A world without the Amazon? Safeguarding the Earth’s largest rainforest focus of Princeton conference
October 23, 2019 ・ Pooja MakhijaniThe Amazon is the world’s largest and most diverse tropical forest and the ancestral home of over 1 million indigenous peoples. How to preserve it was the centrally urgent theme at a conference at Princeton on Oct. 17-18. “Safeguarding the…
PEI awards $1.01 million in Water and the Environment Grand Challenge projects
October 1, 2019 ・ Morgan KellyThe ecological impacts of extreme weather, a national “climate park” in the New Jersey Meadowlands, and engineered nanoparticles that target groundwater pollutants are among the 13 projects funded by the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) as part of its Water and…
Plants and microbes shape global biomes through local underground alliances
April 17, 2019 ・ Morgan KellyDense rainforests, maple-blanketed mountains and sweeping coniferous forests demonstrate the growth and proliferation of trees adapted to specific conditions. The regional dominance of tree species we see on the surface, however, might actually have been determined underground long ago. Princeton…
Put eggs all in one basket, or spread them around? Birds know best
March 3, 2019 ・ Catherine ZandonellaIn the tropical jungle of Central America where predators abound, a species of cuckoo has found safety in numbers by building communal nests guarded by two or three breeding pairs. Why then do these agreeable avians sometimes ditch the collaborative…
Protect and (pre)serve: Princeton students work on the ground level of environmental service
January 7, 2019 ・ Wendy PlumpPrinceton University undergraduate students — including 2018 Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) summer intern Maria Stahl ’20 (profiled below) — demonstrate a new level of commitment to environmental conservation as they serve in research, volunteer and internship positions around the world.…
Habits and history determine if conservation succeeds or fails
December 20, 2018The ghosts of harvesting past can haunt today’s conservation efforts. The conservation or overharvesting of a resource such as fish, timber or other wildlife often is determined by past habits and decisions related to that resource, according to a study…
Hummingbirds dive to dazzle females in a highly synchronized display
December 18, 2018When it comes to flirting, animals know how to put on a show. In the bird world, males often go to great lengths to attract female attention, like peacocks shaking their tail feathers and manakins performing complex dance moves. These…
Stoddard receives Packard Fellowship for early-career scientists
October 15, 2018 ・ Morgan KellyMary Caswell “Cassie” Stoddard, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) associated faculty, was one of 18 researchers nationwide to receive a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering, which is awarded to…
Princeton Profiles: Zoe Sims, finding purpose and passion in the natural world
September 27, 2018 ・ Jamie Saxon & Danielle AlioGrowing up in her native Hawaii, Zoe Sims, a 2017 alumna, discovered a passion for ecology that began with exploring coral reefs. At Princeton, she conducted two years of research for her senior thesis, studying the effects of groundwater pollution…
