Food and Agriculture | Mary Catherine O'Connor

On the Progress and Promise of Water Reuse

December 29, 2017 by mcoc

Building codes and regulations are changing—slowly—to accommodate systems that support the capture and reuse of graywater and blackwater. Architect Magazine Water is omnipresent in Virginia Beach, Va., where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic. Due to rising sea levels and land subsidence, sunny-day flooding during high tide is common here and in surrounding towns, stressing […]

Categories: Climate Change, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Lifecycle, Oceans, Policy, Technology • Tags: building codes, chesapeak bay, drinking water act, drought, graywater, sea level rise, water quality, water recycling, water reuse

AI for Good: Energy, Water, Food

September 19, 2017 by mcoc

A series looking at how the energy, food and water sectors are using AI and machine learning to try to reduce consumption, cut costs and make the use of resources more efficient. It’s not kindness, it’s economics. Medium ($) How Artificial Intelligence Is Making Energy Smarter and Cleaner Artificial intelligence is powering more and more of […]

Categories: Climate Change, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Oceans, Technology • Tags: artificial intelligence, energy, energy efficiency, faming, fossil fuels, hydroponics, machine learning, Medium, precision agriculture, solar, wastewater, water

The Wild West of Predator Control Is Hurting Humans and Pets

July 17, 2017 by mcoc

Idaho is the first Western state to take some action on dangerous cyanide traps, but it’s not enough Outside Magazine One day in mid-March, Canyon Mansfield took his three-year-old yellow lab, Casey, on a walk into open scrubland behind his house in Pocatello, Idaho. It was the boy’s happy place. About 400 yards from his […]

Categories: Food and Agriculture, Policy, Recreation, Wildlife • Tags: canyon mansfield, casey, coyotes, cyanide, M44, pocatello, predators, ranching, Wildlife services

How to Reason with the Climate Denier in Your Life

April 26, 2017 by mcoc

A new book by two philosophy scholars imagines conversations with skeptics and deniers. Here are four lessons we learned from it. Outside Online April 26, 2017 Everyone working to address climate change, from activists to scientists, knows that success depends in large part on their ability to convert climate change skeptics (or even straight-up deniers) […]

Categories: Climate Change, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Lifecycle, Oceans, Policy, Transportation • Tags: climate change, climate change denier, climate skeptic, Evelyn Fox Keller, Philip Kitcher, The Seasons Alter

Guardian: Only 14% of plastics are recycled – can tech innovation tackle the rest?

February 22, 2017 by mcoc

The world recycles just 14% of the plastic packaging it uses. Even worse: 8m tons of plastic, much of it packaging, ends up in the oceans each year, where sea life and birds die from eating it or getting entangled in it. Some of the plastics will also bind with industrial chemicals that have polluted […]

Categories: Energy, Food and Agriculture, Lifecycle, Oceans, Technology • Tags: Agylix, biocellection, Cadel Deinking, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, hdpe, ldpe, plastic, plastics recycling, recycling

Home at Last: The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians Returns to the California Coast

December 15, 2016 by mcoc

Partnering with local agencies, The Trust for Public Land devised a plan that would return the land to the Kashia while allowing for an addition to the California Coast Trail. Land+People (The Trust for Public Land’s magazine: Go to Page 30) “Close your eyes,” instructs Reno Franklin. Chairman of the Kashia band of Pomo Indians, Franklin […]

Categories: Climate Change, Food and Agriculture, Oceans, Policy, Recreation, Wilderness • Tags: Kashia band of Pomo Indians, Kashia Coastal Reserve, Reno Franklin, Trust for Public Land

Guardian: The Latest Weapon in the Fight Against Illegal Fishing? Artificial Intelligence.

November 20, 2016 by mcoc

A $150,000 reward is up for grabs for any data scientist who can write code for facial recognition software that can pinpoint illegal catch on fishing boats. The Guardian Facial recognition software is most commonly known as a tool to help police identify a suspected criminal by using machine learning algorithms to analyze his or […]

Categories: Climate Change, Food and Agriculture, Oceans, Policy, Technology • Tags: artificial intelligence, facial recognition software, illegal fishing, kaggle, silicon valley, the nature conservancy

Guardian: My (Imagined) Trip Off the Meatless Wagon

October 23, 2016 by mcoc

The Impossible Burger is making a big impression on foodies, chefs and vegetarians, but can it find its way onto the McDonald’s menu? The Guardian I hold the burger with both hands and bring it, somewhat trepidatiously, to my mouth. I commit myself to at least one bite. As I close my eyes and chew, […]

Categories: Climate Change, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Technology • Tags: Chris Cosentino, David Chang, impossible burger, impossible foods, Pat Brown, Tal Ronnen, Traci Des Jardins

Pacific Standard: The Pleasures — and Ecological Benefits — of River Snorkeling

June 14, 2016 by mcoc

In praise of river snorkeling, a pastime for fish obsessives that also reminds riparian activists what they’re protecting. Pacific Standard I’m like the reverse of a fish out of water — a floundering human in water, I think to myself and let out a nervous chuckle. This breaks the seal my mouth has formed around the snorkel’s […]

Categories: Action Sports, Climate Change, Food and Agriculture, Oceans, Policy, Recreation, Wilderness • Tags: Columbia River, Matt Collins, Native Fish Society, pacific northwest, Pacific Standard, riparian, river snorkeling, Russ Ricketts, salmon native, Tellico River, Wenatchee River

Mary Catherine O'Connor

Independent Journalist

Category Archives: Food and Agriculture