Seven Wonders of the Anthropocene
by JENNA KURTZWEIL
Give me your tired listicles, your clickbait … This piece updates a venerable tradition for our take-out, throw-away age — and finds no corner of the world is safe.
The Price of Black Carbon
by CHARLEE THOMPSON
Q‘s first op-ed makes a case for better education, not just technology, to solve the black carbon problem.
We’ve Got the (Green) Power
by NIDHI SHASTRI
Peering into the future of the state of Illinois, this piece envisions wind turbines — and minority neighborhoods rid of toxic waste from fossil fuels.
Scrubbing the Skies
by ZACK FISHMAN
Carbon emissions threaten human civilization as we know it. Dig deeper into the pros and cons of CCS, a controversial technology for cooling the planet.
Birds Count
by VIVIENNE HENNING
The vibrant Bell’s vireo and other native birds have lost most of their Illinois habitat to Big Agriculture. But there’s new hope on the prairie …
Skin Deep
by HALEY WARE
This piece explores a gruesome new frontier of the exotic animal trade — the booming online market in Asian elephant skin and elephant blood.
Life in the Dead Zone
by APRIL WENDLING
From the radiated ruins of Chernobyl emerges an unlikely wildlife renaissance. But can it last?
Twilight on the Gila
by JENNA KURTZWEIL
A trip by two U of I students to the U.S. Southwest finds a war for resources along the Gila River — and a divided community united by the desire to never give up.
The Long Reach
by APRIL WENDLING
Decades have passed since the Manhattan Project went west, but the cleanup has only just begun on the land and water along the Columbia River in Washington state.
Your Friendly, Neighborhood Coyote
by AMBER VOLMER
A chance encounter with the wily prowler spurs childhood memories and reflections on the tense standoff between humans and animals in modern Midwestern suburbia.
No Vacancy
by CARLY HOPKINS
The new Large Lots Program in Chicago allows residents to beautify their blocks and make them safer. It’s truly a case of transforming urban blight into neighborhood might.
Editing Nature: Meaningful Decisions
by MARIA MARING
An interview with Visiting Scholar Natalie Kofler, the Founder of Editing Nature, on the latest in bioethics.