Erik Stokstad

Washington, D.C., United States

Reporter at Science Magazine, covering environmental research & issues. Tweets focus on news from the scientific literature. Views my own.

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Articles

Herring had a spawning ‘culture.’ Overfishing obliterated it

6 days ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Call it the case of the missing herring. For more than a century, the world’s biggest stock of the oily, nutritious fish has migrated to spawn every year in the same waters off southern Norway, where fishing vessels wait to haul away the rich catch. But in 2021 only a few herring arrived, leaving crews with empty nets and pressing questions.
U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories

6 days ago | science.org | Sara Reardon |Jeffrey Mervis |Phie Jacobs |Erik Stokstad

1.0x Volume is at 50% 1.0x Audio is AI-generated.
U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories

1 week ago | science.org | Phie Jacobs |Sara Reardon |Erik Stokstad |Jeffrey Mervis

Amid the grant terminations, program cuts, federal firings, disappearing databases, and myriad other disruptions U.S. science has seen during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration, researchers are facing an uncertain future. Those studying hot-button topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), vaccines, and transgender health are squarely in the crosshairs, but the turmoil extends much further.
‘Major breakthrough’: A natural gene variant protects rice from heat waves

2 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Rice plants usually love warmth. But when they start to flower, hot nights can result in meager harvests and chalky grain. So far, breeders have made slow progress in solving these challenges, which are becoming more urgent with climate change. Now, after searching for more than a decade, researchers in China have found a culpable gene, which they describe this week in Cell. They also show that a natural variant of the gene can preserve both yield and rice quality when temperatures rise.
A caterpillar that haunts spiderwebs, solving the last riddles of a famed friar, and a new book series

2 weeks ago | science.org | Sarah Crespi |Erik Stokstad |Kevin McLean |Valerie Thompson

University of Hawaii Insect Systematics and Biodiversity lab First up on the podcast, bringing Gregor Mendel’s peas into the 21st century. Back in the 19th century Mendel, a friar and naturalist, tracked traits in peas such as flower color and shape over many generations. He used these observations to identify basic concepts about inheritance such as recessive and dominant traits. Staff Writer Erik Stokstad talks with host Sarah Crespi about the difficulty of identifying genes for these...
Paying fishers to release sharks could backfire

3 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

When fishing vessels haul up mackerel off the coast of Indonesia, they also catch sharks and rays. One idea for protecting these endangered species is to pay the fishers to release them alive instead of selling their meat and fins. But a study published today in Science Advances reveals the payments for rays were less effective than hoped—and those for sharks led to more of them dying.
Massive pea study solves last genetic riddles of famed friar

3 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Generations of high school students have learned how the 19th century Austro-Hungarian friar Gregor Mendel discovered basic principles of genetics by studying peas, which he planted by the thousands in the garden of his abbey. After cross-pollinating varieties and noting the proportions in which traits such as flower color occurred in their offspring, he revealed the mathematical patterns of recessive and dominant inheritance—a fundamental breakthrough in genetics.
EPA orders staff to begin canceling research grants

3 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

Following in the footsteps of other federal science agencies under President Donald Trump’s administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week ordered its staff to start canceling grants already awarded to universities and research institutes, according to an agency source and an email seen by Science.
Trump swings budget ax at USGS biology research

3 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

The White House is expected to ask Congress to wipe out the entire biological research program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its upcoming 2026 budget request, according to an internal email seen by Science. This year, USGS—a $1.6 billion research agency within the Department of the Interior—will spend $307 million on its Ecosystems Mission Area.
Toxic metals abound in soils worldwide, new global map reveals

3 weeks ago | science.org | Erik Stokstad

When ancient people began to smelt ore to extract metal, perhaps as far back as 10,000 years ago, they struck a toxic deal that continues today. From copper arrowheads to nickel-alloy rocket engines, metallurgy has let people create ever more powerful tools—but millennia of mining have also left a legacy of pollution.