Have you always wanted a little green friend for your dorm room or apartment, but don’t know how you can keep one alive when you can barely take care of yourself during midterms week? Northwestern sophomore Austin Li is what you may call an expert college-age plant owner, and he shared with ION his tips and tricks on how he grew his collection of house plants and kept them thriving.
Read MoreWhile land-based ecosystems are dominated by towering trees and gargantuan flora, the oceans are ruled by organisms too little to be seen by the naked eye. Technically, you owe every second breath you take to this diverse assemblage of marine microbes called phytoplankton. But, what exactly are these tiny beings, and how are they able to have such a dramatic impact on our planet?
Read MoreThis fall, Danielle Johnson embarked on a 3-month stay in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for her journalism residency. Throughout her stay, she captured the natural beauty of an area where over 97 percent of the land is publicly protected.
Read More“Chris Wilt, my dad, was given his first hunting dog from an uncle when he was just a teenager. Many years later, working and hunting with dogs remains one of his primary interests and hobbies.” In Our Nature’s Ali Wilt documented her father as he worked with his 8-month-old Kaiser, usually called Kai, on a pheasant hunt.
Read MoreIt takes a lot to make a movie. Sitting in front of the silver screen, it becomes easy to forget about what happens behind the scenes to create the final Hollywood product. The cost of creating that movie magic is oftentimes extensive and irresponsible environmental damage. Ginny Lee has the story.
Read MoreOver a hundred years ago, members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi filed claims of ownership to land built into Lake Michigan in what is now known as Streeterville. Today, this land is home to Navy Pier, part of the Magnificent Mile, and the downtown Northwestern campus. John Low, enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and professor at Ohio State University at Newark, discusses this land built into the waters of Lake Michigan.
Read MoreTo thru-hike the 2,000-mile trail spanning the entirety of the Appalachian Mountains is a feat that the most expert hikers take years to prepare for. But for Jacob Myers, a nature enthusiast from North Carolina, his thru-hike was cut short after 17 days when trails were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March. Ali Wilt has the story.
Read MoreA local group is doing battle against our culture of waste. Spanish immigrant Beatriz Echeverria founded the Evanston Repair Clinic in 2018 to combat what she sees as Americans' tendency to throw away and replace broken items rather than attempting to repair them. The clinic started out as a place where people could go to get their belongings fixed for free, but its mission eventually became to teach them how to do repairs themselves. It's part of a worldwide movement promoting repair as the key to a more sustainable life.
Read MoreRead how different environmental groups are showing a shift from the environmental movement of decades past, conservation focused and with a racist history, towards environmental justice and making the environmental movement more inclusive. This shift is reflected in the support environmental groups are showing for the Black Lives matter movement, a few of which have statements quoted in this piece.
Read MoreKatrina Holland attended BuildingResilience19, a sustainability conference in Cleveland, Ohio, in November of last year. She shares the initiatives the city is taking in order to prepare for a climate crisis.
Read MoreIf the current pandemic has you at home like many of us, here are a few suggestions to fill up some time - whether they’re keeping you distracted, stimulated, productive, or anything else is up to you!
Read MoreRead up on initiatives for sustainability that exist in better ways outside of the United States, including plastic bag bans, better recycling initiatives, and sustainability education in Danielle Johnson’s piece. Be sure to check out the graphic in the piece, too.
Read MoreCheck out this interesting look at what evolution can do in Emily Jahn’s latest piece. This article explores mega-insects, how they got smaller today, and the role the oxygen content of our atmosphere plays in their transformation.
Read MoreJack Carlson, a nature photographer who teaches photography classes at the Chicago Botanic Garden, shares his passions and inspirations for the art of capturing a perfect photo. In Our Nature’s Hannah Hall has the story.
Read MoreCheck out just a few organizations’ online Earth Day celebrations and activities for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, including the Sierra Club, NASA, and more! Theses are just some of the many ways to participate in Earth Day virtually.
Read MoreIn Our Nature’s Danielle Johnson participates in social distancing-friendly nature exploration in her neighborhood using flora and fauna identifying apps Seek and iNaturalist.
Read MoreOur data usage isn’t something we usually think about, but its environmental impacts are astounding. How does ‘big data’ contribute to our carbon footprint? Bella Wilkes investigates.
Read MoreAir travel currently accounts for 2.5% of carbon emissions nationally, with that number rising. Do celebrities have more of a responsibility to diminish this percentage? Are there any ways they can? Read more to hear.
Read MoreWhile all of these Democratic presidential candidate front-runners have signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, that doesn’t mean their environmental policies are created equal. Try your hand at guessing who said which environmentally-themed quote, then learn more about that candidate’s policies!
Read MoreWhat are microplastics, anyway? Casey Beidelman takes a deep dive into the small pollution that’s in our oceans, our food and possibly ourselves.
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