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.