Imaginings
stories, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other imaginative accounts of the natural world
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Ecopolis Munich: Environmental Stories of Discovery

The student exhibition “Ecopolis Munich: Environmental Stories of Discovery” sheds light on the relationship between Munich’s residents and their urban environment. The exhibition was on display from 12 to 20 October 2019 at the whiteBOX in the Werksviertel Mitte. The practical seminar leading to the production of the exhibition also received LMU’s prize for innovative…
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Insects as Inspiration

By Jan Goedbloed My name is Jan, I am now 67 years old. I studied biology between 1969 and 1976, and then could not find a job. I helped start a bird hospital, and then worked as an educational assistant in a natural history museum where I tried to incorporate nature meditation.
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URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

Workshop Report (10–12 October 2019 at whiteBOX in Werksviertel-Mitte, Munich) By Anna Antonova This workshop was convened by Christof Mauch and Gesa Lüdecke at the Rachel Carson Center as part of the new collaboration between Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU Munich), New York University (NYU), New York University Abu Dhabi, and the University of Cambridge, which focuses on…
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Post-Mosquito Mortem: A Symposium Report

A report of the event “Mosquitopia? The Place of Pests in a Healthy World” (A Rachel Carson Legacy Symposium). For more on the topic, check out the three-part feature “Mosquitopia” in the ongoing series “Silent Spring Continued: A World without Insects.” 24–27 October 2019, Landshut (Munich) By Marcus Hall At the end of three days…
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USES OF ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES: FELIX BIDDER, KATIE RITSON, FABIAN ZIMMER

The Uses of Environmental Humanities series explores diverse and creative ways of thinking with Environmental Humanities in responding to socio-environmental challenges. Contributors address the influence of Environmental Humanities and ways in which we might use this field of study, offering insights into the interactions between societies, science, politics, and culture. The series is curated by…
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Overcoming the Fear Factor: Teaching and Learning about Insects and Biodiversity

By Tony Weis Insects have fascinated Nina Zitani for as long as she can remember. She vividly recalls making her first bug collection at age five, and searching for insects and other arthropods in her backyard and nearby forests in Moorestown, New Jersey, throughout her childhood.
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Bookshelf: The Breakthrough of Environmental History

Review of Stormflod by Bo Poulsen (Aarhus University Press, 2019) By Katie Ritson This book is volume 24 in the high profile series “100 Histories of Denmark” published by Aarhus University Press, which over eight years will see a range of historians present the hundred most important historical events and topics from Danish history. The…
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Mosquitopia Part 3: Key Reasons for Killing Mosquitoes

By Marcus Hall and Dan Tamir Human health: First and foremost, despite the many and important reasons for saving mosquitoes, or at least saving certain mosquitoes in certain situations, there remains a dire need to eradicate these creatures—even when it means undertaking extreme measures to accomplish this goal.
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Mosquitopia Part 2: A few Reasons for Saving Mosquitoes

By Marcus Hall and Dan Tamir We must remind ourselves that we are ultimately battling disease, not mosquitoes, and that there may be more effective, more economical, more ethical ways to do this than mosquito control. Malaria once emanated from swamps and bad air, though with more evidence it became clear that mosquitoes were the…
