The Conversation

Galapagos giant tortoises make a comeback, thanks to innovative conservation strategies

Written by James P. Gibbs, Professor of Vertebrate Conservation Biology and Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Giant tortoise on Pinzon Island, GalapagosRory Stansbury, Island Conservation/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

The Galapagos Islands are world-famous as a laboratory of biological evolution. Some 30 percent of the plants, 80 percent of the land birds and 97 percent of the reptiles on this remote archipelago are found nowhere else on Earth. Perhaps the most...

Personalized medicine may do more to treat rather than prevent chronic diseases

Written by Sharon Horesh Bergquist, Physician, teacher, researcher in preventive medicine and healthy aging, Emory University

What could genomic medicine do in the future?DNA gel image via www.shutterstock.com.

Personalized medicine, which involves tailoring health care to each person’s unique genetic makeup, has the potential to transform how we diagnose, prevent and treat disease. After all, no two people are alike. Mapping a person’s unique susceptibility...

How robots could help chronically ill kids attend school

Written by Veronica Newhart, Ph.D. Candidate in Education, University of California, Irvine

Too sick to attend school in person, but perfectly able to participate with a robot's help.AP Photo/David Duprey

Over the past century, American schools have integrated an ever-more-diverse group of students. Racial integration is most prominent, but it’s not just Native Americans, blacks and Latinos who have been brought into public...

Netanyahu's meeting with Trump: Good for Israeli-Palestinian peace?

Written by Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs and Israel Studies, Northeastern University

At their meeting at the White House today, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “hold back on settlements for a little bit.”

There are now more than 400,000 Israelis living in over 100 settlements located in the West Bank. Another 300,000 or so are living in East Jerusalem, which Israel has...

How will native tribes fight the Dakota Access Pipeline in court?

Written by Monte Mills, Assistant Professor of Law & Co-Director, Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic, The University of Montana

After the Army Corps of Engineers approved an easement for the North Dakota Pipeline, two tribes requested – unsuccessfully – to halt construction while their lawsuit over the project is resolved.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

On Feb. 8 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reversed course and issued an easement allowing the installation of the...

Trump's border plan for Canada? So far, not a wall

Written by Jessica Trisko Darden, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, American University School of International Service

President Donald Trump has said little about the world’s longest undefended border – the one between the U.S. and Canada.

Trump barely addressed the issue at his first meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 13 in Washington. Although Trudeau’s vision of openness and diversity may conflict with Trump’s vis...

How best to prepare for epidemics? Strengthen primary care

Written by Ashwin Vasan, Assistant Professor of Clinical Population Health & Medicine, Columbia University

A worker at the Wynwood Community Service Center hands a local resident a can of insect repellent Aug. 4, 2016, in Miami. AP Photo/Alan Diaz

In global public health, 2016 was a year defined by the end of two important emergencies: Ebola and Zika.

But that doesn’t mean the risk either of these viruses pose has gone away. Zika transmission...

America's always had black inventors – even when the patent system explicitly excluded them

Written by Shontavia Johnson, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Drake University

Thomas L. Jennings became the first black American patent holder in 1821.

America has long been the land of innovation. More than 13,000 years ago, the Clovis people created what many call the “first American invention” – a stone tool used primarily to hunt large game. This spirit of American creativity has persisted through the...

Will blazing a low-carbon path pay off for California?

Written by Matthew Kahn, Professor of Economics, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

California Gov. Jerry Brown signs SB350 on Oct. 7, 2015. The bill calls for increasing the state's renewable electricity use to 50 percent and doubling energy efficiency in existing buildings by 2030.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

President Trump has made it clear he intends to dismantle the Obama administration’s policies for reducing U.S....

Why America needs Marvel superhero Kamala Khan now more than ever

Written by Katie M. Logan, Assistant Professor of Focused Inquiry, Virginia Commonwealth University

During the first few weeks of the Trump administration, we’ve seen increased pressure on Muslim and immigrant communities in the United States.

In the face of these threats, which Marvel superhero might be best equipped to defend the people, ideals and institutions under attack? Some comic fans and critics are pointing to Kamala Khan, the...