Primack Lab in the News

Posted by Richard B. Primack

What have we to do with petty rumbling news? We have our own great affairs. 

Henry David Thoreau. 

Our research on climate change, Thoreau, Walden, sporting events, and plant ecology continues to attract public attention. Here is a sample of articles from the past year:

• Is Climate Change Ruining Fall?
by Marina N. Bolotnikova, Harvard Magazine, 9.26.19
Primack discusses the effects of climate change on fall foliage and New England’s trees.


• Global Warming Clues from Henry David Thoreau
NPR Living on Earth: Week of June 7,  Don Lyman. 2019  
During an interview at Walden Pond, Primack explains how Thoreau’s observations can be used to show the effects of climate change on plants. 

The fire cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) was one of many species for which Henry David Thoreau tracked both the flowering and leafing-out dates more than a century and half ago. (Photo: Dan Mullen, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Caption: NPR)

• Science and Culture: Journal entries, maps, and photos help ecologists reconstruct ecosystems of the past. 
By Carolyn Beans, PNAS December 26, 2018 
In this article, Primack describes the value of historical documents in detecting the effects of climate change. 


• Tracking climate change through Henry David Thoreau's notes. 
Boston 25 TV News
In this interview on the edge of Walden Pond, Primack talks about using Thoreau’s records in climate change research. 

Primack in a still from the Boston 25 news story

• Undergraduate research at BU – Invent the future. 
In this interview on the BU website, Linnea Smith and Richard Primack explain the value of students working with professors in Boston University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). 


• How Thoreau’s 19th-Century Observations Are Helping Shape Science Today: For one thing, they tell us that plants aren’t blooming when they used to at Walden Pond—or most anywhere else. 
By Evan Nicole Brown, July 9, 2019, Atlas Obscura 
Atlas Obscura is an on-line magazine with unusual stories about iconic places around the work. In this article, Primack reports on the value of Walden Pond as a climate change indicator. 

A statue of Thoreau with wildflowers 

• New England Is Losing Its Native Plants. Researchers Say It’s Time To Stop And Smell The Wildflowers. 
By Lexi Peery, June 06, 2019, WBUR Radio
In an interview on WBUR Radio, Primack provides an overview of the loss of wildflowers from the forests and protected areas of New England. 


• What Will Climate Change Mean for Your Favorite Marathon?
From surging waters in the Southeast to wildfires in the West, here’s how a warming planet affects your racing.
By Cindy Kuzma, August 28, 2018, Runner's World
Primack describes how a warming climate and weather events affect the running times and experiences of marathon runners.