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<p>All summer long, we run mowers over our lawns to keep them the perfect height — and run sprinklers to keep them emerald green. Add fertilizer and weedkillers into the mix, and it’s a real resource drain. But there’s...

<p>Box turtles are cute and an absolute delight to spot while walking in the Midwest or Great Plains. But scientist Benjamin Reed wants us to know that these creatures are complex and widely misunderstood. Reed is a box...

<p>Climate change is altering the land, and Indigenous communities are on the frontline. This episode takes you to Alaska, where rapid permafrost thaw is threatening the Native village of Nunapitchuk. Then, we head to...

<p>A Texas pecan farmer spent years rethinking whether he needed so many chemicals to grow food. He cut back on things like weedkillers, but when it came to ditching insecticides, crop pests posed a challenge. That’s...

<p>Astronomers need your help! And you don’t have to be an expert, because it’s as easy as stepping outside your home and taking a good look at a constellation like Orion. For 20 years, the citizen science project Globe...

<p>As we embark on our third year of Up From Dust, we discuss why we started an environmental podcast in the Midwest — and what we’ve learned along the way. In 2026, stay tuned for stories about farmers, astronomers...

<p>In one long-polluted Ozark river, the little fish darting through the water and the rare mussels hiding on the pebbly bottom tell a story worth celebrating. They’re signs that the Spring River is benefitting from...

<p>Trevor Starks is on a mission. He wants to help the humble but powerful creatures that clean the waters of the Neosho River: freshwater mussels. For decades, their populations dwindled due to overharvesting...

<p>The Midwest has a reputation for vast fields of corn and soybeans that stretch to the horizon. But on some farms, strips of wildflowers and little bluestem now interrupt the crops, tiny glimpses of the prairie that...

<p>Have you ever wondered how much life a tiny patch of land can hold? Nebraska scientist Chris Helzer photographed one square meter of prairie from every angle for two years, getting to know the creatures that call it...

<p>Microplastics are everywhere. They’re in the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, even the food we eat. Scientists are still trying to understand what these tiny particles are doing to the environment and our bodies...

<p>For decades, the world’s longest prairie river was treated as a convenient dumping ground by cities and industries. Government regulation dramatically improved water quality here and around the country. Today the...

<p>We have inadvertently filled our world with poorly designed outdoor lighting. The price? We’re losing our starry skies, hurting our health, killing pollinators, wasting billions of dollars and releasing millions of...

<p>So you’ve been thinking about getting rid of your lawn, or at least having less. You’ll attract birds and bees and you won’t have to mow as much. Nice! But where to start? Master gardener Paula Diaz gives us the...

<p>Symbiotic fungi are all the rage right now. Farmers want them in their fields, gardeners want them in veggie patches and flowerbeds. The excitement has given rise to a billion-dollar mycorrhizae market, but many...