Green & indigenous News

Watching proteins move as they drive the chemical reactions that sustain life is one of the grand challenges of modern biology. In recent years, X-ray free-electron lasers, or XFELs, have begun to meet that challenge, capturing ultrafast snapshots of molecules as they shift shape during a reaction—effectively creating molecular slow-motion movies.

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An estimated 8,000 invasive green iguanas were removed from various Florida communities this week after a record-breaking freeze event that sent overnight temperatures down to the mid-30s for two nights in a row. On Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife and Conservation Commission released official numbers for its iguana drop-off sites. All told, the five sites collected 5,195 dead or cold-stunned iguanas. The drop-off sites were in Marathon, Sunrise, Tequesta, Fort Myers and Lakeland.

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Following one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history, University of Maryland researchers have detected high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the Potomac River, raising urgent public health concerns and underscoring the risks posed by aging sewer infrastructure.

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Pharmaceutical products are essential for health, and they play and will continue to play a key role in disease prevention and treatment. However, they are exerting a major impact on the environment by affecting ecosystems and human health, and contributing to biodiversity loss, antimicrobial resistance and climate change. The main ingredients of medicines designed to achieve the desired health effect, together with their excipients (inert substances mixed with medicines to provide them with consistency, shape, taste, etc.) and packaging materials, are polluting the air, soil and water worldwide. This leads to problems in ecosystems, which then translate into an impact on human health.

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Fences intended to protect cattle from catching diseases from wildlife and other livestock in southern Africa are in disrepair, restrict wild animal migrations and likely intensify human-elephant conflict—but a plan to remove key sections could make both livestock and wildlife safer, a new Cornell University study suggests.

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Cities are increasingly becoming the epicenter of climate-related risks, with research showing that impervious surfaces (e.g., roofs, streets, sidewalks, parking lots) are a major driver of urban climate impacts because they disrupt the natural surface energy balance, increase stormwater runoff, and intensify urban heat island effects.

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Proteins are the molecular machines of cells. They are produced in protein factories called ribosomes based on their blueprint—the genetic information. Here, the basic building blocks of proteins, amino acids, are assembled into long protein chains. Like the building blocks of a machine, individual proteins must have a specific three-dimensional structure to properly fulfill their functions.

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Imagine an asteroid striking Earth and wiping out most of the human population. Even if some lucky people survived the impact, Homo sapiens might still face extinction, because the social networks humans rely on would collapse.

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Authorities have evacuated more than 140,000 people from their homes since heavy rainfall flooded several provinces in northern Morocco last week, the interior ministry said Thursday.

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Muscles make up nearly 40% of the human body and power every move we make, from a child's first steps to recovery after injury. For some, however, muscle development goes awry, leading to weakness, delayed motor milestones or lifelong disabilities. New research from the University of Georgia is shedding light on why.

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A deadly storm that triggered floods and thousands of evacuations in the Iberian Peninsula sparked calls on Thursday for Portugal's presidential run-off to be postponed, but electoral officials insisted it would go ahead.

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The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that took place in 2018 on the south flank of Kīlauea on the Island of Hawaiʻi may have stalled episodes of periodic slow slip along a major fault underlying the volcano, according to a new study by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey.

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It's not what they intended to do or expected to find. They're not even all that interested in birds. When Andre Naranjo and his colleagues began work on a new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, they wanted to know why a small mountain chain on the island of Hispaniola had more plant diversity than just about any other spot in the Caribbean. As far as they were concerned, the island's birds were merely an unnecessarily complicated form of seed dispersal.

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A research team led by Prof. Xiao Kai from the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has systematically elucidated the transformation and transport processes of nutrients in intertidal groundwater. The team employed a combined methodological approach, including multi-depth groundwater sampling, dynamic monitoring, stable isotope tracing, and multivariate statistical analysis. Their findings, published in the Journal of Hydrology, provide scientific evidence to deepen understanding of the terrestrial drivers of nearshore eutrophication.

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Whatever challenges life throws, mothers often know best as they guide offspring through the risky stages of early development. This scenario, familiar when applied to humans, turns out to be true for plants too, according to intriguing research from the John Innes Center and Earlham Institute.

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Despite decades of independent progress in population ecology and movement ecology, researchers have lacked a theoretical bridge between these two disciplines. "Ecologists have been trying to establish this link since the 1950s, when they started to characterize animal movement patterns," says Dr. Ricardo Martinez-Garcia, head of the CASUS Young Investigator Group "Dynamics of Complex Living Systems" and senior author of the study.

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Stanford researchers have created the first-ever global map of a rare earthquake type that occurs not in Earth's crust but in our planet's mantle, the layer sandwiched between the thin crust and Earth's molten core. The new map will help scientists learn more about the mechanics of mantle earthquakes, in turn opening a window into the complexities and triggers for all earthquakes.

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At the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, nations committed to reducing the risks associated with pesticide use in agriculture by 50% by 2030. A new study by a research team from RPTUKaiserslautern-Landau, published in the journal Science, reveals that this global target is now under serious threat.

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Babies are born with the ability to predict rhythm, according to a study published February 5 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Roberta Bianco from the Italian Institute of Technology, and colleagues.

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A combination of weakened atmospheric removal and increased emissions from warming wetlands, rivers, lakes, and agricultural land increased atmospheric methane at an unprecedented rate in the early 2020s, an international team of researchers report today in the journal Science.

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In a series of tea party-like experiments, Johns Hopkins University researchers demonstrate for the first time that apes can use their imagination and play pretend, an ability thought to be uniquely human.

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Nika Bartoo-Smith
Underscore Native News + ICT

Following a nearly 16 month vacancy, the tribal relations department at the City of Portland has been filled.

At the annual Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) winter convention in downtown Portland on February 3, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson addressed hundreds of Native leaders from across the Pacific Northwest. As he welcomed people to Portland, he introduced the audience to Gerald D. Skelton Jr. as the city’s new tribal government relations manager. Officially, Skelton began his first day in the role the day before.

“Gerald’s addition is critical to us, because we need everybody at this table in Portland,” Mayor Wilson told Underscore Native News + ICT. “We need everybody rowing in the same direction. And the tribes are so valuable right now as we create this community of, sort of this renaissance. And so it’s really a welcoming gesture, and we need that relationship.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson addressed hundreds of Native leaders from across the Pacific Northwest as he announced, Gerald D. Skelton Jr., to serve as the city of Portland’s new tribal government relations manager, at the annual Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, ATNI, winter convention in downtown Portland on February 3. (Photo by Jarrette Werk, Underscore Native News) Credit: Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Chairman J. Garret Renville, center, stands with tribal archivist Tamara St. John, left, and Historic Preservation Officer Dianne Desrosiers after Renville signed an agreement Sept. 13, 2023, with the U.S. Army that for the first time allows ceremony in the Army's repatriation process for ancestral remains from the grounds of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. (Photo courtesy of Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate)

Skelton, a citizen of Klamath Tribes, formerly served as the director of the Klamath Tribes Culture and Heritage Department for over 15 years. With the Klamath Tribes, he focused on archeological museum work and negotiating repatriation of ancestral remains. According to Skelton he also has a background in energy development and helped the Klamath Tribes work through the dam removal process on the Klamath River.

“People have been really warm and friendly,” Skelton told Underscore Native News + ICT. “It’s been a warm reception. The City of Portland is amazing, and I do appreciate the direction we’re heading in working with sovereign governments and tribal nations.”

Skelton is the fourth leader of this department at the city of Portland since the office officially began in 2017. He steps into an office that has been wrought with a pattern of abrupt departures including one firing, staffing cuts and political neglect.

Laura John, a descendant of the Blackfeet and Seneca nations, served as the first full-time tribal liaison for the city of Portland from 2017 until 2023 when she resigned, accepting a severance payout. In a story released last June, John said that she felt “forced out” of the position by Sam Chase, who was hired to lead the Office of Government Relations in 2023, overseeing the Tribal Relations Program.

After John left, what was once an office of three people under her leadership, downsized into a position of one. Miranda Mishan, a citizen of Chickasaw Nation, previously worked for John and took over as tribal relations program manager following John’s departure. Mishan left the office after five months and the office sat vacant for six months before Chase hired Adam Becenti, Diné. He was fired by Chase after only five months.

Following the abrupt termination of Becenti in 2024, the office once again sat empty for five months before the city announced plans in March 2025 to hire a new manager.

Skelton began his role as the tribal government relations manager nearly a year after the position first posted.

“Right now, it’s making sure I support the City of Portland in its effort to reconnect with the tribes and develop a strong trust to trust responsibility [and] consultation with the sovereign tribes,” Skelton said.

Gerald D. Skelton Jr., a citizen of the Klamath Tribes. Skelton was announced to serve as the City of Portland’s new tribal government relations manager at the 2026 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, ATNI, Winter Convention held in downtown Portland on Feb 3. (Photo by Jarrette Werk, Underscore Native News) Credit: A group portrait shows the first male students to arrive at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School on Oct. 6, 1879. These students were from Pine Ridge and Rosebud, but others arrived in the next weeks from other tribes. Among those in the first group of students to attend Carlisle were Amos LaFromboise, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, who arrived Nov. 6, 1879, and died 20 days later, on Nov. 20, becoming the first Native child to die at the school. Also in LaFromboise's group was Edward Upright, Spirit Lake Tribe, who died about 10 months after arriving. Both are finally being repatriated to their communities starting Sept. 17, 2023. The photo also shows school founder Richard Henry Pratt, standing at left.(Photo courtesy of the Cumberland County Historical Society)

As tribal government relations manager, Skelton will report to Chase.

“Gerald brings deep knowledge, lived experience and a passion for collaboration to this critical work,” Chase said in a press release. “His leadership will produce outcomes that benefit Tribal Nations and Portland residents alike.”

In November 2024, the Portland Indian Leaders Roundtable sent a letter to the mayor’s office with a list of recommendations for this position. One of those recommendations was to establish a standalone Office of Tribal Government Relations. So far, this is not the case.

“It’s not about what office they’re in. It’s about the outcome, and it’s about the relationship. I need a high performing office with high standards, with radical hospitality being forwarded to the tribes,” Mayor Wilson said. “The office isn’t as important as the person and the leadership that creates this importance with the tribes.”

While this position will focus primarily on government-to-government relationships with the nine sovereign Native nations in Oregon and others across the region, the city plans to hire another position to focus on engagement with Indigenous communities in Portland at a later date, according to Mayor Wilson. He did not specify when.

“Building strong, respectful relationships with Tribal Nations is essential to the work ahead,” Skelton said in a press release. “I’m honored to step into this role and build on the City’s commitment to equity, inclusion and government-to-government collaboration with Indigenous nations.”

This story is co-published byUnderscore Native NewsandICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest.

The post City of Portland announces Gerald Skelton Jr. as the new tribal government relations manager appeared first on ICT.

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In biology, many RNA molecules act as sophisticated microscopic machines. Among them, riboswitches function as tiny biological sensors, changing their 3D shape upon binding to a specific metabolite. This shape-change acts as a switch, often turning a downstream gene "on" or "off." The ability to design artificial switches from scratch would hold immense promise for synthetic biology, drug design, and new diagnostic tools. However, designing a sequence that can stably fold into two different shapes and switch between them is an extremely difficult challenge.

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Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, government workers and community leaders, in 26 countries across the Global South. The researchers found that one-third of respondents are aware of households that are burning plastic, while 16% stated they’ve burned plastic in their own household. Burning plastic “has been integrated into household energy practices in numerous and diverse ways in many urban communities,” the authors write. Bishal Bharadwaj, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Calgary, says the issue has been largely overlooked, as it is occurring in marginalized and largely out-of-sight neighborhoods within cities. “The practice is more widespread than we thought,” he says. Bharadwaj published a paper in 2025 outlining how this practice is growing in the Global South, but this new paper adds in-depth data. The current research also comes against a backdrop of experts warning that the regular practice of open burning of plastic represents an “urgent global health issue” as communities increasingly resort to burning plastic as a fuel source and to tackle a rapidly growing plastic waste disposal crisis. Plastic and other waste in a cooking stove in Guatemala. Household burning of plastic raises health concerns due to close and prolonged exposure…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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February 5, 2025 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new guidance this week that makes it clear that manufacturers cannot use the Clean Air Act to prevent farmers from fixing their own equipment.

Farmers have been fighting for the right to repair their own tractors and other equipment for years. Some companies have justified preventing them from doing so by citing emissions controls provisions included in the Clean Air Act.

In 2023, then-President Joe Biden’s EPA sent a letter to the National Farmers Union (NFU) saying that the agency’s position was that manufacturers could not do that. So while the guidance issued this week is not a change in policy, representatives of the NFU and Farm Action said they were glad to see the position re-affirmed by the Trump administration. In a statement, NFU president Rob Larew called it “an encouraging message to farm country.”

Sarah Carden, research and policy director at Farm Action, told Civil Eats it was significant to hear EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin call out manufacturers for falsely claiming environmental laws were preventing them from allowing farmers to do their own repairs.

“But they haven’t addressed the fact that farmers don’t have the tools they need to make these repairs,” she said. As a next step, Farm Action will push the agency to require that manufacturers provide those tools.

The NFU has a similar position. “This guidance does not guarantee a farmer’s right to repair,” Larew said. “We need durable solutions that guarantee repair access on fair and reasonable terms so that independent repair is fully available, affordable, and accessible, and manufacturers who prevent independent repair are held accountable.”

Biden’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against John Deere in January 2025, alleging the manufacturer used monopolistic practices that deprive farmers of the ability to make timely repairs, driving up the cost of maintenance.

John Deere has said the lawsuit ignores its commitment to customer self-repair and consistent progress and innovation related to the issue. “The complaint is based on flagrant misrepresentations of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories, and it punishes innovation and procompetitive product design,” the company said in a statement.

So far, that case is proceeding. At the end of January, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said the Trump administration’s position is that “farmers should be able to repair their own equipment.”

“The administration is taking a position publicly on it. Whether that is going to be a position that turns into actionable changes for the farmers has yet to be seen,” Carden said. “John Deere’s monopoly is ultimately the biggest issue.” (Link to this post.)

The post EPA Affirms Farmers’ Right to Repair appeared first on Civil Eats.

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