Senior scientist Jay Famiglietti’s research looks at the West and the world’s dwindling water resources.
New research
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
How the Park Service is planning for climate change
The agency is forging ahead despite meager help from Congress.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Inside a seed museum meant to track plant response to climate change
Researchers have collected seeds from across the country in a quiet Colorado storage facility.
Posted inArticles
How purple bacteria could help save amphibians in the Rockies
A Colorado researcher is using boreal toads’ microbiomes to help them ward off a deadly fungus.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
Drones: the good, the bad and the ugly
As the aerial technology increases in popularity, so do its impacts.
Posted inArticles
Report: Coal jobs will decline with or without federal regulations
A new study from the Energy Information Administration finds the Clean Power Plan speeds coal’s decline.
Posted inArticles
New tech could restore some quiet to noisy Western oceans
Underwater noise from construction can confuse and even injure marine animals.
Posted inArticles
Study finds surprising source of Colorado River water supply
More than half of the rivers in the Upper Colorado Basin originate as groundwater, USGS says.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
When water turns to dust
In Oregon, a cluster of lakes is drying up — with dire impacts for the millions of migrating birds that survive off them.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire archaeology exposes treasures of the dead
Wyoming fires revealed long hidden historical artifacts.
Posted inArticles
Rewilding the shortgrass prairie
A scientist with ranching roots is trying to restore balance to degraded grasslands.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
Latest: Elk, not bison, are spreading disease near Yellowstone
Agencies have historically culled bison to prevent the spread of brucellosis to cattle.
Posted inArticles
How the livestock industry can help cut greenhouse gas emissions
New study shows better grazing and ranch management can reduce methane, nitrous oxide.
Posted inArticles
Mapping the large-scale loss of natural areas in the West
Urban sprawl, energy development, agriculture and forestry have an ever-larger footprint on the West.
Posted inMay 16, 2016: Grizzly Face-Off
What the West’s trees tell us
How can biomass and carbon data help us mitigate the effects of human activity?
Posted inMay 2, 2016: The Gold King Reckoning
Inside the moss mystery: How the organisms helped reveal Portland’s pollution
Surveys of tree moss uncovered contamination that may have led to higher cancer rates.
Posted inMay 2, 2016: The Gold King Reckoning
Latest: Peer-reviewed study undermines fracking’s claims of safety
Researchers in Pavillion, Wyoming, traced the chemical footprint of the drilling.
Posted inArticles
New report: West Coast waters face double threat
Ocean acidification, driven by global fossil fuel emissions, is being exacerbated by local pollution.
Posted inArticles
Fracking linked to groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming
Contaminants that likely came from fracking were found in an aquifer that supplies drinking water.
Posted inMarch 21, 2016: Making Sense of Malheur
Does conserving species actually curb development?
A new study suggests ESA doesn’t stop economic growth, but the devil’s in the details.