The Conversation

January 8, 2026

By Alejandro N. Flores, Boise State University Much of the western U.S. has started 2026 in the midst of a...

THE CONVERSATION: West Coast levee failures show growing risks from America’s aging flood defenses

January 5, 2026

By Farshid Vahedifard, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University In recent weeks, powerful atmospheric river storms have swept...

THE CONVERSATION: The US used to be really dirty – environmental cleanup laws have made a huge difference

The Conversation

Water quality

January 5, 2026

By: James Salzman, University of California, Santa Barbara; University of California, Los Angeles Growing up in the 1970s, I took...

THE CONVERSATION: Where the wild things thrive: Finding and protecting nature’s climate change safe havens

The Conversation

Fish and wildlife

December 17, 2025

By Toni Lyn Morelli, UMass Amherst; U.S. Geological Survey and Diana Stralberg, University of Alberta The idea began in California’s...

THE CONVERSATION: PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds

The Conversation

Water quality

December 9, 2025

By Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona; Ashley Langer, University of Arizona, and Bo Guo, University of Arizona When pregnant women...

THE CONVERSATION: Winter storms blanket the East, while the U.S. West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

The Conversation

Current Conditions

December 2, 2025

By Adrienne Marshall, Colorado School of Mines Ski season is here, but while the eastern half of the U.S. digs...

THE CONVERSATION: When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout

The Conversation

Water quality

December 1, 2025

By Ivano W. Aiello, San José State University When fire broke out at the world’s largest battery energy storage facility...

THE CONVERSATION: From invasive species tracking to water security – what’s lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers

The Conversation

Ecosystems

November 24, 2025

By Bethany Bradley, UMass Amherst; Adrienne Wootten, University of Oklahoma, and Ryan Longman, University of Hawaii When the Trump administration...

THE CONVERSATION: Trump administration is on track to cut 1 in 3 EPA staffers by the end of 2025, slashing agency’s ability to keep pollution out of air and water

The Conversation

Policy and regulation

September 30, 2025

By Elizabeth Blum, Troy University and Chris Sellers, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York) As Congress faces...

THE CONVERSATION: Rivers are heating up faster than the air − that’s a problem for aquatic life and people

The Conversation

Water quality

September 25, 2025

Li Li (李黎), Penn State When you think about heat waves, you might picture sweltering cities, shimmering asphalt and unbearable...

THE CONVERSATION: How environmental RNA can give us a real-time picture of freshwater biodiversity

The Conversation

Planning and management Science

September 8, 2025

By Wendy Morgado Gamero, McGill University and Orianne Tournayre, Université de Montpellier As climate change and human activity threaten freshwater...

THE CONVERSATION: Droughts don’t just dry up water — they drain livelihoods and weaken local economies

The Conversation

Hydrology

August 27, 2025

By S. Mehmet Ozsoy, Concordia University and Erkan Yonder, Concordia University Unlike hurricanes and floods, which arrive suddenly and tend...

THE CONVERSATION: Colorado’s subalpine wetlands may be producing a toxic form of mercury – that’s a concern for downstream water supplies

The Conversation

Water quality

August 21, 2025

By Eve-Lyn Hinckley, University of Colorado Boulder The wetlands found across the Rocky Mountains of Colorado just below tree line...

THE CONVERSATION: Grand Canyon’s Dragon Bravo megafire shows the growing wildfire threat to water systems

The Conversation

Wildfires and watersheds

August 15, 2025

By Faith Kearns, Arizona State University As wildfire crews battled the Dragon Bravo Fire on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim...

THE CONVERSATION: Climate models reveal how human activity may be locking the Southwest into permanent drought

The Conversation

Colorado River Hydrology

August 14, 2025

By Pedro DiNezio, University of Colorado Boulder and Timothy Shanahan, The University of Texas at Austin A new wave of...

Author The Conversation

THE CONVERSATION: The western US is in a snow drought – here’s how a storm made it worse

THE CONVERSATION: West Coast levee failures show growing risks from America’s aging flood defenses

THE CONVERSATION: The US used to be really dirty – environmental cleanup laws have made a huge difference

THE CONVERSATION: Where the wild things thrive: Finding and protecting nature’s climate change safe havens

THE CONVERSATION: PFAS in pregnant women’s drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds

THE CONVERSATION: Winter storms blanket the East, while the U.S. West is wondering: Where’s the snow?

THE CONVERSATION: When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout

THE CONVERSATION: From invasive species tracking to water security – what’s lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers

THE CONVERSATION: Trump administration is on track to cut 1 in 3 EPA staffers by the end of 2025, slashing agency’s ability to keep pollution out of air and water

THE CONVERSATION: Rivers are heating up faster than the air − that’s a problem for aquatic life and people

THE CONVERSATION: How environmental RNA can give us a real-time picture of freshwater biodiversity

THE CONVERSATION: Droughts don’t just dry up water — they drain livelihoods and weaken local economies

THE CONVERSATION: Colorado’s subalpine wetlands may be producing a toxic form of mercury – that’s a concern for downstream water supplies

THE CONVERSATION: Grand Canyon’s Dragon Bravo megafire shows the growing wildfire threat to water systems

THE CONVERSATION: Climate models reveal how human activity may be locking the Southwest into permanent drought