Olivia Cohen

According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, nearly all of Iowa's 99 counties saw an increase in electric vehicle registrations over the last 18 months — mirroring a similar trend between December 2022 and June 2024.

The U.S. Geological Survey will be flying airplanes over parts of Eastern Iowa starting this month to help make new maps for the research group. The federal agency says the minerals it is looking for could boost the economy and bolster national security.

As Iowa researchers continue the search for a new funding source for the state's largest water sensor network — which provides real-time data about nitrate, phosphorus and flow levels in the state's rivers and streams — the network's director said Iowa's nitrate issues are continuing to expand.

Continued market uncertainty following the United States' trade dispute with China has led many soybean producers to store their grain rather than sell now, hoping for an increase in prices.

Nearly 200 professors and researchers endorsed this year's climate statement highlighting how a warming climate may lead to increased insurance costs in Iowa.

The Iowa State Patrol, National Weather Service and the Iowa Department of Transportation said in a webinar on Monday that Iowans should start preparing for winter weather and poor driving conditions even before snow hits the ground.

Researchers at Iowa State University are testing a new mobile app that alerts residents when their homes begin to overheat — a tool designed to help prevent heat-related illnesses in vulnerable communities.

In a meeting with Linn County officials Monday, Larry Weber — who oversees a program that deploys dozens of sensors in rivers and streams across Iowa — said the quality of the state's water is not improving, and that monitoring of the water must continue.

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.