Basics of Toxicology Designing good ecotoxicology studies 17 Nov 2021November 17, 2021 Featured image: A conceptual model to explain how monarch butterflies could be exposed to insecticides used in Midwest agriculture. Figure obtained from Krishnan et al. (2021). As an insect toxicologist,…
Special Topics Can exposure to insecticides impact monarch butterfly conservation? 24 Jun 2021December 29, 2021 Featured image: Monarch caterpillar photo was taken by Aaron Eckley at Iowa State University. This was originally published by Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium: https://monarch.ent.iastate.edu/can-exposure-insecticides-impact-monarch-butterfly-conservation. The question posed in the title…
NAS reports Assessing risk to endangered species 5 Jan 2020February 24, 2022 Featured image: The Golden Toad was last recorded in 1989. Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (obtained from Wikimedia Commons) The “Assessing Risk to Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides”…
Recent News How hormones in lakes harm aquatic life 13 May 2019November 3, 2019 This post was originally published in Envirobites Article: Kidd KA, Paterson MJ, Rennie MD, Podemski CL, Findlay DL, Blanchfield PJ, Liber K. 2014 Direct and indirect responses of a freshwater…
Recent News How climate change can alter the toxicity of chemicals 10 Jan 2019November 3, 2019 This post was originally published in Envirobites Introduction We know climate change can affect our health in a multitude of ways— like by increasing rates of many diseases and temperature-related…
Special Topics Mapping the sensitivity of multiple species 3 Aug 2018March 13, 2020 Coffee, chocolates and alcohol..how I cherish them. But a dog probably doesn't feel the same -- all these three items are poisonous to them! And this difference is the basis…
Special Topics Why we need a science-based approach to help the monarch butterflies 5 Jul 2018March 31, 2020 [This post was originally published in Students of SETAC Outreach. The work described in this article has now been published: https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/etc.4672 ] I will start by acknowledging this: I am…
Recent News The impact of three insecticides on endangered species 15 Jun 2018December 29, 2021 Featured image: The location of critical habitats (areas essential for conservation of threatened and endangered species) in mainland United States. Photo Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. This post was…
Recent News The environmental impact of the world’s most famous weed killer 11 May 2018December 29, 2021 This post was originally published in Envirobites Weed killers are sprayed (see figures 1 and 2) to control land weeds on agricultural fields, residential lawns and golf courses. They are…
Special Topics Genetic resistance 24 Mar 2018December 29, 2021 Featured image: A monarch butterfly caterpillar eating milkweed plant. Milkweeds contain a toxin that only a few species, like monarchs, can consume safely. (Photo taken by me at Iowa State…
Basics of Toxicology Tracking pollutants indirectly 2 Mar 2018December 29, 2021 Featured image: Sherlock Holmes - It is elementary, my dear scientist. Image source: Employee(s) of Universal Studios [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Imagine you are Sherlock Holmes. You have a…
Basics of Toxicology Major environmental pollutants 21 Jan 2018December 11, 2021 Feature image: Smogs due to air pollutants were more common in the U.S. prior to passage of environmental laws (Photo source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) I use the…