Crossings
Ben Goldfarb
W.W. Norton & Co., $30
In Crossings, journalist Ben Goldfarb delves into the burgeoning field of road ecology and introduces the impassioned, sometimes eccentric scientists who invite us to perceive our roads as animals do to better understand the ecological impacts. Goldfarb journeys alongside these researchers as they bike through Montana and wrestle anteaters in Brazil, squint at roadkill and rhapsodize about the design quirks that engineers can leverage to attract animals to safe overpasses and culverts. Road ecology, many of its proponents say, is a win-win: Building dedicated wildlife crossings, for example, is relatively cheap compared with other infrastructure projects, and minimizing collisions between drivers and animals preserves lives and lowers insurance premiums.
Science News spoke with Goldfarb about roads and how to minimize their harm. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
SN: How did you get interested in road ecology? It seems very different from your previous book on beavers?
2023-09-08 08:00:00
Article from www.sciencenews.org