As federal environmental priorities shift, sovereign Native American nations have their own plans

Tribal governance takes a long view based in Native peoples’ deep history with these lands.

Alyssa Kreikemeier, Assistant Professor of History, University of Idaho • conversation
March 28, 2025 ~11 min

What is a SLAPP suit? Legal experts explain how these lawsuits suppress free speech

Legal experts see a current lawsuit against the environmental group Greenpeace as a classic example of using litigation to stifle public criticism.

Ryan Riedmueller, Clinical Legal Fellow, Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic, Vanderbilt University • conversation
March 11, 2025 ~6 min


Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning: Welcome to the Pyrocene

Humans have become a geologic force by cooking the planet – using fire on a scale that is altering land, water, air and ecosystems.

Stephen Pyne, Emeritus Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University • conversation
Jan. 22, 2025 ~10 min

Interior secretary manages vast lands that all Americans share − and can sway the balance between conservation and development

The Interior Department manages about one-fifth of all US land. Its secretary mediates among many competing uses for it, from recreation to energy production.

Emily Wakild, Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for the Environment and Public Lands, Boise State University • conversation
Jan. 8, 2025 ~10 min

Stonehenge may have aligned with the Moon as well as the Sun

The monument’s ancient connection to the skies may run even deeper than we realised.

Erica Ellingson, Professor in Astrophysics, Emeritus, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
April 19, 2024 ~8 min

Native American voices are finally factoring into energy projects – a hydropower ruling is a victory for environmental justice on tribal lands

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently ruled that it won’t approve energy projects on Native lands without tribal consent. But many more applications are pending.

Denielle Perry, Associate Professor, School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University • conversation
April 17, 2024 ~9 min

Mutton, an Indigenous woolly dog, died in 1859 − new analysis confirms precolonial lineage of this extinct breed, once kept for their wool

Dogs have lived with Indigenous Americans since before they came to the continent together 10,000 years ago. A new analysis reveals the lineage of one 1800s ‘woolly dog’ from the Pacific Northwest.

Logan Kistler, Curator of Archaeobotany and Archaeogenomics, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution • conversation
Dec. 14, 2023 ~12 min

Native American mothers whose children have been separated from them experience a raw and ongoing grief that has no end

Native American families have endured generations of systematic child removal, but the grief, loss and trauma that birth mothers still experience have been largely overlooked.

Ashley L. Landers, Assistant Professor of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University • conversation
Dec. 1, 2023 ~11 min


Cranberries can bounce, float and pollinate themselves: The saucy science of a Thanksgiving classic

Cranberries add color and acidity to Thanksgiving menus, but they also have many interesting botanical and genetic features.

Serina DeSalvio, Ph.D. Candidate in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University • conversation
Nov. 9, 2023 ~9 min

Gangsters are the villains in 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' but the biggest thief of Native American wealth was the US government

The Osage murders of the 1920s are just one episode in nearly two centuries of stealing land and resources from Native Americans. Much of this theft was guided and sanctioned by federal law.

Torivio Fodder, Indigenous Governance Program Manager and Professor of Practice, University of Arizona • conversation
Oct. 16, 2023 ~10 min

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