Category: Essays

Black and white photograph of two men drying wild rice on sheets.

What Minnesota’s Mineral Gaze Overlooks

Minnesota state agencies have a history of seeing the landscape with an eye toward extraction, writes Andrew Hoyt, ignoring water resources and Indigenous sovereignty in favor of risky mining.

A blue river surrounded by dark green shrubs and grasses on a cloudy day. Industrial buildings sit in the background.

When Wetland Restoration and Big Oil Collide

Walking through the Baytown Nature Center near Houston, Texas, Gardiner Brown traces how this wildlife sanctuary is enmeshed with the local petrochemical industry and makes a case for imperfect restoration.

Numerous blue and green objects placed close together

Swimming with Trash in the Caribbean

The Caribbean is known for its pristine beaches and tourist spots, but it has increasingly become a dumping ground for the world’s unmanaged garbage. Ysabel Muñoz Martínez charts how “wastescapes” are proliferating in the Anthropocene.

A black and white trail cam shows a Texas ocelot walking past, its coat is speckled and spotted.

Conserving a Ghost Cat

Texas ocelots struggle to survive in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Shari Wilcox describes her work protecting these elusive wild cats.