Spring 2023
AI for wildlife conservation—from an AI
An experiment with AI writing » More ...
Conservation
Fall 2021
The missing lynx
Doing some hard looking for an elusive cat. » More ...
Spring 2021
Big cat on campus
Washington State University student Isabelle Busch chases her lifelong passion to help cheetahs. » More ...
Fall 2020
A world without insects?
Insect abundance and biodiversity are declining worldwide. For Washington State University scientists, complacency is not an option. » More ...
Summer 2019
Life with elephants
The Asian elephants at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park have inspired Janine Brown and other scientists for three decades. Brown heads up the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Fort Royal, Virginia, the world’s largest reproductive endocrinology lab. » More ...
Fall 2017
Jennifer Eskil ’81
After 30 years of shepherding environmental and energy efficiency projects around the Northwest, Jennifer Eskil ’81 retired last spring with accolades.
Her employer, the Bonneville Power Administration, certainly recognized her achievements. BPA Administrator Elliot Mainzer presented the Walla Walla resident with the agency’s highest honor, the BPA Meritorious Service Award.
Eskil received the distinction during the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 awards program in March. The award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to BPA’s mission through excellence in their chosen field for 10 years or more. Eskil was the industrial and agriculture sector lead in energy efficiency.
“Eskil is regarded as … » More …
Fall 2016
The long view
“I do not believe that any man can adequately appreciate the world of to-day unless he has some knowledge of … the history of the world of the past.” —Theodore Roosevelt, 1911
A hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt’s vision of conservation came to fruition with the establishment of the National Park Service. Although President Woodrow Wilson established the NPS, Roosevelt had doubled the number of national parks and passed the Antiquities Act in 1906 when he was in the Oval Office. Roosevelt believed that we must have a deeper and longer-term view of our country’s natural and historical heritage.
In the spirit of Roosevelt’s aims, … » More …
Fall 2012
The Republic of Nature: An Environmental History of the United States
Mark Fiege ’85 MA
University of Washington Press, 2012
Contemplate the founding of the United States, a budding democracy carved out of a vast and unknown (to everyone other than its original inhabitants) wilderness. At some point, one might find oneself unable to extricate American history from Nature and its effects and implications. But we haven’t really, not until Fiege’s remarkable analysis.
Although he is keenly aware of Thomas Jefferson’s warning that “The moment a … » More …
Winter 2010
Mary Kaufman-Cranney ’78—Call of the wild
Last summer Mary Kaufman-Cranney culled a batch of black dresses from her closet and replaced them with hiking boots and trail shoes. Having left her job with the Seattle Opera, where she was director of development, she has less use for the dresses. But now she requires the shoes for her new role at The Nature Conservancy leading fundraising for the nonprofit’s Washington State chapter.
Instead of organizing galas, she’s trekking across mudflats and into rainforests to learn the details of preserving our state’s natural resources.
“I’m really enjoying this work,” she says. “Northwesterners are so passionate about their natural … » More …
Winter 2010
Where land and water meet
For Todd Mitchell '97, the purchase of Kiket Island near Deception Pass meant the return of a cultural resource to his people. For the other myriad residents of the Puget Sound area, it is another decisive step toward restoring a priceless resource. » More ...