Robert Gooding-Townsend, Science in Society co-editor Can biotechnology bring back extinct species? If it can, should it? In her new book Rise of the Necrofauna, Britt Wray chronicles the nascent movement to bring back extinct species. She calls these resurrected creatures “necrofauna”, conjuring images of undead mammoths, passenger pigeons, and more. As compelling as the […]
ecology
Saving the planet one species at a time
by Jennifer Poirier, New Science Communicator Guest Blogger Save the oceans. Save the rainforest. Save the planet. These are all incredible, daunting, pursuit-worthy goals, but to a student in Nova Scotia, these problems seem very distant. Although we ultimately all feel the effects of environmental issues, it’s easy to distance ourselves from large, looming disasters […]
Beyond the numbers: What goes into estimating bird populations?
By Auriel Fournier, Mathematics and Statistics Editor Auriel Fournier with the first Sora of the 2014 field season. (Photo credit: Auriel Fournier) Ecology often comes down to counting something and using those counts to answer a question. We count birds, we count offspring, we count individuals with diseases, and we count the parasites […]
A Day Among Lapland Longspurs
Guest post by Catherine Doucet, MSc Biology and member of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) It is mid-June, 7 am, and I slowly get out of my tent to join other members of the crew already chatting over coffee. The sun is high and bright like it will be all day, since […]
Arctic Breeding Common Eiders and the Students that Study Them
Guest post by Rolanda Steenweg, PhD candidate, Dalhousie University & Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) member Celebrating Polar Week: March 14-20, 2016 A new field season On little East Bay Island, off Southampton Island, Nunavut, biologists slumber in their cool, grey cabin. Surrounded by ice, they anticipate the spring arrival of their study […]