International

A team of Michigan State University researchers will soon be heading into the rainforests of Nicaragua to help an endangered species known as a Baird’s tapir co-exist with local farmers whose crops are being threatened by the animals.

The animals were thought to be extinct in that part of the world until just two years ago when the MSU team discovered them still living there through the use of “camera trapping” – the setting up of still and video cameras in order to “capture” the animal.

Michigan State University will use a grant from U.S. Agency for International Development to improve agricultural production and reduce poverty in areas of the world suffering from rapid urbanization, population growth and skills gaps.

Increasingly, U.S. firms are moving or considering moving their manufacturing operations back to domestic soil from overseas, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University supply chain expert.

Fueling the trend are rising labor costs in emerging countries, high oil prices and increasing transportation costs, global risks such as political instability and other factors, said Tobias Schoenherr.

Tigers don’t have a reputation for being accommodating, but a new study indicates that the feared and revered carnivores in and around a world-renowned park in Nepal are taking the night shift to better coexist with their human neighbors.

The revelation that tigers and people are sharing exactly the same space -- such as the same roads and trails -- of Chitwan National Park flies in the face of long-held convictions in tiger conservation circles. It also underscores how successful conservation efforts need sciences that takes into account both nature and humans.