Cary Ecopicks

Rock Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes, so it's been widely used in wintertime to prevent our roads from icing up. It's a boon for safety but there are environmental consequences. 

In the winter, rock salt is routinely spread on our roads to keep them free of ice. We now know that the rock salt can enter into our soil, groundwater, rivers and streams and can stay there year-round, effecting the ecosystem and people. 

The effects of rock salt on streams are most dramatic in streams in urban areas. These would be streams in proximity to roads The roads would receive a lot of rock salt and eventually as that dissolves, it moves on into the streams.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the global authority for determining species' vulnerability in the face of threats such as habitat loss and climate change. How widely a species can be found – its geographic range – is a key indicator used by the IUCN to assign an appropriate conservation status.

Why is it that diseases emerge from some species and not from others? Is it possible to predict outbreaks of infectious diseases before they occur? 

A wide range of drugs - everything from antibiotics to antihistamines, are showing in our rivers, streams and water supply and it is having an impact on our environment. What can we do about it? 

According to the Center for Disease Control, there are over 300,000 new cases of Lyme Disease each year in the United States. Is there a way to control its spread? 

The summer following a good mouse year, which is two summers following a good acorn year, we have found are the riskiest years for human exposure to Lyme.

Scientists are calling for the creation of a global early warning system for infectious diseases. Such a system would use computer models to tap into environmental, epidemiological, and molecular data – gathering the intelligence needed to forecast where disease risk is high.

When it comes to addressing infectious disease, we have a short attention span. In the case of Zika, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency based on a strong association between Zika infection and microcephaly in newborns.

Each year, more than 25 million shipping containers enter the U.S. All too often, highly destructive forest pests are lurking among their imported goods. Wood boring insects arrive as stowaways in wood packaging, such as pallets and crates. 

Beavers are one of nature's most industrious engineers. Using branches and mud, the intrepid animals create dams that slow moving water. In New York's Hudson Valley, their constructions are a common sight on streams and in wetlands.

Beavers are one of nature's most industrious engineers. Using branches and mud, the intrepid animals create dams that slow moving water. In New York's Hudson Valley, their constructions are a common sight on streams and in wetlands.

There are many reasons to protect Earth's biodiversity. One of the more underrated is that disease incidence is lower when ecosystems support a variety of plants and animals.

Debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership overlooks an unintended consequence of increased trade with Asia – the assault on America's trees.

Does your property contain a patch of forest? When managing your woodland, resist the urge to keep things tidy. Dead and dying trees are a healthy part of forest ecosystems.

Most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about our wastewater. We want our toilets to flush and our dirty wash water to go down the drain. We assume this water is efficiently routed to a treatment facility, where it is cleaned up and returned to the environment. But reality doesn't measure up to our expectations.

Most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about our wastewater. We want our toilets to flush and our dirty wash water to go down the drain. We assume this water is efficiently routed to a treatment facility, where it is cleaned up and returned to the environment. But reality doesn't measure up to our expectations.

According to Rick Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, if we want to get a leg up on tick-borne illness we need to become vigilant earlier in the season.

If you shop online, this is a familiar scenario: You click on a product like a book, and the online merchant presents you with a list of related items. "If you like X, you might also like Y."