Editor, photojournalist & award-winning podcast producer for nonprofit news outlet @Mongabay. Member of Society of Envi Journalists & Vermont Center for Photography
My ongoing photo series “Intertidal”documents the messy majesty of the shore via b&w film and color digital, both above and below water, and via drone — See the latest additions to this project from Great Wass Island on Maine’s beautiful bold coast here: www.instagram.com/p/DbQiB8zEbhK/
A legal scholar on eminent domain provides useful background via @theconversation.com on #datacenters as the latest incarnation in a long debate abt the limits of taking private property for public use Some smart states like MI, OH & OK have outlawed this but what qualifies as "public use" is key:
When can a power company take your land for data center infrastructure?Courts have long let utilities seize private property to build transmission lines. Does that hold if the power flows to a single data center?theconversation.comEdited a new @mongabay.com op-ed by community-based carbon market leader Pati Ruiz Corzo: Why have the markets fallen so short on supporting both forest #conservation AND the communities that protect them, she asks? & she shares how Carbono Biodiverso & Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda succeed @ both:
How carbon markets can succeed & also serve Global South communities (commentary)Carbon markets were designed around the compelling premise that private finance could flow where forests are most at risk, rewarding the communities and landowners who protect them while helping compa...news.mongabay.comWaaaaay beyond time for astronomers to file suit against this test (and the #spacex plan too) This "would probably mean the end of ground-based astronomy, or optical astronomy, at least,” says the American Astronomical Society Effects on nocturnal animals, migrating birds seems worth a suit, too:
Can giant space mirrors boost green energy on Earth? A start-up aims to find outAstronomers are deeply worried that a planned array of 50,000 mirror-bearing satellites in orbit will severely compromise telescopes.www.nature.com“You don’t need rare earths, critical raw materials & the beauty is you can also charge up the battery when electricity is cheap.” Sand battery heats this Finnish town for a week in winter or a month in summer 👀 And unlike lithium-ion batteries, energy can be stored for days and maybe even weeks:
Finland’s radical answer to renewable energy’s biggest headache: The world’s largest sand batteryA small Finnish town has turned to the world's largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.www.cnbc.comAs the US looks to produce new protein-packed meat alternatives in combat zones #vegan options get a shout (despite Hegseth's phony manly-man rhetoric) @lelanargi.bsky.social reports Still, “The intent of the MRE is to eat the entire thing & if people don’t like what’s in them, they ratfuck them.”
Vegan MREs for the TroopsStarting in 2027, the U.S. military will offer four plant-based Meals Ready-to-Eat. Troops asked for them.ambrook.comEpic American wildlife is found in the U.S. East too 🦬 Elk are back after successful reintros & #rewilding plus bison & sandhill cranes -- moose, fisher & bear are also rebounding Today at @mongabay.com I interview the author of an inspiring new book "Beasts of the East" that chronicles all this:
‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlifeThinking of America’s iconic wild creatures and places usually brings images of Yellowstone or Denali National Park to mind, or the many wilderness areas scattered across multiple states, but the coll...news.mongabay.comNew underwater photo session captured unfurling water lily #flowers & new leaves in states of splendor Water lilies only send green chlorophyll to leaves when they reach the surface, so underwater it’s an autumnal landscape of stunning reds & oranges Full set here: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner
Adorable animal emblem of Western Australia, the numbat (or banded anteater) is recovering after decades of #conservation efforts, @mongabay.com reports “The ‘downlisting’ of the numbat on the IUCN Red List from Endangered to Near Threatened is what we have been working for over the last 40 years!”
Once endangered, Australia's numbat is making a hopeful recoveryThe animal emblem of Western Australia, the numbat, is recovering after decades of conservation efforts, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. For decades, the numbat or b...news.mongabay.comA rare bacteria found in water has been traced to a new AI #datacenter under construction for Meta in Wyoming “Meta is committed to being a good neighbor in Cheyenne, including through the protection of local water resources…” Public water supplies were contaminated with Cupriavidus gilardii
Rare bacteria in water traced to AI data center construction in WyomingThe $800 million project is for Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram.www.syracuse.comInstagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content, Reece Rogers reports for @wired.com ~ www.wired.com/story/meta-n... As a photographer & journalist, I see inappropriate uses of my work often enough, but it's extra rude when driven by a platform
10 #seaturtles were released last night on Cape Cod 🥂 6 Kemp's ridleys, 2 loggerheads & 2 greens rehabbed from injuries & equipped w/ satellite and acoustic tags hit the waves to cheers from the crowd 💥 See more coverage of these species via @mongabay.com here, news.mongabay.com?s=sea%20turt...
"Experts are calling on U.S. authorities to conduct a full environmental assessment of the practice of burning up satellites. Instead, the U.S. appears to be moving in the opposite direction and plans to exempt #Starlink and other large satellite constellations from such review." 🤔
Starlink satellites pose a threat to Earth's ozone layerThe Earth's ozone layer is under threat due to the regular re-entry of hundreds of SpaceX Starlink satellites into the atmosphere.universemagazine.comWeds night in London @mongabay.com's podcast is up for a new 🏆 @mikedigirolamo.bsky.social & I are finalists for a Publisher Podcast Award We're nominated in the "best science" category for this ep featuring the founder of an NGO that gives outdoor adventurers conservation data collection missions:
How ‘Adventure Scientists’ provide pioneering data for conservationGregg Treinish didn’t start out as an outdoor enthusiast, but found solace and purpose in nature during his youth. After years of enjoying the outdoors, he was left feeling a need to give something ba...news.mongabay.comNew research calculates how large satellite constellations — like the awful #spacex plan for a million+ more — could affect #darksky & #astronomy by increasing sky brightness "The worst impacts can only be avoided by limiting the total number of satellites, existing and future, to around 100,000…"
1.7 Million Satellites Will Have ‘Devastating Consequences,’ Study SaysProposed satellite constellations from SpaceX and others are so large and bright they would change the night sky as we know it, a new scientific paper argues.www.forbes.com