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Looking for silver linings: Wildlife and blue skies in cities

Marc Lefkowitz  |  04/30/20 @ 11:00am  |  Posted in Clean air, Plants & animals

I’ve been looking for silver linings since we’ve all been forced into quarantine for more than a month. One has been the remarkably fast turnaround of air quality as car and airplane use has dipped to all-time lows.

<br />Blue skies rule over a park in Beachwood in April, 2020<br />A nesting peregrine falcon hunts for prey above Terminal Tower on Public Square<br />A coyote roams a park in Chicago

Would you ProtectCLE?

Marc Lefkowitz  |  04/17/20 @ 1:00pm  |  Posted in Climate, Land, Water, Plants & animals, Natural Cleveland

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History wants you to participate with us in ProtectCLE, protecting Cleveland’s Living Environment. The first project under ProjectCLE is Life in One Cubic Foot. This project is ideal for families studying science at home this spring and summer. The goal is to get outside, enjoy nature and don your citizen science hat. By focusing on...

<br />The Life in a Cubic Foot project is a global search for biodiversity. Image: David Liittscwager for National Geographic.<br />ProtectCLE is a Cleveland Museum of Natural History-led effort to document and appreciate the natural world.<br />iNaturalist is a smartphone app used by a global community of nature enthusiasts<br />Using iNaturalist to document local biodiversity is a snap<br />Build a biocube. Make it fancy or simple, your choice.

Biomimicry in Healthcare comes to Cleveland

Marc Lefkowitz  |  08/19/19 @ 11:00am  |  Posted in Plants & animals

The joke around the Biomimicry for Healthcare conference held by University Hospitals Ventures was, “We’re about 3.8 billion years behind.” Nature has that much knowledge stored in its DNA, and companies are slowly realizing that the 21st century path to resource efficiency is to unlock it. Resources include Great Lakes Biomimicry whose Director Trisha Brown explained that animals solve for...

<br />A grove of aspen trees form into a single organism by sharing a root system.

Green Urbanism guru: Nature in cities to thrive

Marc Lefkowitz  |  04/04/19 @ 10:00am  |  Posted in Plants & animals, Natural Cleveland

When Timothy Beatley launched Green Urbanism in his eponymous 2000 book and 2010 Biophilic Cities program, he deftly tied together examples of cities where nature appears to be linked to health and happiness. Green Urbanism holds that “as a species we have an innate connection to nature. That we are happier, healthier and able to lead more meaningful lives when nature...

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With Northeast Ohio's biodiversity at stake, regional parks and naturalists find their voice

Marc Lefkowitz  |  02/15/19 @ 3:00pm  |  Posted in Climate, Land, Water, Plants & animals, Shaping the land

They have been gathering for years to advocate for nature in Northeast Ohio. They are park rangers, wetlands biologists, wildlife specialists, and conservationists getting their hands dirty on a daily basis in natural areas. Increasingly, they have become the voice for nature in a region that has lost many acres of forests and wetlands to unplanned development.

<br />Images courtesy of LEAP<br /><br /><br />

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10 best ecological restoration

10 best ecological restoration >

Cities are healthier as a whole when nature is invited in.

Eco-friendly landscapes

Eco-friendly landscapes >

We look inside two local guides to native landscaping and their benefits.

Your location can cost or save

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See if your neighborhood is costing or saving you more than the average