Environmentality. with Dr. Brendon Anthony

Three Stories:

1. Oil spill off the coast of Mauritius Island, after an oil tanker crashed into a coral reef.

2. Two beluga whales were just released from captivity into an open ocean sea-pen off the southern coast of Iceland.

3. Palm oil producer allocates a wildlife sanctuary for Sumatran Rhinos, a critically endangered species with only 30 - 80 organisms left in the wild.

Sources: 
https://news.yahoo.com/tanker-oil-spill-mauritius-065310165.html 
https://belugasanctuary.sealifetrust.org/en/ 
https://www.ran.org/leuser-watch/great-news-for-sumatran-rhinos/  

To learn more about Palm Oil and to avoid products that contain them:  

https://www.ran.org/sf20scorecard/ 
https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil  

How organics play a role in the quest for sustainable agriculture. An interview with Dr. David Granatstein. 

In this interview of Environmentality., Dr. David Granatstein, Professor Emeritus at Washington State University shares about his experiences with organic agriculture, and in particular, the organic tree fruit industry that he worked alongside for many years and is so prevalent in WA state. Granatstein shares about the problems organic growers face, recent breakthroughs for the industry and where the industry, in terms of research, is heading.

Dr. Granatstein also shares his perspective on how to properly evaluate food production systems, that the often used dichotomy of conventional vs. organic is misleading, ineffective and not conducive for proper sustainability evaluations. He shares about the use of the "Sustainability Index," and how we need common metrics and methodologies to evaluate the sustainability of particular farming systems.

We also discuss integrated pest management, mating pheromone disruption, and how he got interested in agriculture in general. 

To learn more about his research, visit:  http://tfrec.cahnrs.wsu.edu/organicag/about-david-granatstein/ 
To connect with Dr. David Granatstein visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-granatstein/  

Three Stories: 

Eleven new Emperor Penguin colonies discovered in Antarctica via satellite detection of guano. This raises the population of this species by 5 - 10%. 

NASA Space Dragon Crew returns to Earth! The first NASA splashdown since 1975. 

Six climate scientists and activists weigh in on daily action to combat climate change. VOTING was the most frequent empowering action listed. 

Sources: 
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53549299?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=e03ad41fac-briefing-dy-20200805&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-e03ad41fac-44498949  

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronauts-safely-splash-down-after-first-commercial-crew-flight-to-space-station  

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/04/what-can-you-do-to-fight-the-climate-crisis?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=abdd49ded3-briefing-dy-20200806&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-abdd49ded3-44498949  

How maintaining elephant autonomy and opting out of performative tasks is key.  An interview with Danielle Carnahan. 

In this interview of Environmentality., Danielle Carnahan, a wildlife conservationist, comes on the show to talk about ethical elephant interaction and elephant psychology. Elephants are captured at an early age from the wild, trained aggressively and exploited through tourism, bringing about a lot of trauma. Danielle's master's research was focused on assessing PTSD in Asian elephants who had been recently rescued from traumatic and exploitative situations. 

Danielle shares the findings of her research, some fascinating facts and stories about life with elephants in Thailand, and how to determine if a sanctuary is treating their elephants ethically. Additionally, Danielle provides insight on how to interact with elephants in order to help maintain their autonomy, along with how to interact with businesses that are still exploiting their elephants via riding, chains, hooks, bath time and photographs. 

We also discuss issues surrounding the re-integration of animals into the wild such as orcas, elephants, wolves and bison. Along with the human element of this whole story, like how to balance the needs of farmers with the desires of conservationists. 

Danielle also has an Environmental Action blog called, the Call to Conserve. 

To learn more about her blog, visit The Call to Conserve at: https://www.thecalltoconserve.com/ 
To connect with Danielle visit:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellecarnahan/  

Three Stories:

NASA launches their 9th rover to Mars to collect soil and rock samples in search of fossils or signs of past life. The ultimate goal is to bring these samples back to Earth analyze them. This is the third launch for Mars this month, with China and United Arab Emirates also launching missions to Mars as well. 

Eastern Tropical Pacific reefs demonstrate resiliency to warming temperatures. A 44-year long study showcases no change in coral reef abundance between Baja California and the Galapagos Islands. The reason why? These corals grow quickly and are symbiotic with heat tolerant algae. The findings on these Eastern Pacific reefs may help inform the future for coral reef survival in other parts of the world. 

A huge breakthrough in the fight against “Citrus Greening,” a disease that is wiping out citrus trees all around the world, has just occurred. California researchers have identified a gene in an exotic Australian citrus fruit, called a fingerlime, that produces a peptide that acts like a natural antibiotic in the tree that makes it resistant to citrus greening. This natural antibiotic is now being synthesized in the lab to be sprayed on the citrus trees to help stop the negative impacts of this devastating disease. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02257-w?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=2a2293db4f-briefing-dy-20200730&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-2a2293db4f-44498949 
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723143637.htm 
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/27/895775625/exotic-australian-fruit-may-help-save-floridas-citrus-industry   

How soil organic matter can mitigate climate change and why agriculture needs to improve it. A lecture from Brendon Anthony. 

This is the second lecture of Environmentality. and a bit of a response to the first, which was about Climate Change. In this episode, Brendon unpacks what carbon sequestration is and effective strategies to try and mitigate climate change by drawing down carbon from the atmosphere back into our plants and soils.

Brendon discussed various strategies to do this. The first is reforestation, but as most of the carbon in ecosystems is actually in the soil, and not plants, trees can only do so much. This is why plants and agriculture need to promote healthy soils, mainly soil organic matter. This is being pursued through genetic engineering of crops to have bigger root systems, conservation agriculture practices that are reducing tillage and the breeding of perennial grains.

To learn more visit: https://impakter.com/a-perennial-plan-to-preserve-the-planet/  

Four stories this week:

Trump rolls back regulations on the National Environmental Policy Act, the largest open ocean clean up has just been completed, the Great American Outdoors Act has been passed by Congress, and a proposed mining access road is set to disrupt caribou migration in Alaska.

Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/politics/national-environmental-policy-act-changes/index.html 
https://www.greenmatters.com/p/ocean-plastic-cleanup?insta=&utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-greenmatters&utm_content=later-8787828&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram 
https://www.oceanvoyagesinstitute.org/biggest-open-ocean-clean-up-ever/  
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/508633-great-american-outdoors-act-will-deliver-critical 
https://www.lwcfcoalition.com/about-lwcf  

Sign the Petition to Stop the Access Road Here:  
https://www.npca.org/advocacy/35-protect-gates-of-the-arctic-national-park-preserve   

How fruit trees can liberate people and heal the environment. An interview with Craig Erickson. 

In this interview of Environmentality., Craig Erickson, from Eden Reforestation Projects (and my business partner at Harvest Craft), comes on the show to talk about agroforestry. Agroforesty is a permanent agricultural system that consists of a diversity of fruit/resource producing trees that can help sequester carbon (mitigate climate change), increase economic revenue for farmers and be used as a tool for environmental restoration and international development.

Craig shares about how he's been surrounded by agricultural his whole life, what life was like living in Haiti for many years, and how he came to work at Eden Projects as the Agroforestry Programs Manager. Eden Reforestation Projects has historically reclaimed ecosystems through the planting of native forestry trees, along with massive mangrove plantings. Eden is now looking to incorporate more agroforestry programs across their project nations as they have holistic benefits!

We also discuss issues surrounding deforestation, the "tragedy of the commons" and how to empower subsistence farmers. 

To learn more about Eden Reforestation projects visit: https://edenprojects.org/ 
To connect with Craig visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-erickson-b59a7a140/  

Three stories this week:
Methane levels reach all time high, Ethiopia attempts to move forward with Africa's largest dam and hydroelectric power plant, but faces opposition from Egypt, and artificial reefs prove to be effective in restoring coral reef habitats by increasing fish abundance.

Sources:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200714182228.htm

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02116-8?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=8a93e2b69c-briefing-dy-20200715&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-8a93e2b69c-44498949

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02124-8?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=27ccd738e2-briefing-dy-20200716&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-27ccd738e2-44498949

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200716101539.htm

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13666

 How methane turns from greenhouse gas to energy source. An interview with Geoff Bishop. 

In the first interview of Environmentality., Geoff Bishop, from California Bioenergy, comes on the show to talk about biodigesters. Biodigesters are an immediate solution to the problem of rising methane emissions, as a result of animal agriculture, in particular dairies.

Geoff shares about how he fell in love with the environment and how he came to work for CalBio, a company that helps dairies fuel a renewable future by converting methane from dairy manure into energy and fuel.

We also discuss the global warming potential of various gases, carbon credits, the complexity of climate change and how it requires integrated solutions in order to be effective in mitigation. 

To learn more about CalBio visit: https://calbioenergy.com/ 
To connect with Geoff visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffrey-bishop-09b41a112/