Olivia Cohen

Iowans should get their shovels ready and prepare to bundle up this winter as experts are predicting that parts of the state will see a wetter winter season than normal.

Mari Hunt Wassink combines regenerative farming and social justice, cultivating culturally important crops to make fresh, local food accessible to Eastern Iowans.

The number of clean energy jobs in Iowa reached a record high in 2024, with more than 33,000 Iowans holding jobs in the clean energy space, surpassing the state's previous record of 31,910 jobs in 2019.

The use of cover crops in Iowa has expanded significantly in recent years. The conservation practice is promoted by the state through cost share incentives — an effort by the Iowa Department of Agriculture to reduce nutrients that contribute to the Gulf dead zone. But new research suggests that while the number of acres being planted with cover crops has grown, not all farmers are sticking with the practice.

The quality of Iowa's water is a top environmental concern in Iowa, and for many Iowans, there can be a feeling of helplessness. That's where Heather Wilson comes in. Her work at the Izaak Walton League strives to remove the "barriers of entry" to make water quality testing and advocacy more accessible to the public.

As researchers behind an Iowa water quality sensor program race to find a new funding source before money runs out and they're forced to pull the sensors from the state's rivers and streams, a nonprofit has launched a crowdsource campaign to try to keep the program afloat.

In his role with the Sierra Club's Iowa City Chapter, Tom Carsner has spent a lot of time in recent months thinking and talking about the ways the federal government incentivizes energy efficiency.

In what they are calling a "two-birds-one-stone" approach, researchers at Iowa State University have been exploring whether filling abandoned fossil fuel wells with a "bio-oil" produced from organic material could remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

To carry out the mission of working with their hands, Trappist Monks in Dubuque County focus on conservation, forestry and making caskets.

Despite deploying thousands of tests and running samples, researchers still haven't determined why so many white oak trees across Iowa have died.

To carry out the mission of working with their hands, Trappist Monks in Dubuque County focus on conservation, forestry and making caskets.

Time has run out on a short-term plan to continue funding a network of sensors that monitors the water quality in Iowa's rivers and streams. Unless new funding can be secured, dozens of sensors will be taken offline next year, eliminating the ability to measure nitrate and phosphorus to see if conservation practices are working.

To a gathering of residents in Dubuque this week, David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa, said there is "no such thing as risk-free water."

Alliant Energy's plans for a natural gas fired power plant northwest of The Eastern Iowa Airport raise "concerns for airport safety and regulatory compliance," according to a study commissioned by the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission.

The Bur Oak Land Trust has received funding to hire 12 temporary workers through AmeriCorps, but the instability of the federal program is prompting the Iowa City nonprofit to consider alternative funding streams.

Director Marty Lenss said the nonprofit's goal is to expand their work into other airports in the Mississippi watershed

Iowa State University's Iowa Mosquito Surveillance Program has been running since the 1960s, but only a handful of counties have their own surveillance programs in place to monitor insect populations and test for West Nile virus.

The Iowa Department of Ag announced this week a pilot project that will provide $3 million to encourage farmers and landowners in the watersheds upstream from the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids metro areas to add perennial buffers to fields along streams.

Jim Durbin's database — built over the last 25 years through thousands of hours at Iowa's parks — has been used to help research conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

As a PhD student at Iowa State University, Connor Thorpe modified the design of the classic gene gun using a 3D printer in his apartment. Now, he's leading a biotechnology company that sells the product.