News

Community-Led Health and Livelihood Programs Helped Protect Rainforests During the Pandemic

As COVID-19 disrupted rural economies, communities living near protected rainforests faced rising uncertainty about jobs, health and basic needs. A new study in The Lancet Planetary Health shows that when communities were supported by health and livelihood programs that they designed with local nongovernment organizations, both people and ecosystems were more resilient. “Before the pandemic,… 

Widely-Used Method for Assessing Stream Health Doesn’t Work Very Well

A widely-used technique for assessing the health of freshwater streams is not effective at detecting a range of water quality problems 

Bradford awarded prestigious Louisville First Book Grant

Aminah Al-Attas Bradford has been awarded a First Book Grant by the Louisville Institute. Her book, Symbiotic Grace: Holobiont Theology in the Age of the Microbe, reconstructs Christian doctrine through… 

Q&A with an Arctic Ecologist

Meet Matteo Petit Bon, a plant and ecosystem ecologist and the newest Applied Ecology faculty member. His research takes him to remote corners of the Northern Hemisphere, where conditions are… 

A Stinky Discovery: New Parasite Found in Snake Scent Glands

Student researchers in the Sustainable Health Ecology Lab in the Department of Applied Ecology recently discovered a potentially new species of parasitic nematode in the scent glands of three snake species. 

How Higher Temperatures Can Benefit (or Devastate) Bumble Bee Populations

New research finds higher temperatures actually benefit some bumble bee species – but periods of extreme heat appear to more than offset those benefits.