Unlike petroleum, natural gas, and coal, the future of biofuels as an alternative, renewable energy source appears bright — and cleaner than many traditional sources.

Biofuel, and specifically biogas, is the focus of a virtual roundtable at 3 p.m. Friday, June 25, sponsored by the Local Science Engagement Network (LSEN), an outreach of the Missouri Science & Technology (MOST) Policy Initiative.

Sign up to view the event here>>

“The possibilities are endless” for biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels that are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, said Eleni Bickell, PhD, the MOST policy fellow serving agriculture, natural resources…

by Dr. Brittany Whitley, Ph.D., Missouri LSEN Staff

Climate change and extreme weather significantly impact communities and businesses across Missouri. Approaches to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change typically center around energy and technology solutions, including reducing emissions (e.g., moving toward clean and renewable energies) and improving food, water and land management.

While the importances of these strategies is undeniable, climate policy discussions frequently exclude (or at least gloss over) the role of our educational system in responding to climate change.

Each year, around 900,000 students are educated in Missouri’s public preschools, elementary, middle, and high schools…

By Missouri LSEN Staff

Where you live is sometimes a barrier to getting mental healthcare in Missouri. That premise is one focus of a virtual roundtable hosted by the Local Science Engagement Network at 3 p.m. Friday, May 28.

LSEN Coordinator Dan English says the May 28 event will be the “biggest yet” for the organization’s roundtable series. The panel will also discuss the impact of policy on mental healthcare. For more details and to register, click here. LSEN is an outreach of the Missouri Science & Technology (MOST) Policy Initiative.

Roundtable panelists include Sen. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City; Rep…

by MOST Policy Initiative and Missouri LSEN Staff

Barbara Buffaloe’s typically busy schedule is in an even higher gear these days as she prepares to leave her post as the city of Columbia’s first sustainability manager at the end of May.

She’s transitioning from being the caretaker for Columbia’s environment to being more involved in caring for her parents in Springfield, Ill. Buffaloe will remain in Columbia and will continue to stay connected with the community that she loves, but she has promised her husband “I won’t say ‘yes’ to anything for a few months.”

Buffaloe notified friends of her…

“Is it gonna rain?”

That’s the mantra of so many consultants who advise TV newsrooms. When viewers tune in, they want to know the weather they’re getting tomorrow. News producers are advised to get to the weather early and repeat the weather throughout their newscast. That’s why most of your local news is probably weather-related and why your local meteorologist is often the most recognizable face on TV news.

Kenton Gewecke, a meteorologist at KOMU in Columbia, Mo., isn’t just a local weather oracle. He takes his job as a scientist more seriously. He knows most viewers are probably not…

by Missouri LSEN Staff

Just as COVID-19 case numbers and news changed on a dizzying, daily basis during the past 12 months, the same seems true for the vaccinations now readily available — as well as the reasons why groups and individuals are still reluctant to take the vaccine.

A virtual round table set for 3–5 p.m. Friday, April 30, will examine the status of COVID vaccinations in Missouri and research about ongoing vaccine hesitancy. The Local Science Engagement Network (LSEN) is sponsoring the round table. …

$106.5 million. That’s the projected price tag for flooding damage in Missouri per year for the next 30 years. And climate scientists expect an increase in the number of severe rain events as the climate warms due to the release of greenhouse gases.

As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. But the same may also be true for flooding events in Missouri. And flooding can bring a heavy price tag, not only in terms of dollars but in terms of families displaced and livelihoods lost. The First Street Foundation calculated the price tag of flood damage in each…

by Missouri LSEN Staff

I think I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

So begins the most notable verse penned by American journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer. As with many of Kilmer’s works, “Trees” celebrates the beauty of the natural world. But is there something more than intangible, anecdotal, eye-of-the-beholder beauty in trees and green space? Perhaps something with quantifiable, measurable, and positive health effects?

A systematic scoping review, “Urban Trees and Human Health,” published in the June 2020 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health tends to make some definitive associations between trees and health…