Environment

Faculty at the forefront of the emerging area of coupled human and natural systems conduct international research that encompasses biological, physical, and social aspects of the environment.

Using a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, MSU faculty work to help purify the world’s waters and study the nature and magnitude of interactions between climate and land use around the world.

Natural habitats reduce farmers' pest-control costs
MSU news, May 14 2012

Having natural habitat in farming areas that supports ladybugs could help increase their abundance in crops where they control pests and help farmers reduce their costs, says a Michigan State University study.

Researchers give long look at who benefits from nature tourism
MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Apr 27 2012

Using nature’s beauty as a tourist draw can boost conservation in China’s valued panda preserves, but it isn’t an automatic ticket out of poverty for the human habitants, a unique long-term study shows.

The policy hitch: Often those who benefit most from nature-based tourism endeavors are people who already have resources. The truly impoverished have a harder time breaking into the tourism business.

Promiscuous queen bees maintain genetic diversity
MSU News, Apr 16 2012

By mating with nearly 100 males, queen bees on isolated islands avoid inbreeding and keep colonies healthy.

The results, published in the current issue of PLoS ONE, focused on giant honey bee colonies on Hainan Island, off the coast of China. Since these bees have long been separated from their continental cousins, it was thought that the island bees would be prime candidates for inbreeding as well as having very different genes, said Zachary Huang, Michigan State University entomologist.

Importance of long-term ecological research highlighted
MSU News, Apr 9 2012

For more than 20 years, Michigan State University has been a part of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, a National Science Foundation-funded project to conduct research on ecological issues that can last decades and span huge geographical areas.

In celebration of the LTER program, which has been in existence for nearly 30 years, six new papers on the importance of such long-term research are published in the journal BioScience.

MBI successfully scales up OPXBIO's BioAcrylic process
Apr 5 2012

Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI) announced a successful pilot campaign for the BioAcrylic process created by OPX Biotechnologies Inc. (OPXBIO), demonstrating successful scale up of the fermentation process at the 3,000-liter scale.

BioAcrylic is a renewable alternative to petroleum-based acrylic acid, for which there is a $10 billion market, including in such products as diapers, detergents, paints and adhesives. OPXBIO has partnered with The Dow Chemical Company to bring BioAcrylic products to the market.

Researchers develop new technique to assess plant diversity from afar
MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Mar 23 2012

By analyzing vegetation information collected by satellites over time instead of for just one day, scientists in the Michigan State University Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) have developed a novel procedure to assess the composition of plant species in an area.

Water flow models help the environment, watershed
MSU College of Natural Science, Mar 16 2012

For MSU post-doctoral researcher Anthony Kendall, (below) what started out as a career leaning toward physics and mechanical engineering has evolved into several years of environmental research spanning everything from water resources in the High Plains to Brook trout in Northern Michigan’s Jordan River.

Creating a viable market for ecosystem services
MSU AgBioResearch 2011 Annual Report, Feb 29 2012

What do food crops, clean drinking water and the beauty of vegetated landscapes have in common? All of them are benefits that people derive from nature, what scientists call “ecosystem services.” Despite wide recognition, however, these services typically are not valued through existing markets. Michigan State University AgBioResearch scientist Scott Swinton (below right) is working to measure the economic value of ecosystem services linked to agriculture and identify ways that policy can communicate those values to farmers.

“Going green” with more urban trees
MSU AgBioResearch 2011 Annual Report, Feb 28 2012

"Go Green!” is a favorite slogan at Spartan athletic events, and Michigan State University has taken that theme to heart with its “Be Spartan Green” environmental stewardship initiatives. An MSU AgBioResearch scientist is helping to advance this “green” philosophy with groundbreaking research on urban treed spaces.

Most Michiganders like having wolves in their home state
MSU News, Feb 27 2012

The overwhelming majority of Michigan residents place value on having wolves in their home state while a small minority would buy a license to hunt them, according to a Michigan State University study.

The survey, which addresses how the state could manage its wolf population now that Canis lupus has been removed from the federal endangered species list, indicates that 82 percent of those surveyed value knowing that there are wolves in Michigan. On the other end of the spectrum, only 14 percent report that they would purchase a license to hunt wolves.

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