Monday, June 8, 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.

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CitiesEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Laura Schifman

Let’s Paint the Town Green!

Many places around the world are searching for ways to balance a growing population while also caring for the environment. Developers, policymakers, and citizens everywhere are concerned with maintaining biodiversity while developing economies and building homes and businesses for humans. New research from the European Union aims to balance the use of ecosystem services and conservation efforts by introducing green infrastructure. This new way to look at land use can have important implications for the future of development and policy-making in the European Union, and throughout the world.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Andrew Barton

Are Eastern USA Temperate Forests Regenerating?

How can we assess the adaptive capacity of forest ecosystems to deal with human stressors? A key indicator is the extent to which forests are regenerating today, that is, producing seedlings and saplings that one day will take the place of mature trees as they age and die. In a recent study, Kathryn Miller and Brian McGill found relatively reassuring levels of regeneration in the northeast and Southeast USA, but low levels in the central mid-Atlantic portion, which could lead to declines in forest cover in this region.

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CitiesEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Laura Schifman

The biodiversity emergency: what can we all do?

There is a biodiversity crisis. The repercussions of species and habitat loss are everywhere: Animals (giant pandas or bees), and places (coral reefs), are experiencing negative human-related impacts. This means more than just loss of physical beauty; all habitats and species are interconnected, so a loss of something as seemingly small as a bee population will reduce pollination of plants that we eat. There is hope of recovery, but it begins by motivating people to help. As the world is becoming more urbanized and disconnected from nature, where does motivation for environmental conservation and stewardship come from?

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Lauren Bonatakis

Do Red Snapper Call Decommissioned Oil Rigs Home?

As natural reefs are becoming more and more scarce in the muddy bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have looked towards decommissioned oil rigs as replacements. Because red snapper are an important reef fish in the Gulf, they are used as a focal species to determine if artificial structures are as capable as natural reefs to support the reproductive potential of reef fish.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceScience through time
Ashley Riane Booth

Trees, Tempests, and Time: What trees can tell us about weather in the past

For storms along the Gulf Coast, first-person recordings are only reliable for the past 150 years. But knowing more about when storms happened in the past helps us understand how the climate is changing and how to reduce storm risks for coastal communities. To do that, we have to use even more unusual records: tree rings.

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CitiesEnvironmental ScienceHuman Exposure and Public Health
Michaela Cashman

Get the Lead Out: Lessons Learned from Flint, MI

April marks the five-year anniversary of the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan. For the past five years, the United States has watched the repercussions of polluted drinking water wreak havoc on the City of Flint. What have scientists learned since then? Read on for an abridged understanding of the crisis and learn how one researcher is utilizing the data for good.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Brittany Maule

Cover Crops: Good for Water Quality?

Cover crops have been a popular management strategy to reduce nutrient runoff from agriculture. However, evidence suggests that some cover crops may in fact release nutrients, instead of keeping them out of the water. One study explores whether five types of cover crops release phosphorus, and how that may impact water quality in the important Great Lakes region.

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Environmental ScienceHuman Exposure and Public Health
Aidan Barry

Dung Beetles and Soil Bacteria Promote Food Safety

Having a diverse farm benefits everyone Not only will the soils be richer and the number of different crops grow higher but also diversity may also potentially be safer. By limiting the use of pesticides and maintaining various landscapes throughout a farmland, organic farming increases the number of insects, namely beetles, and bacteria that help break down potential pathogens before they infiltrate the growing crops. Jones and colleagues examined 70 vegetable fields throughout California and conducted several laboratory experiments to find that organic farms had richer, more diverse communities of beetles and soil bacteria that help breakdown foodborne pathogens.

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Case StudiesEnvironmental Science
Laine Farber

Tiny Doctors: Cleaner Shrimp Heal Wounds and Aid in Sustainable Fish Production

Throw out the antibiotics and bring in the shrimp! In a recent study, researchers at the Center for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture found cleaner shrimp to be an effective biologic control in preventing parasitic infestations in farm-raised fish.

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