UNH Today

How Low Can You Mow?

Not a fan of mowing the lawn? Good news: Cutting the grass less may be better for the environment. Trimming the number of times you run the mower around the yard, known as “low mow”, can help reduce carbon emissions, build soil organic matter and even enhance pollinating habitats for bees.

“Taking important small steps, like not mowing as often, can have a big impact on things like carbon storage and carbon emissions which can influence climate change.”

Listening to Marine Life

still vividly recalls one of the first times she listened to humpback whales as a researcher. She was sitting in a small, 10-foot inflatable raft, bobbing on the ocean waves just off the coast of her field station at Five Finger Islands Lighthouse in Alaska, and it was raining hard. The din of the rain hitting the water’s surface made it more difficult to hear the sounds coming into her headphones from the hydrophone (an underwater microphone) lowered 25 meters into the water below her.