Zachary Turner

The eastern hellbender lives in creeks and rivers in the Appalachian Mountains.

NC designated millions to remove dams on rivers, but first scientists have to rescue the nation’s largest amphibian

Leoneda Inge

Most of North Carolina’s 28,000 dams are defunct, blocking wildlife from moving freely up and down rivers, and from getting dissolved oxygen in fast-flowing water. That’s of particular concern to the shrinking Eastern Hellbender salamander.

Dwight Wadford instructs Kahron Guzman on how to sight the deer from the box stand near a wooded area.

Environment

Hunting has a diversity problem, and an NC State program aims to fix it

Zachary Turner

A new hunting education program targets university students to cultivate the next, more diverse generation of hunters.

Park superintendent Dave Hallac stands in front of two homes the National Park Service purchased in September.

Environment

National Park Service demolishes two Outer Banks homes in a new erosion mitigation program

Zachary Turner

National Park Service deconstructed two threatened homes to avoid future oceanside collapses.

Richard Leak, a former Alcoa employee and member of the West Badin community, stands in front of the Alcoa-Badin Landfill.

Environment

Badin residents still demand accountability from Alcoa

Zachary Turner

Community members in West Badin hosted a rally to draw attention to longstanding environmental issues in the community.

I-885 near Durham and other major roadways worsen air quality and urban heat in communities across the United States.

Environment

Traffic pollution overly impacts marginalized communities across the U.S. — including Durham

Zachary Turner

Climate change is making it harder to breathe. For Black communities in the United States, air quality has always been an issue.

A sign advertises the installation of carp gates, also called carp barriers, that prevent carp from moving in and out of Lake Mattamuskeet.

Environment

North Carolina’s largest lake under siege by common carp

Zachary Turner

Lake Mattamuskeet is infested with an invasive species that has destroyed underwater grasses and decreased water quality.

Kalle Simpson, a graduate research assistant at North Carolina State University, sorts the dead oysters from the living.

Environment

Summer mortality events wipe out oyster farms as researchers begin search for the cause

Zachary Turner

Scientists are monitoring sample sites along the North Carolina coast to study recurring summer die-offs that plague Carolina oyster growers.

The edge of a pocosin swamp overlooks a drainage ditch.

News

Rising tides and drainage ditches threaten North Carolina's coastal freshwater wetlands

Zachary Turner

As sea levels rise along the North Carolina coast, saltwater encroaches on coastal freshwater wetlands. A network of drainage ditches has exacerbated the problem, transporting saltwater inland to invade forested wetlands.