BioScience Talks

Race and STEM Diversity

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Despite ongoing efforts to increase DEI among STEM faculty, participation rates of faculty members of color remain lower in STEM fields than in other ...

Impact Series: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Testing, Next Steps, and the Role of Small Business

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Public health officials have argued that thorough and accurate testing for SARS-CoV-2 is essential for gaining a foothold in the fight against the dea...

In Their Own Words: Joel Cracraft

08 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is the fourth in our oral history series, In Their Own Words. These pieces chronicle the stories of scientists who have made great contri...

American Society for Gravitational and Space Research 2019 Annual Meeting (Denver)

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In November 2019, through the collaboration of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Society for Gravitational and Space Rese...

The Ecological Context of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

24 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioScience Talks, we welcome previous guest Dan Salkeld of Colorado State University back to the show. He is joined by CSU colleagu...

In Their Own Words: Susan Stafford

11 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is the third in our new oral history series, In Their Own Words. These pieces chronicle the stories of scientists who have made great co...

Fireflies Face Global Threats

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Worldwide declines in insect populations have sparked considerable concern. To date, however, significant research gaps exist, and many insect threats...

In Their Own Words: Diana Wall

12 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is the third in our new oral history series, In Their Own Words. These pieces chronicle the stories of scientists who have made great co...

Impact Series: Tympanogen, Gels, and Helping Children Heal

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, tens of thousands of patients undergo invasive surgery to repair perforated eardrums. The surgery, called tympanoplasty, is time consuming,...

Room for Complexity? The Many Players in the Coffee Agroecosystem

22 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Agricultural areas are often considered distinct from local ecosystems, and in many cases, such an assessment rings true. Single-crop farmlands, reli...

Better Science through Peer Review

08 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Peer review lies at the heart of the grant selection process and, by extension, the scientific enterprise itself. To inform their decisions, funders r...

In Their Own Words: Kent Holsinger

31 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is the second in our new oral history series, In Their Own Words. These pieces chronicle the stories of scientists who have made great c...

In Their Own Words: Rita Colwell

11 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode marks the first in a new oral history series from BioScience, entitled In Their Own Words. These pieces chronicle the stories of scienti...

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting Report

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), an American Institute of Biological Sciences member society, fosters research, education,...

Impact Series: Solving Medical Mysteries with Aperiomics

13 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The BioScience Talks Impact Series focuses on the path from newly gained scientific knowledge to real-world effects, addressing questions such as Ho...

Threshold-Dependent Gene Drives in Wild Populations

08 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

By altering the heritability of certain traits, gene drive technologies have the potential to spread desired genes through wild populations. In practi...

Bridging the Gap between Behavioral Science and Animal Ethics

11 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioScience Talks, Christine Webb of Harvard University joins us to talk about the potential for widening the involvement of scien...

Readying the National Park Service for Change

14 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioScience Talks, Mark Schwartz, of the University of California, Davis, joins us to talk about the National Park Service, and in ...

Better Governance for Better Resource Management

06 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BioScience Talks, Derek R. Armitage of the University of Waterloo, Jennifer J. Silver of the University of Guelph, and Daniel K. O...

Advancing Opportunities for Convergence at NSF BIO

10 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Joanne S. Tornow was selected as assistant director for the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) in February 2019, ...

The Makings of an Invasion: The Slender False Brome

12 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Invasive species are a hot topic, both in scientific circles and among the public at large. Still, the mechanics of invasions are often opaque, and a ...

Building a Better Understanding of "Resilience"

28 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The concept of resilience is an important one in conservation science and resource management. However, the term itself is often poorly understood, or...

ASGSR Annual Meeting - Maryland

08 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At the beginning of November 2018, through the collaboration of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Society for Gravitatio...

Biodiversity and the Extended Specimen Network

10 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Natural history specimens housed in museums, herbaria, and other research collections are revolutionizing science—largely as a result of growing ef...

Inequality and the Human Right to Food

13 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The importance of human access to adequate food could not be more clear; however, many questions surround the provision of food among and within count...

Half-Earth Preservation with Natura 2000

13 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, calls to preserve greater swaths of the Earth's land- and seascapes have grown. In particular, numerous conservationists have called...

Chromatin Looping: Seeing DNA in 3D

09 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

New tools are making it easier to understand not only our genetic code but also the ways that the code's three-dimensional structure contributes to...

Saving Species with Better Monitoring

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To conserve species, managers need reliable estimates of their population trends. Samples are gathered over time, but the length of the sampling peri...

Using the Plant Microbiome to Restore Native Grasslands

14 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

An appreciation of the crucial role of microbiomes, from those aboard the International Space Station to those living in the human gut, is quickly ga...

Tracking Aedes aegypti across the Ages

31 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mosquito-borne diseases have plagued humanity for centuries, and a prolific offender has been Aedes aegypti, commonly known as the "yellow fever mosq...

Scientists Warn that Proposed US–Mexico Border Wall Threatens Biodiversity, Conservation

10 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Amidst increased tensions over the US–Mexico border, a multinational group of over 2500 scientists have endorsed an article cautioning that a harden...

Big Data is Synergized by Team and Open Science

12 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For some time, "big data" has loomed large as a source of challenges and opportunities for science, but as yet, guidance on how to manage the data d...

Synbio Ethics: What the Researchers Think

03 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

As synthetic biology emerges into the public sphere, so too does a discussion about the ethical and regulatory questions posed by the field. Because ...

Undergraduate Research Makes for Better Science

11 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Improving training in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields is a major priority, crucial to the nation's economy and internationa...

Bonus Episode: Disease-Carrying Ticks and How to Avoid Them

13 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ticks pose numerous threats to human health and well-being, ranging from the familiar Lyme threat to spotted fever rickettsiosis and even mammalian m...

Bridging the Gaps in Global Conservation

09 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To date, the conservation of global biodiversity has relied on a patchwork of international goals and national- and regional-level plans. Hampered b...

One Thing Leads to Another: Causal Chains Link Health, Development, and Conservation

11 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The linkages between environmental health and human well-being are complex and dynamic, and researchers have developed numerous models for describing...

ASGSR Annual Meeting

14 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In October 2017, through the collaboration of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the American Society for Gravitational and Space Rese...

Urban Mind: Measuring the Benefits of Nature in Real Time

14 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The positive mental health effects of nature exposure in urban environments are well known, and the literature on the subject is growing fast. Howeve...

Specimen Collection, Populations, and Biodiversity Science

10 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The benefits of specimen collection are well known. Natural-history archives are increasingly used by researchers to investigate evolutionary process...

A Waterway Bounces Back following the Passage of the Clean Water Act

08 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Although the aims of environmental legislation are well known, measuring the effects of regulation is often a difficult task. Inadequate data for bas...

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Wildlife Trade Management

11 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The illicit wildlife trade is a multi-billion-dollar business that spans the globe. Unfortunately, efforts to control it have often fallen short, an...

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Urban Green Spaces

13 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With the rapid expansion of the urban landscape, successfully managing ecosystems in built areas has never been more important. However, our understa...

Damming and Its Effects on Fish

09 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Fish that migrate between freshwater and sea ecosystems play a multitude of ecological roles. In the centuries since Europeans first colonized the Am...

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology 2017 Annual Meeting

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), an American Institute of Biological Sciences member society, fosters research, education,...

Low Oxygen in Chesapeake Bay

12 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, low oxygen levels, known as hypoxia, strike the deep waters of Chesapeake Bay. Arising from a combination of human-induced and natural fac...

Understanding River Thermal Landscapes

14 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

River temperatures have long been an area of study, but until recently, the field has been hampered by technological constraints. However, a suite of...

Conservation Endocrinology in a Changing World

10 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As species rapidly adapt to altered landscapes and a warming climate, scientists and stakeholders need new techniques to monitor ecological responses ...

Episode #23: The Redomestication of Wolves

11 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On landscapes around the world, environmental change is bringing people and large carnivores together—but the union is not without its problems. Hu...

Episode 22: Nature's Mental Health Benefits

08 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Nature's positive impact on mood is easily understood on an intuitive level, but a more fine-grain analysis reveals quantifiable effects with potenti...

Episode 21: Bright Spots of Resilience to Climate Disturbance

08 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Climate-driven disturbances are having profound impacts on coastal ecosystems, with many crucial habitat-forming species in sharp decline. However, ...

Episode #20: Eucalypts Spotlight Biosecurity Failures

11 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For more than 100 years, eucalypts—woody plants that range in size from shrubs to trees—have been transported from their natural ecosystems in Au...

Episode #19: Microbial Biodiversity in the Environment Can Alter Human Health

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The science of human microbiomes is advancing at an incredible pace. With each passing day, more is known about the vast suite of microorganisms that...

Episode #18: Reservoirs Are a Major Source of Greenhouse Gases

09 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Over 1 million dams exist worldwide. These structures have numerous environmental effects, and there is no shortage of research on the various ecolog...

Episode #17: Big Data and Good Science

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists have long debated the best methods to achieve sound findings. In recent decades, hypothesis-driven frameworks have been enshrined in textb...

Bonus Episode: Bear Behavior and the Recent Montana Grizzly Mauling

05 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Most interactions between humans and bears result in no harm to either party. However, aggressive bears can occasionally pose a serious threat to hum...

Episode #16: Hardened Shorelines Are a Threat to Ecosystems

14 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The installation of structures to protect against coastal threats, called shoreline hardening, is a common practice worldwide, with many coastal citi...

Episode #15 - Marine Citizen Science: Room for Growth

10 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The burgeoning field of citizen science offers the public an opportunity to participate directly in research and data analysis—and it offers scient...

Episode 14: Hydroelectric Dams Kill Insects, Wreak Havoc with Food Webs

13 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hydropower dams generate more energy than all other renewable sources combined. However, they can also produce dire environmental consequences, inc...

Gene Drive Technology: Where is the Future? (Bonus Episode)

29 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gene drives have the potential to revolutionize approaches to major public health, conservation, and agricultural problems. For instance, gene drive...

Episode #13: Landscape Ecology and its Role in Policymaking

08 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The world faces unprecedented environmental transformation. Successfully managing and adapting to a rapidly changing Earth requires the swift action ...

Episode #12: Current Methods Cannot Predict Damage to Coral Reefs

11 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The potentially devastating effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs are well known, but the methods used to evaluate the threats are often foc...

Episode #11: How to Save Aggregate-Spawning Fish

13 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Globally declining fish populations are a frequently cited ecological and commercial calamity, but relatively little attention has been paid to the...

Episode #10: Nitrogen's Threat to Biodiversity

09 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Habitat destruction and the direct exploitation of species often occupy center stage in discussions of biodiversity perils. However, indirect harms,...

Episode #9: Plague-Afflicted Prairie Dogs and Modeling Animal-Borne Disease

10 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Animal-borne diseases have ruled the news cycle recently—from Zika and Ebola to SARS and MERS. However, little is known about the spread of these ...

Episode #8: Preventing Midwest Grain Failures

13 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Across the United States, record quantities of corn and soybeans have been harvested in recent years. However, according Dr. David Gustafson of the ...

Episode #7: Contact with Nature May Mean More Social Cohesion, Less Crime

12 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of contact with nature for human well-being. However, despite strong trends toward greater urbanizatio...

Bonus Episode: Complex Data Integration

25 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The integration of data from two or more domains is required for addressing many fundamental scientific questions and understanding how to mitigate ch...

Episode #6: A Successful Intervention Boosts the Gender Diversity of STEM Faculty

11 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Eighty-one percent of US science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) university faculty members are men. The relative dearth of women in the fi...

Episode #5: When Tree Planting Hurts Ecosystems

14 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

"Forest restoration" is a common conservation theme, often promoted as a means of repairing degraded landscapes and boosting carbon storage. But when ...

Episode #4: Fire in the Amazon

09 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Human-caused fires have the potential to hugely alter tropical forests—and the world at large. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jennifer Balch, of th...

Episode #3: Extracellular Vesicles Everywhere

12 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Extracellular vesicles (EVs; article here) are one of the biggest stories in biology. These tiny "packets" are released by cells and constitute a pr...

Episode #2: Transgenic Fish on the Loose?

08 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Fast-growing transgenic salmonids are currently being developed for eventual human consumption. Dr. Robert Devlin and his team seek to evaluate the ec...