Maron E. Greenleaf’s research in Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon “demonstrates how the rhetoric of sustainability, efficiency, and market-driven conservation often obscures the material consequences and lived experience of these policies.”
The Ongoing Transformation
Neil Chilson, head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, discusses what it’s like to work at a policy think tank, the questions about artificial intelligence that motivate his work, and why he is optimistic about our technological future.
Risk Assessment
A recent case in Norway demonstrates how dual-use controls can constrict international scientific collaboration without offering commensurate protections.
Research Proposals
As grantmakers and universities strive for more engaged and societally responsive research, the proposal process could be a place for innovation—and an avenue for institutional change.
Vol. XLI, No. 3, Spring 2025
Solving the disconnects between science and society will require much more than good ideas and good intentions—it will require the political will to bring the fragmented institutions of science together. Today’s political environment precludes the science community from making its old pitches to Congress; it will need to break old habits, build new bonds at personal, local, and regional levels, and reconsider the way it works.
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In response to essays published in Issues, our readers weigh in on critical topics in policy related to science, technology, and society.
A Discussion of
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Spring 2025
A Discussion of
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On the floor of the Arctic Ocean, an isolated roadside bar buried in a vast network of tunnels is staffed by a claustrophobic waitress who dreams of life above the surface. When a pair of outlaws tries to rob the bar, its patrons and employees are forced to work together to stave them off—pushing the boundaries of survival and trust in extreme environments.
When a government worker is charged with collecting data from the fire-ravaged community she grew up in, she gets help from an unexpected ally: a fire-fighting drone.
A journalist who covers wildfires responds to Premee Mohamed’s “All That Burns Unseen.”
Response
Climate change, changing migration patterns, and our agriculture system have created a perfect environment for fungal pathogens to thrive.
Illustration by Shonagh Rae During the summer of 2016, in Russia’s arctic Yamal Peninsula, a heat wave resurfaced anthrax bacteria long buried in the permafrost. The bacteria then killed thousands of reindeer… Read More
More equitable approaches to preparation and relief efforts for wildfires and other disasters must include undocumented Latino and Indigenous migrants.
With every heat wave and flood, the failure to translate climate science into insight and action puts the health and well-being of people in vulnerable communities at risk. Intentional partnerships between residents, scientists, government, industry, and philanthropy can fix this disconnect.
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