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Melissa Sevigny/KNAUThis is the fourth winter since the Kayenta Coal Mine closed and left Hopi residents without a reliable source of heat for their homes. Many tribal members have switched from coal to wood to keep warm, but the transition hasn’t been easy. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, nonprofits have stepped up to help. -
Melissa Sevigny/A new paper looks at the environmental effects of grazing livestock in arid regions in 25 countries throughout the world. The results show it’s possible to improve ecosystems with grazing—but it’s more likely to cause harm in hot, dry regions like the American Southwest. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with soil ecologist Matthew Bowker of Northern Arizona University about the findings.
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Sometimes a sheet of plastic not much thicker than a sheet of paper can make all the difference for a growing plant. On the sunbaked lands of the Navajo Nation, a hoop house garden can be an important way to provide good nutrition. -
The Kayenta Mine Complex on tribal lands in northeastern Arizona once supplied the coal that lit up homes in Los Angeles and pumped water to Phoenix. The mine closed in 2019, and now Navajo and Hopi people want the land returned so they can use it to graze livestock and gather culturally important plants. Mine reclamation is well underway, but the process is slow, and some worry it’s taking too long. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.
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Only a fraction of the nearly 15,000 apple varieties once known in North America are still cultivated. Now, a few hard-core searchers are combing fields and ravines, reports and records, even neighbors’ front yards, to relocate some of those long-lost old apples.
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A total lunar eclipse will be visible very early tomorrow morning. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, skywatchers in Arizona have prime viewing of the event from start to end.
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NASA’s Artemis program intends to return humans to the moon after a half-century hiatus. But first, astronauts and engineers have to train and test lifesaving equipment here on Earth. So they’re returning to the same places where Apollo astronauts used to practice fifty years ago—the moonlike lava fields of Northern Arizona. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports.
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The Grand Canyon won’t see a beach-building flood this fall for the fourth year in a row. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, river managers point to unprecedented low levels in Lake Powell.
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The National Park Service began electrofishing in the Colorado River this week to kill smallmouth bass between Glen Canyon Dam and Lees Ferry. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, it follows an unsuccessful attempt to control the exotic fish by poisoning a nearby slough.
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A new Netflix documentary tells the story of the letters laced with anthrax that were sent through the U.S. mail just after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The anthrax letters ultimately killed five Americans. The film features Northern Arizona University professor Paul Keim, whose research revealed the anthrax wasn’t part of a foreign terrorist plot but sourced from an American laboratory. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Keim about the role of science in the high-profile case.
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A new exhibit at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff uses sculpture to tell the story of colonialism, migration, and environmental destruction in Arizona. It’s called “Virga: Beneath the Sierra Sin Agua.” KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny met the artist Shawn Skabelund in the exhibit to talk about how he uses natural and found objects in his work to illuminates scars on both landscapes and people.
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The Grand Canyon is a haven for native fish. But that’s now threatened by smallmouth bass, an exotic fish that eats native species and has recently escaped through Glen Canyon Dam. Scientists say a shock of cold water released through the dam might help keep their numbers down. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with fish biologist Drew Eppehimer about the tradeoffs involved.
