Conservation Science

While PCR-based diagnostic tests have been used in medicine for decades, they have never been used as they being used now, for broad screening of the general public, with a single positive result accepted as proof of infection without regard to clinical signs or symptoms or epidemiological exposure. Andrew Cohen had the opportunity in the environmental setting—unlike anyone in the medical profession—to observe the disaster that unfolds when these tests are used in this way. His research is now informing medicine, as many scientists who usually have nothing to do with viruses or infectious disease are turning their attention to COVID-19.

Current marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean need to be at least doubled to adequately safeguard the biodiversity of the Antarctic, according to a new CU Boulder study published in April on Earth Day, in the journal PLOS ONE.

Mountains around the world share something in common – they are home to wildlife that can only tolerate so much disturbance from human activity. ...

Much of the opposition to genetically engineered organisms has emerged from within the environmental movement, but what happens when a new biotechnology has an explicit goal of environmental conservation? An international consortium is investigating the potential deployment of an engineered mouse on islands where invasive mice threaten biodiversity. Theoretically, the mouse would "drive" the population to be all male, crashing the mouse population and leading to eradication without the use of environmentally-risky toxicants. But even testing such a technology, known as a "gene drive," has ecological risks. How do we decide how to proceed in a way that minimizes risk?

A century ago, we tried desperately to wipe out mountain lions in North America, and failed. Then American culture changed. In the mid-20th century, we offered mountain lions limited protection in the form of managed hunting. As a consequence, mountain lion populations rebounded far more successfully than anyone would have predicted, and probably more than many would have liked. Today, mountain lions are as abundant as they ever were in the West, and people are faced with a new reality. Can we peacefully coexist with such a successful predator? Mark Elbroch's new book, The Cougar Conundrum, is being published by Island Press on August 13th.