Lucy Goodchild van Hilten is a writing fellow at Earth • Food • Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute. She has served as assistant editor of Microbiology Today and senior marketing communications manager for Life Sciences at Elsevier. She holds an MSc degree in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from Imperial College London.
Lucy Goodchild van Hilten is a writing fellow at Earth | Food | Life , a project of the Independent Media Institute and a freelance writer at TellLucy. Her work has been published by Harvard Business Review, International Herald Tribune, Salon, AlterNet, Microbiology Today, Hakai Magazine, Mensa Magazine and Elsevier Connect, among others.
Lucy has served as the assistant editor of Microbiology Today and currently runs Bucket List Bookshop. Lucy holds a Bachelors of Science in genetics and microbiology and a masters of science in the history of science, medicine and technology from Imperial College London. She is based in Amsterdam. Tweet her @LucyGoodchild.
Ships’ ballast tanks are full of unwanted tagalongs, and researchers are working out the best way to kill them.
When the ship arrives at its destination and it’s time to load more cargo, the ballast water—and any critters and microorganisms in it—is flushed out. Ballast water has transported bacteria like the cholera-causing Vibrio cholera, and bigger organisms such as the European zebra mussel, across oceans, causing billions of dollars worth of damage and potentially spreading disease in the process.
In an age of fake-news, cynicism and conspiracy theorists, it is more important than ever to carefully consider the communication of research and the channels used. Exaggerated claims and undue reliance on un-peer-reviewed research can undermine crucial messaging while providing 'evidence' that may be used maliciously. Digital Science's tools provide evidence of the context of impact, and the broader impact of research, and this context provides crucial information when understanding and communicating the results of research.
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With the increasing demand of our growing population, is it even possible to produce food sustainably? Research suggests it is. In a study in Nature Sustainability, Professor Dr. Dieter Gerten and his colleagues applied the concept of planetary boundaries to this question. Planetary boundaries are limits to the amount humans can disturb environmental systems before they are significantly changed. The team created a model using four of the nine planetary boundaries: biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, and nitrogen flows.