If we are going to care about the environment and preserve natural spaces in the so-called “rust belt,” then we must love rust. We must practice terranexus and accept and even love the chaotic intersection of civilized and natural worlds.
Centralia became an attraction for both horror movie fans and ordinary people fascinated by the story.
I wanted to travel to Bridgeton, Missouri’s West Lake Landfill to see the kind of radioactive waste dumped there, a journalistic urge to see things firsthand.
Tom Wall is a West Michigan rock star who uses plants as bandmates. He uses a device to harness the electricity in plants, which then turns those impulses into musical notes. Tom insists the plants are talking to us through the music. But can they really do that?
I surveyed all of these plausible arguments and wondered how I might prevent the paper companies from turning them into a sea of obfuscation stretching out in every direction as far as anyone could see.
“If you lived up here, you’d know what it was. It’s all anyone talks about. You’re either for it: it’s going to create jobs. Or you’re against it: it’s bad for the environment. No one’s neutral.”
Freshwater jellyfish have been in inland lakes and rivers throughout the Great Lakes region since 1933. But a century after their discovery, we still don’t know much about the elusive creatures. A team of student scientists is trying to change that.
So it would be hard to overestimate how growing up in rural Kansas, whether you call it the Midwest or the Plains, has shaped everything that I am, let alone everything that I write—fiction and nonfiction.
A Pennsylvania bill that would limit fracking near homes and schools was shelved this summer right before a scheduled committee vote. In a small town in shale country, accounts of misery and discord show the stakes.
To walk through Frick Park – at least for me – is a pilgrimage into Milton's Paradise Lost, read not in words, lines, and stanzas, but rather rocks, trees, and water.
Alison Vilag pays attention for a living. She counts migrating ducks at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, near Paradise, Michigan. It's key to getting a pulse on different bird populations. But for Alison, counting ducks is more than just science – it's an escape from the expectations of others.
I think that's a huge part of chowing down on Copi. You're an eco-warrior, someone making a difference, eating one invasive fish at a time.