Category: Environmental Studies

Excerpt: Crabgrass Crucible, by Christopher C. Sellers

In the United States, even from Bunner’s time, what nourished the nature love of the more and less scientifically qualified alike was a shared suburban experience. It was one not so much of home buying as home owning. Nor was it reducible to suburban dwellers’ relationship with “the land,” however fraught. What finally secured the breadth of environmentalism’s appeal was how nature love itself had become ever more suffused with anxieties about human health. Continue Reading Excerpt: Crabgrass Crucible, by Christopher C. Sellers

Sarah S. Elkind: The Allure of an Inefficient Government

“Beltway politics” are not the only barrier to efficiency in government. Despite what they say, the American people have long preferred an inefficient federal government that they could shape rather than an efficient government that they could not. Continue Reading Sarah S. Elkind: The Allure of an Inefficient Government

Sarah S. Elkind: Los Angeles and the History of Air Pollution

We have become so used to hearing of regulations–particularly consumer protections like banking rules or the proposed controls on mercury emissions—as threats to prosperity that it has become nearly impossible to imagine these debates in any other way. But in 1940s Los Angeles, controlling air pollution and creating a healthy environment was understood as essential to prosperity, and the business community led the regulatory effort. Continue Reading Sarah S. Elkind: Los Angeles and the History of Air Pollution

Robert Lippson: Wading in the shallows and loving it!

The shallows are a hub of biological activity. This is where many species of fishes spawn and where small fish seek haven from larger ones looking for lunch. Plants also grow in the shallows, and where there are plants there will be snails and small harmless insect-like crustaceans such as isopods and amphipods and shrimp and occasionally everyone’s favorite—a seahorse—and their close relatives, pipefishes, clinging, crawling, and slithering over the stems and blades of the vegetation. Continue Reading Robert Lippson: Wading in the shallows and loving it!

Book Excerpt: DDT & the American Century, by David Kinkela

Müller’s discovery generated little international publicity. Europe was engulfed in a continental war, and the United States remained an interested observer. But as the United States entered the war, which expanded across continents and into the tropics, where the threat of insect-borne diseases increased, military health officials on all sides of the conflict demanded new methods to control disease, and DDT was positioned to play an important role in the war effort. Continue Reading Book Excerpt: DDT & the American Century, by David Kinkela

Jay Barnes: Before & After Hurricane Irene

September 1, 2011 As I write this, electric power is just now returning in the last remaining North Carolina neighborhoods darkened by Hurricane Irene’s pole-cracking winds last weekend. Chainsaws are still buzzing, landfills are just beginning to be overrun with truckloads of debris, and people flooded out of their homes are returning, exhausted from the ordeal. Hatteras Island, isolated by… Continue Reading Jay Barnes: Before & After Hurricane Irene

Interview: Stanley R. Riggs on the Importance of Protecting North Carolina’s Coast

Stanley Riggs, co-author of The Battle for North Carolina’s Coast, answers questions about protecting NC’s changing coastline–as well as its coastal economy. Continue Reading Interview: Stanley R. Riggs on the Importance of Protecting North Carolina’s Coast

National Wildflower Week concludes–with pretty pictures!

Well, it’s the last day of our celebration of National Wildflower Week.  We’ve given you a lot to read about so far, so now that it’s Friday, let’s look at some pictures of flowers!  These beautiful images come from another backlist favorite, Wild Flowers of North Carolina, by WIlliam S. Justice, photographer and botanist, C. Ritchie Bell, botanist and founder… Continue Reading National Wildflower Week concludes–with pretty pictures!

National Wildflower Week Day 2: Off to the Sandhills Region with Bruce A. Sorrie

Continuing our celebration of National Wildflower Week: check out Bruce Sorrie’s new Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region. Continue Reading National Wildflower Week Day 2: Off to the Sandhills Region with Bruce A. Sorrie

Jump into Spring! Some great events coming up

If you’re in the Triangle over the next week, we’ve got so many great events lined up we can keep your dance card full! Book talk & Nature Walk with David Blevins and Michael P. Schafale Wild North Carolina: Discovering the Wonders of Our State’s Natural Communities Sunday, April 3, 2011 3:00 PM North Carolina Botanical Garden Chapel Hill, NC… Continue Reading Jump into Spring! Some great events coming up

Celebrating B.W. Wells

Today we remember the late B. W. Wells, plant ecologist, conservationist, and author of The Natural Gardens of North Carolina. On March 26th, Rock Cliff Farm, Wells’s place of retirement, is celebrating B.W. Wells Heritage Day, with tours, activities, giveaways, and exhibits that recall the life and work of this pioneering ecologist.  His work lives on through this event and… Continue Reading Celebrating B.W. Wells

EPIC SALE TIME!!

It’s EPIC SALE TIME! Over 700 UNC Press books are on sale! Read more about the huge deals here. Continue Reading EPIC SALE TIME!!

Interview: Jennifer Frick-Ruppert on Appalachian ecology

There are about 35 million acres of beautiful mountains that extend from northern Virginia down to north Georgia. They’ve been going through a glorious transformation of color over the last few weeks. If you’ve never visited the Appalachians in fall, you’re missing out on a breathtaking treat from nature. In Mountain Nature: A Seasonal Natural History of the Southern Appalachians,… Continue Reading Interview: Jennifer Frick-Ruppert on Appalachian ecology

Celebrate North Carolina State Parks…and Watch Out for My Cousin Teddy

I once went on an epic camping trip to a state park with my extended family.  On this trip, my cousin “accidentally” bumped into me while I was kneeling beside our campfire.  “Luckily,” I caught myself on the hot coals around the perimeter.  Then, this same cousin–we’ll call him Teddy (cough…Michael)–“accidentally” ran into my brother with the twig he’d been… Continue Reading Celebrate North Carolina State Parks…and Watch Out for My Cousin Teddy