"U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday fired all 24 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the body that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF). Many science advocates see it as the latest step by his administration to erode—some would say destroy—the independence of the 76-year-old research agency."
"Sweeping changes underway at the federal agency tasked with protecting the nation’s forests could result in the loss of more than a century of critical historical documents, conservationists warn."
"Overshadowed by the fight over Big Bend, the White House’s wall expansion could degrade some of the few public hunting opportunities in Texas."
"The wildfires that used to burn each summer in the woods above the Spanish village of Barro have diminished to almost none since Lucia Perez started grazing wild horses there."
"It could worsen heat and humidity in the West this summer, and also boost the risks of Pacific hurricanes as well as wildfires in the region."
"For 152 million Americans, including nearly half of the nation's children and teens, just breathing air in the places they live can be harmful. According to the American Lung Association's latest State of the Air report, 44% of the U.S. population reside in areas with unhealthy levels of pollution, including 33 million who are younger than 18."
"A Trump administration appointee has delayed publication of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that shows benefits related to the Covid vaccine, leading to concerns that the administration is engaging in behind-the-scenes tactics to undermine vaccines."
SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff, Nathaniel Eisen, Nhung Nguyen and Marlowe Starling provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.
Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.
"Some researchers hold that evolution hasn’t much altered humans in the past 10,000 years. A new analysis of ancient DNA indicates that natural selection continued to shape hundreds of genes."
