definearth

definearth

writing about the environmental issues nobody is writing about.

  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Quarterly Report
  • Good Books
  • Contact Me
  • November 30, 2021

    Shattered Mushroom Dreams

    Shattered Mushroom Dreams

    After harvesting my first mushroom meal of fresh chanterelles I thought my new hobby would really take off. I was excited for the mushroom hunting apparel that I could don for future forest expeditions, namely the collection basket that allows the spores to spread as you walk. Instead what I found was that every other […]

  • November 20, 2021

    Animal Tracks

    Animal Tracks

    Throughout my visits to coastal Georgia for fieldwork, I noticed a stark difference in animal life compared to my previous residence in Wisconsin. Animals looked smaller, had different colorations, and some were tropical species I had only ever seen at the pet store. Perhaps it was just the sense of wonder in a new place […]

  • November 16, 2021

    Understanding Your Local Air Quality

    Understanding Your Local Air Quality

    These days, air quality information is so prevalent that it can be viewed alongside the daily weather on a phone or television. Satellite data can be accessed through the internet to evaluate air quality on a broader scale regardless of where one is on the globe. One thing that stands in the way, other than […]

  • October 28, 2021

    Wetlands Stop Emitting Methane When Water Level Is Too High – But Is That a Good Thing?

    Wetlands Stop Emitting Methane When Water Level Is Too High – But Is That a Good Thing?

    High water levels result in higher wetland methane emissions for a couple reasons. First, more water on the wetland surface creates the ideal oxygen-deprived conditions for microbial growth down in the soil. Methanogenic microbes ramp up the process of methanogenesis, producing methane to send up through the water as diffuse gas. Second, wetland plants continue […]

  • October 26, 2021

    Spooky Season

    Spooky Season

    It’s that time of year when creepy pumpkins adorn porch steps, kids jump into piles of crispy leaves, and witches brew hard cider. It is what some like to call the “spooky season”. In the Northern Hemisphere, spooky season (i.e., meteorological fall) lasts from the first day of September to the last day of November. […]

  • October 1, 2021

    A Sine of the Tides

    A Sine of the Tides

    My fourth week of fieldwork on Sapelo Island, Georgia started off with a drive through the small nearby town of Darien before we caught the ferry over to the long-term field site. The most popular place to grab a bite to eat in Darien, Georgia is probably Skippers’ Fish Camp, which offers all kinds of […]

  • September 29, 2021

    Sapelo Island Week Three

    Sapelo Island Week Three

    Sea oats have everything you are looking for in a plant: shade tolerance, perenniality, general hardiness. They provide food for small mammals and birds, can be used for bird nesting material, and host Skipper butterfly caterpillars. Gardeners and home decorators are encouraged to purchase sea oat seeds from nurseries rather than pick their own because […]

  • August 4, 2021

    Sapelo Island Week Two

    Sapelo Island Week Two

    Dolphins look like sharks lingering near the shallows of Sapelo Island’s coastal estuary, where the marsh meets muddy brackish water. But if you look closely, the slow roll of their fin down into the water and then back up a few seconds later gives them away. That’s the point where I can breathe again and […]

  • July 28, 2021

    Enchanted with Chanterelle

    Enchanted with Chanterelle

    Something I love about Georgia is that tens of mushrooms emerge from the mossy soil below the trees in shaded backyards like gumdrops in Candyland. Within a few days of swelling to an enormous size, they shrivel up and disappear into the earth, leaving each passerby the unique chance to harvest, photograph, or simply just […]

  • July 22, 2021

    Sustainable Development and Ecotourism

    Sustainable Development and Ecotourism

    Seventeen brightly colored squares describe each of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. Sustainable cities and communities, goal number eleven, is a tidy row of white office buildings on a cheery orange background. It makes one of the world’s most pressing issues appear simple. We can solve that, a reader might think, while reading […]

←Previous Page
1 2 3 4 … 18
Next Page→

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • definearth
    • Join 612 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • definearth
    • Edit Site
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar