In our own backyard

By Kelly S. Ramirez

Hello Readers, Happy New Year and welcome back to Early Career Ecologists! We are excited to get back into our normal posting schedule. Here’s to a productive and stimulating 2013.

Over my holiday break I read The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. (I finally got around to reading it after hearing this NPR interview). Briefly, The Dog Stars is a novel about a man, Hig, living in post apocalyptic Colorado, nine years after a plague has wiped out most of the human population; he is left with his dog, the stars and a neighbor with a massive weapons arsenal.

What I found so great about the novel, first, was Heller’s use of poetry and disjointed prose to highlight Hig’s loss – of his family, his surrounding environment, really the entire world. Amidst the sorrow though, Heller maintains a sense of hopefulness and lightheartedness that makes this a beautifully written and enjoyable novel.

But I am not here to write a book review- check out here and here if you stumbled upon this page for that reason. Though if you are wondering, I would say the catastrophic feel of this book falls somewhere between The Road, by Cormac McCarthy* and WALL×E, the lighthearted animated Disney film about a futuristic robot. This post is instead focused on the role of literature and film in public understanding of climate change.

Politics aside, can climate change and science policy be successful?

By Kelly Ramirez

This past week my fellow ECEcol contributors have posted on climate change science, public perceptions, and the need for action. With election results in and Barack Obama the clear winner, what does this mean for the climate change and environmental policies of the US, and the world?

How will the Obama Administration move forward with climate change policy? Photo credit: Kelly Ramirez, 2012

While there was a collective sigh of relief across the country by democrats, the scientific community is still holding its breath. How will President Obama’s environmental policy evolve over the next four years?

Moving scientific research into the policy realm, perspectives from Rio+20

By Kelly Ramirez, PhD

This past week I participated on an Avo’s panel series set up by SoGES at CSU, entitled ‘After Rio+20 – Moving Forward.’ I was asked to participate because I was lucky enough to attend the Rio+20 conference this past June. 

CSU’s Active, Science-Based Blogosphere

By Sarah Bisbing

The web is packed with incredible science, ecology, and science communication blogs.