education about bats, including their positive and negative impacts, is urgent and vital to their conservation.” (Zhao 2020)

Read More
Ecosystems
Garrett Frandson

To bugs in streams, fine sediment is not so fine

Clearing land for agriculture often leads to decreased flow velocities and in increase in fine sediment additions in nearby streams. While many stream bugs rely on small fine sediments, too much of it can detrimentally affect them. Changes to flow velocities and inputs of fine sediment in affected streams are not always equal in magnitude, so an experiment was run to see the responses of aquatic macroinvertebrates to various combinations of flow and sediment conditions. The scientists found fine sediments negatively impacted almost all stream bugs and that low flows exacerbated the problem.

Read More
ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jessica Espinosa

As Oceans Change, HABs Invade

Global ocean temperatures are currently rising and have been for decades. Scientists are working to discover how this changing climate affects species around the world, from the very large to the very small. This includes phytoplankton, the microscopic marine algae that live in most bodies of water around the globe and produce half the world’s oxygen. But some of these species are toxic, and can cause harm to human and wildlife alike if they are able to grow out of control. Though a number of studies have been undertaken to try and understand more about these harmful algal blooms, much is still unknown about their growth. A group of scientists were interested in how changing ocean temperatures affected the geographic ranges of harmful algal blooms over time in order to better predict blooms in the future.

Read More
ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Elisabeth Lang

Coral reefs are in hot water: Could upwelling save the day?

Coral reefs do best in warm water, but when the water gets too hot, they bleach. Upwelling, which brings cooler water from the deeper parts of the ocean, occurs worldwide, including where coral reefs can be found. With climate change, ocean temperatures are increasing and coral bleaching events are happening more frequently. Could upwelling help protect coral reefs from hot water?

Read More