Rethinking Infrastructure
By Matt Artz Roads and highways, gas and electricity and water distribution systems, wastewater collection and treatment systems, railroads, airports, cable television, the Internet … all are important...
View ArticleHumans and Nature in the Age of Design
By Matt Artz The relationship between humans and nature is defined by change. We evolved as did other animals—just one small piece of a very complex ecosystem. This changed radically when we began to...
View ArticleBotswana’s Bold Move: A Ban on Trophy Hunting by 2014
By Matt Artz Botswana is an interesting case study in what a country can do right in Africa. When Botswana first gained independence from the British in 1966, it had a GDP per capita of just $70. A...
View ArticleFracking Truth: O National Academy of Sciences, Where Art Thou?
In June of this year, the National Academy of Sciences released a report examining the likelihood of earthquakes being induced by underground energy technologies in which there is a net deposit or...
View ArticleA Society Built on a Foundation of Contempt for People Who are Different...
In January 1976, I moved to South Africa. I was 13 years old. It was my first time out of the United States. It was my first time on an airplane. But it wasn’t my first time moving away from home:...
View ArticleA Different Kind of Wild
What is “wilderness”? In the United States, we have a very specific, legal definition of the term. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88–577) defines wilderness as such: “A wilderness, in contrast...
View ArticleEarthzine Seeks Student Essays on ‘Science Technology for Observing Earth’s...
What are your perspectives on advances in Earth science technology? Earthzine (Earthzine.org) invites undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to submit an essay to its 2013 Student...
View ArticleOutbreak: Homo sapiens
“From the ecological point of view an outbreak can be defined as an explosive increase in the abundance of a particular species that occurs over a relatively short period of time. From this...
View ArticleOff the Grid?
It’s been more than 20 years since I regularly wore a watch. For the first 10 years, it was because I found that I never really needed to look at one—there was a clock built in to the dashboard of my...
View ArticleRhino Troubles
I was dying to get to Botswana, to help out with the conservation research work being done in the Tuli Wilderness, and even more so to just immerse myself once again in the African landscape and...
View ArticleThe Power of a Single Image
By Matt Artz It’s one of the most frequently reproduced and instantly recognizable photographs in history. The US Postal Service used the image on a stamp. Time magazine featured it on the cover. It...
View ArticleImagine, Joshua Tree National Park, without a single Joshua tree…
Known for its iconic namesake the Joshua tree — Yucca brevifolia, which isn’t even a tree, but a member of the Yucca family — this Joshua Tree National Park has much to offer the visitor including...
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